【英文原文】

Feather in the wind

摘要：一位善良的女人一天说了一些话伤害了她最好的有多年友情的朋友；她话一出口就后悔了，她想做任何事来收回她的话。她的话伤害朋友如此之深，以至于这个善良的女人为自己给朋友造成痛苦而伤心不已。

A certain good woman one day said something that hurt her best friend of many years. She regretted immediately and would have done anything to have taken the words back . What she said hurt the friend so much that this good woman was herself hurt for the pain she caused . In an effort to undo what she had done , she went to an older ,wise woman in the village, explained her situation ,and asked for advice.

Listening to her ，the older woman sensed the younger woman's distress and knew she must help her . She also knew she could never alleviate the pain , but she could teach . She knew the outcome would depend solely on the character of the younger woman . She said ,"Tonight ,take your best feather pillows and put  single feather on the doorstep of each house in the town before the sun rises."

The young woman hurried home to prepare for her chore ,even though the feather pillows were very dear to her .All night long ,she labored alone in the cold. Finally the sky was getting light ,she placed the last feather on the steps of the last house .Just as the sun rose, she returned to the older woman.

"Now", said the wise woman,"go back and refill your pillows with the feather you have put on the steps .then everything will be as it was before."

"You know that's impossible! the wind blew away each feather as fast as I placed them on the doorsteps!"  the young woman was surprised .

"That's true," said the older woman."never forget. each of your words is like a feather in the wind. once spoken, no amount of effort, regardless how heartfelt or sincere, can never return them to your mouth. Choose your words well and guard them most of all the presence of those of you love. "