| “The most beautiful heart… In the square of a faraway city… a young man had stood up and boasted that he had the most beautiful heart… The passersby admired the heart, which was perfect… There was no mark, not even the smallest defect in it… And everyone then agreed that it was the most beautiful heart that they had ever seen… The young man was very proud, and strutted about bragging about his beautiful heart… Suddenly an old man drew near our young man and said: ‘However your heart doesn’t come near to the beauty of my own heart…’ The people, as well as the young man, looked at the heart of the old man… It beat strongly, but it was full of scars… There were areas in which it seemed pieces had been cut out, and in their place others had been put, which however didn’t match well, with the result that there were a lot of jagged edges… And in other areas there were gaping holes where entire pieces were missing… The people looked at each other; how was it possible for him to back up his claim that his heart was more beautiful, they thought… The young man looked at the heart of the old man, saw what bad shape it was in, and laughed… ‘Are you joking? Just compare your heart with mine… Mine is perfect, while yours is a mass of scars and tears.’.. ‘Of course… ‘said the old man, ‘yours looks perfect,… However I would never exchange my heart for yours… Look, every scar represents someone to whom I gave my love, I cut a piece of my heart and I give it to him, and often he gives me a piece of his own heart to go in the position of the empty part of my heart, but because the pieces are not exactly the same, I have some thorny edges, which, however, I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared… Some other times I have given pieces of my heart, and the other person did not give me a piece of his own heart in return… Those are where the empty holes come from; you know, offering your love does entail some risk… Even though those holes hurt, they remain open… and they remind me of the love I have for those people… and I hope that someday they will come back close to me… and they will fill up the spaces which I have left empty, waiting for them… So do you see what real beauty means?’ The young man stood silently. With tears running down his cheeks, he approached the old man; he reached his hand into his perfect, new and beautiful heart and tore off a piece of it… He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man then took this offering, put it inside his own heart and then took a little of his shattered heart and put it on the wound in the heart of the young man… It matched, of course, but not absolutely, and so there were some rough edges left… And the brave young man looked at his heart, which was no longer perfect… But it was more beautiful than any other because the love from the heart of the old man now overflowed from his own heart…” (translation: Eva Johanos) |
Η πιό όμορφη καρδιά (με υπότιτλους στα ελληνικά) |
This is a moving story. I revisit it every now and then to remind myself to give my heart away. It’s the only way to know of the beauty that comes from sharing something of ourselves. Thank you for this.