An old woman heard that the young lady living next door had lost her earrings2, and went to comfort her.

　　The lady said light heartedly "It doesn't matter that the earrings are lost, for as long as the ears exist, there is nothing to regret."

　　The puzzled old woman asked, "Isn't your earring1 made of jade3? It is costly4! So costly a thing is lost, don't you regret it?" to which she replied, "Ears are valuable, not because they are adorned5 with earrings but because they have the ability to hear. To ears, it does not add or decrease anything, whether earring exists or not."

　　一位老太太聽(tīng)說(shuō)鄰居的少婦丟了耳環(huán)，便去安慰她。

　　少婦不以為然地說(shuō)：“耳環(huán)丟了不算什么，只要耳朵還在就沒(méi)什么可以遺憾的。”

　　老太太疑惑地問(wèn)：“你的耳環(huán)不是玉石做的嗎？那東西很值錢(qián)的呀。這么值錢(qián)的東西丟了，你不感到可惜嗎？”少婦回答說(shuō)：“耳朵之所以寶貴，是因?yàn)樗苈?tīng)聲音，而不是因?yàn)榕宕髁酥靛X(qián)的耳環(huán)。耳環(huán)的存亡對(duì)于耳朵來(lái)說(shuō)，并沒(méi)有增加或者減少什么。”