Heaven and Hell--The Real Difference

　　A man spoke with the Lord about heaven and hell. The Lord said to the man, “Come, I will show you hell.” They entered a room where a group of people sat around a huge pot of stew. Everyone was famished, desperate and starving. Each held a spoon that reached the pot, but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their own arms that it could not be used to get the stew into their own mouths. The suffering was terrible.

　　“Come, now I will show you heaven.” The Lord said after a while. They entered another room, identical ,the pot of stew, the group of people, the same long-handle spoons. But there everyone was happy and well-nourished.

　　“I don’t understand,” said the man. “Why are they happy here when they were miserable in the other room and everything was the same?” The Lord smiled. “Ah, it is simple,” he said. “Here they have learned to feed each other.”

　　一個人在和上帝談論天堂與地獄。上帝對這個人說：“跟我來，我要讓你看看地獄是什么樣。” 他們進入一個房間，那兒有一群人圍著一個大鍋燉肉坐著。個個都面黃肌瘦、神情絕望、快要餓死的樣子。每個人手里都拿一把能夠得著鍋里肉的勺子，但每把勺子的柄都比他們的胳膊長得太多，他們無法用這把勺子把肉送進自己的嘴里。這種折磨真是太可怕了。

　　“來，我再帶你去看看天堂。”過了一會，上帝說。他們進入了另一個房間，和第*個房間一模一樣---一大鍋肉、一群人、把柄同樣長的勺子。但是，這兒人人都很快樂，養得白白胖胖的。

　　“我真不明白，”那個人說。“兩個房間其他都一模一樣，為什么這兒的人這么快樂而那個房間的人那么悲慘？” 上帝笑了.“呃，很簡單，”他說:“這里的人學會了相互喂食。”