昔日的大理石不见了，取而代之的是一尊真人大小的天使雕像。小男孩惊讶得合不拢嘴，满脸不解和迷惑。

网络图

每块石头里都有尊天使

赵文恒（编译）

一个小男孩跟着大人去罗马走亲戚。每天散步时，总要路过一座庄严肃穆的大教堂，里边传出叮叮当当的敲击声，不绝于耳。

受好奇心驱使，他推开沉重、吱吱作响的单扇大门，进入了教堂里边：一个须发皆白的老人正全神贯注地坐在一块巨大的大理石前，用锤子和凿子不停地雕刻着什么。

小家伙心里想：“嗯，这件作品肯定很重要，因为老人如此专注，根本就没有觉察到我的到来。”

想到这里，为了不打扰老人，他悄悄离开教堂。

接下来的日子里，他每天沿着同一条路线散步，每次都发现老人在专心致志地工作。

临回家前，他想再去一次问个究竟。推开沉重的大门，让他大吃一惊的是，昔日的大理石不见了，取而代之的是一尊真人大小的天使雕像，天使翅膀舒展、飘飘欲飞；太阳光通过彩色的玻璃窗照射进来，照在天使的身上，一切显得那么神秘、温馨，而那位须发皆白的老人，正气定神闲地注视着自己的作品，对小男孩的到来不理不睬。

小男孩惊讶得合不拢嘴，一会儿看看天使，一会儿看看气定神闲的老人，满脸不解和迷惑，最后他忍不住问道：“先生，您怎么知道这块石头里边有个天使呢？”

老人转过身来，看着小男孩的眼睛回答说：“孩子，世间万物包括我们每个人，心中都有一尊天使，我们需要做的仅仅是，用一把锤子和凿子，把不像天使的那部分凿掉，天使自然就会显现出来。”

Do You Believe In Angels?

There was once a young lad walking down the streets of Rome, from one end of the city to the other, on his way to visit a relative. While walking, he happened to pass a beautifully impressive cathedral and heard loud sounds coming from the building; they sounded like a lot of pounding.

Deciding to please his curiosity, he approached the building, opened the heavy monolithic door (which creaked as he opened it) and peeked inside the church. Well, all he could see was an old man in front of a big piece of marble, chipping away with a chisel and a hammer.

The young man probably thought to himself, "Well, it must be something very important because he doesn't even notice me". He then left the cathedral and continued on his journey.

Days later, he returned on the same route. It seemed like the old man was still going at it, so he decided to ask him what he was really doing.

He again went to the monolithic door, opened it and looked inside. To his amazement, there was a big statue of a cherub standing right between the presbytery and the sanctuary, with wings spread out wide open, almost as if in full flight, light shining on it through the stained glass windows, and graced the front of the church.

He could not help it but the next moment he was right next to the old man, with his jaw hanging wide open. He stared with absolute amazement and a puzzled look on his face. He just could not understand how the old man knew that there was an angel in that piece of marble and he could not help but asked him, "Sir, how did you know that there was an angel in that piece of marble?"

The old man turned around and looked at him straight in the eyes and replied: "Son, there is an angel in each and everyone of us. All we need to do is to take a hammer and a chisel and chip away all those little pieces that do not look like an angel."