文學與人生 Dream sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.

"The Spark Plug" 火星塞

Jason gave the starter cord on the lawn mower a quick pull. Nothing happened. He pulled it again . . . and again. But no matter how many times he pulled the cord, the lawn mower would not start. Finally, he sat down on one of the lawn chairs with a disgusted look on his face. "This isn't my day," he grumbled as his father came out of the house. "First Mr. Bradley bawled me out, and now the mower won't start." He glanced up-he hadn't meant to tell Dad about Mr. Bradley, and he hurried to explain. "Honest, Dad, I didn't do anything very bad-I just said something that Mr. Bradley called a 'minced oath.'"

傑森很快拉了一下割草機的起動繩索.什麼也沒發生.他又拉了一次…又一次.但不管他拉了多少次,這割草機還是無法啟動.最後,他坐在一張草坪上的椅子,臉上帶著厭惡的表情.”真不是我的日子,”他對走出門來的父親抱怨.”首先是布萊德利先生對我大叫,現在是割草機不能發動.”他往上瞥了一眼-沒打算要告訴爹地有關布萊德利先生的事,很快解釋.”老實說,爹地,我沒做什麼多壞的事-我只是說了一些話, 布萊德利先生稱為”矯飾的咒語.”

"I see," Dad said as he went over to the silent mower. "I think you and this piece of machinery may have the same problem."

“我知道了,”爹地說,走到不能動的割草機旁.”我想你和這台機器有相同的問題.”

Jason was startled. "That doesn't make sense, Dad," he said.

傑森很驚訝,說:”那不合理,爹地”

Dad got out his toolbox and removed the spark plug from the mower. "Look at this, Jason. What do you see?" Dad asked.

爹地拿出工具箱,從割草機取下火星塞.”你看,傑森.你看到什麼?”爹地問.

Jason glanced at the spark plug. "Looks okay to me," he said. Then he looked closer. "Oh, wait." He pointed to the end of the spark plug. "There's some black stuff on there."

傑森看一下火星塞.說:”我看沒問題.”然後趨近前看.”喔,等一下.”他指著火星塞的末端.”有一些黑的東西在上面.”

"Watch this," said Dad. He cleaned the carbon off the spark plug and inserted it back into the mower. "Now try to start it."

“看這個”,爹地說.他將炭從火星塞清除掉,將它裝回割草機”現在試著發動.”

The mower started on the first pull. "Thanks, Dad!" exclaimed Jason. "You wouldn't think such a tiny bit of dirt could stop a great big lawn mower! Next time I have trouble, I'll check the spark plugs." He started to push the mower along the edge of the sidewalk.

繩子拉一下割草機就發動了.傑森歡呼:”謝謝你,爹地!你不會想到這麼小的土可以可以阻礙這樣大台的割草機!下次我有麻煩,我會檢查火星塞.”他開始延著人行道邊緣割草.

"Wait a minute, Son." Dad stopped him and turned the mower off. "Always remember that just a little bit of carbon on a spark plug can damage the performance of the lawn mower, and a little bad language can damage a Christian's testimony for the Lord."

“等一下,兒子.”爹地叫他停下來並將割草機關掉.”永遠記住,只要有一點炭在火星塞上就會破壞割草機的作用,而一點壞的語言則會損傷一個基督徒對上帝的見證.”

"You're talking about the minced oath I said at Mr. Bradley's, aren't you?" asked Jason.

“你是在說我對布萊德利先生說的矯飾咒語.是嗎?”傑森問.

"Yes," said Dad. "Mr. Bradley needs to believe in Jesus. We need to live and speak so that he sees Jesus in us. Understand, Son?"

“是的,”爹地說.”布萊德利先生需要相信基督.我們要在生活上和說話中讓他看見基督在我們身上的樣貌.

Jason nodded. "When you say it like that . . . I sure do!" he said.

傑森點頭說:”你那樣說…我確定應該是如此!”

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Do you think it's okay to use minced oaths? Do you know what they are? A minced oath is a "softened curse" that's used to avoid swearing. It uses words that are based on profanity-curse words-that have been changed to make them less objectionable. A few examples are gosh for God; gee or geez for Jesus; darn or dang for damn; and heck for hell. Do you use any of these or other minced oaths? Even if you don't mean anything particular by them, somebody might be offended.

你呢?

你認為使用矯飾咒語(穢語)是沒問題的嗎?你知道那些是什麼嗎? 矯飾咒語是”變弱的咒語”用來避免咒罵.使用的字是褻瀆的咒語-改變為較不令人反感. 例如用gosh代替God;gee或geez代替Jesus;darn或dang取代damn;還有heck取代hell.你會使用任何這些或其他的矯飾咒語嗎?即使你使用時沒有特別表示什麼意思,但有人可能仍會感到被冒犯喔!

TODAY'S KEY VERSE:

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. Ephesians 4:29

污 穢 的 言 語 、 一 句 不 可 出 口 、 只 要 隨 事 說 造 就 人 的 好 話 、 叫 聽 見 的 人 得 益 處 。

以弗所書4:29