The thornbush stared up at the moonlit sky, waiting for the warmth of dawn. Its tiny flowers huddled together against the cold. Finally the little bush drifted off to sleep.
有一棵荊棘樹仰視著月光清亮的天空，等待著清晨的溫暖。它身上細小的花朵為了怕冷而擠在一起。終於這棵小樹輕輕地墜入了夢鄉。
The ragged little bush grew between the stones at the edge of a narrow street that led to a grand palace. Its thorns were sharp, and its flowers were too small to be admired. Children never picked its blossoms, and travelers avoided the prickly bush. The thornbush felt ugly and unwanted.
這棵長得有點雜亂的小樹生長在通往宮殿的路旁的石頭縫中。它的刺很銳利，它的花微小得引不起人的欣賞。小孩子們從來不去摘它的花，路過的旅客也避開這棵刺人的樹欉。這棵荊棘樹覺得自己長得很醜陋，根本沒人要。
A rooster crowed. Harsh voices stirred the thornbush from its sleep. A crowd pushed a man through the quiet streets toward the palace. His hands were tied, but he showed no anger. The man stopped in front of the little bush. His gentle gaze made the bush feel warm and cared for. No one had ever shown such kindness to the thornbush. A moment later the shouting crowd forced the man to move on.
粗糙的雞啼聲擾人清夢，荊棘樹從夢中醒來。一批群眾推著一個人穿過寧靜的街道，往宮殿走去。他的雙手被綑綁，但他一點兒也不生氣。這個人在小樹前停了下來。他溫柔的凝視令小樹感覺溫暖而受關心。從來沒有人曾經向荊棘樹表現出如此的慈愛。不一會兒，怒喊的群眾又強迫這人繼續前行。
Out of the shadows came another man. As he passed, a silver coin fell to ground. It rolled beneath the thornbush. The man knelt to pick it up. His face was sad, and he began to weep. His tears fell on the thornbush.
“How I wish I could comfor him”, thought the little bush, “but my thorns will only piece him more.” The man stumbled off and did not return.
從陰影中走出了另一個人，當他經過時，一個銀錢掉落在地上，滾啊滾，竟滾到了荊棘樹下面。這個人屈膝跪下來拾撿。他的面容看起來好傷心，他開始哭泣。他的眼淚滴在荊棘樹上。
「但願我能夠安慰他，」小樹心裏想：「但是我身上的刺只會更加的剌痛他。」這人踉踉蹌蹌地走開，再也沒有回來。
People began to gather outside the palace. A soldier walked through the crowd toward the little bush. The morning sunlight reflected off of the soldier’s raise sword. With a single swing of the sharp weapon, several branches fell from the little bush. The soldier gathered the cuttings and returned to the palace.
“Why would anyone want my ugly thorns?” the thornbush wondered.
人們開始聚集在宮殿前。一位兵丁穿越了群眾，往小樹那裏走去。早晨的陽光反照出兵丁舉起的劍。隨著鋒利的兵器往下一揮，幾根樹枝從小樹上掉落下來。這兵丁拾起了砍下的樹枝，回到宮殿。
「怎麼會有人要我這醜陋的刺？」荊棘樹心裏發出疑惑。
The sun rose high in the morning sky. People began to shout as a man limped through the palace gates. “behold your king, Jesus,”laughed the soldiers, “who says he is the son of God!”
“Crucify him!” yelled the angry mob. The little bush shuddered. It was the man with the kind face. He was struggling to drag a heavy wooden cross over the rough stone street.
太陽高高地在早晨的天空昇起，當一個人一跛一跛地走出宮殿大門時，人們開始朝他叫罵。「看哪！這是你們的王，耶穌。」兵丁戲謔地嘲笑。「誰還說他是上帝的兒子！」
「釘死他！」氣憤的暴民大喊著。小樹顫抖著。他就是有慈祥面容的那個人。他正掙扎著拖著沉重的木頭十字架，走過岐嶇不平的石頭路。
As the man reached the thornbush, he stumbled and fell to his knees. He truned a tired face toward the little bush.
