黑暗似乎具有能够遮断一切光明的魔力。但是人类对于光明的向往是永远也不可能被阻断的。镜子容易破碎，但是破碎的镜片依然能反射出完好的阳光。是光或者不是光也罢，重要的是要尽自己所能来反射光明，虽然微弱，也能驱走黑暗。

"Dr.Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?"

The usual laughter followed, and people stirred（激起，惹起） to go.

Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.

"I will answer your question."

Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold（皮夹子） and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.

And what he said went like this:

"When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked（失事） in that place.

"I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one, and, by scratching（擦伤，刮痕） it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine---in deep holes and crevices（裂缝） and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.

"I kept the little mirror, and, as I went about（四处走动） my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor（比喻，暗喻） for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light---truth, understanding, knowledge---is there, and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it.

"I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world---into the black places in the hearts of men---and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life."