The LOVE

brady

Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well－known German composer, was far from being handsome. Along with a rather short stature, he had a grotesque hunchback.

　　 One day he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Frumtje. Moses fell hopelessly in love with her. But Frumtje was repulsed by his misshapen appearance.

　　 When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with her. She was a vision of heavenly beauty, but caused him deep sadness by her refusal to look at him. After several attempts at conversation, Moses shyly asked, “Do you believe marriages are made in heaven？”

　　 “Yes, ”She answered, still looking at the floor. “And do you？”

　　 “Yes I do, ”He replied. “You see, in heaven at the birth of each boy, the Lord announces which girl he will marry. When I was born, my future bride was pointed out to me. Then the Lord added, ‘But your wife will be humpbacked. ’”

　　 “Right then and there I called out, ‘Oh Lord, a humpbacked woman would be a tragedy. Please, Lord, give me the hump and let her be beautiful. ’”

　　 Then Frumtje looked up into his eyes and was stirred by some deep memory. She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand and later became his devoted wife.

　　德国著名作曲家门德尔松的祖父摩西·门德尔松长得其貌不扬。除了个子十分矮小之外, 他还有一个长得奇形怪状的驼背。

　　一天, 他去汉堡拜访一位商人, 这位商人有一个美丽的女儿, 名叫弗鲁姆叶。摩西无可救药地爱上了她, 但因为外表丑陋, 摩西遭到了她的拒绝。

　　快要离开的时候, 摩西鼓起勇气来到了楼上她的房间, 他要抓住这最后的机会和她谈一谈。她的美丽超凡脱俗, 但让摩西感到非常难过的是, 她连看也不看他一眼。试着开了几次口之后, 摩西怯生生地问道“你相信婚姻是上天注定的吗？”

　　“相信, ”她回答道, 双眼仍看着地板。“你呢？”

　　“我也相信。”他说, “天堂里, 每个男孩出生的时候, 上帝便宣布将来他会娶哪个女孩为妻。当我出生时, 上帝也为我指定了未来的新娘。接着, 上帝又补充说‘不过, 你的妻子会是一个驼背。’”

　　“我当场就叫了出来‘哦。上帝, 一个女人驼背将会是极大的不幸。求求您。上帝, 把驼背给我, 让她变漂亮吧。’”

　　于是, 弗鲁姆叶抬起头, 看着他的眼睛, 记忆深处的某些东西把她深深打动了。她伸出手, 答应了门德尔松的求婚。后来, 成为了他忠诚的妻子

brady

《读者》也曾经转载过这个故事。

以下是引用afh在2003-11-29 8:54:00的发言：
我喜欢这个故事，虽然听过很多次了！
真诚是最重要的，永远不要试图隐瞒什么，对自己爱的人！

afh

我喜欢这个故事，虽然听过很多次了！
真诚是最重要的，永远不要试图隐瞒什么，对自己爱的人！