“Even though he will soon die on the cross, his eyes are filled with kindness”, the little bush thought.
當這個人走到荊棘樹前的時候，他被絆跌而倒、雙膝跪下。他將困倦的面容轉向這棵小樹。「雖然很快他就要死在十字架上，他的雙眼仍然充滿了慈愛。」小樹心裏想。
The thornbush recognized its own spiked branches weaved into a thorny crown upon this man’s head.
A drop of blood fell from the man’s forehead onto one of the bush’s small yellow blooms. The staind flower fell to the ground.
荊棘樹認出來，從它身上被砍下的帶刺的樹枝，被編成了一個荊棘的冠冕，戴在這個人頭上。
一滴血從這人額頭上流下來，滴在荊棘樹的一朵小花上面，沾血的小花掉落在地上。
It was a long sad day. When all the people finally went home and the street was deserted, the thornbush bowed in sorrow. It was ashamed of the pain its thorns had caused the man with the cross.
這真是又長又令人傷心的一天。當所有的人都回到了家中，街道又回到原來的荒涼。荊棘樹難過的低下了頭。多麼羞愧啊，小樹的刺竟然造成了背十字架的人更多的疼痛。
For two days the thornbush refused to bloom. Morning dew fell like tears from its trembling branches. The little bush bent low to examine the fallen flowers beneath it. Only one remained fresh – the flower stained by the blood of the man with the crown of thorns.
在這兩天之中，荊棘樹拒絕開花。早晨的露水像淚珠一樣的落在它發顫的枝條上。小樹彎下了身子，檢視著它落在地上的花朵。只有一朵仍然活著，就是沾著戴荊棘冠冕的人所流出的血的那朵。
On the third day after the man came, the bush was awakened by a beautiful dove. The graceful birds flew down to rest among the thornbush’s branches.
“He’s alive!” cried a woman as she hurried through the street. “ Jesus is risen!”
The thornbush was amazed. “Could the kind man really have risen from the dead?”
當這人走後的第三天，荊棘樹被一陣美麗鴿子的所叫醒。這些優雅的鳥飛下來，在荊棘樹的枝椏上休息。
「耶穌復活了！」一位婦人大聲喊著，一邊急急忙忙地順著街道跑過去。荊棘樹感到驚訝：「這位仁慈的人真的從死裏復活了嗎？」
Warm sunshine poured over the little bush. Its broken branches began to bud. Once more, the thornbush thought of the loving kindness shown by the man with the gentile eyes – the man they called Jesus.
溫暖的陽光灑在小樹身上。它被砍斷的枝條又開始發出了新芽。荊棘樹再一次想到了那位有溫柔眼神的人（就是被人稱作耶穌的那位）身上所流露出的慈愛。
The thornbush selected its most delicate bloom and held it high in the morning sun. Slowly, the golden bloom opened, revealing a touch of red, deep within the small blossom, as though it had been stained by a droplet of Jesus’s blood.
荊棘樹挑選出它最細緻的花朵，在晨光中高高的舉起來。慢慢的金黃色的花逐漸開展，在深深的花心之中，露出了一點血紅，就像是被耶穌所滴下的那滴血沾染的一樣。
The thornbush rejoiced! “The man, Jesus had died but lived again! He truly is God’s Son.” Jesus’ only crown had been woven from the branches of the little thornbush. But that crown was greater than silver and gold.
荊棘樹心裏充滿喜樂：「這個人耶穌死了卻又復活了！祂真的是神的兒子。」耶穌唯一的冠冕竟是荊棘樹的枝條所編成的。但是這冠冕卻比金冠或銀冠更高貴。
It was the crown of the King of kings Jesus.
它是萬王之王耶穌所戴的冠冕。
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