my dear friends：
do you know what is the most precious and everlasting thing in the world?
money? you may lose everything you have if you do not use money carefully enough. youth? in one?'s long life youth is like a flash in the pan and no one in the world has the secret to keep his youth forever. beautiful look? many people pray that they can get hold of beauty, but it disappears far more quickly than they can imagine. and when they are in real trouble beauty itself feels helpless. a good job? as you grow older and your brain and hands cannot work as fast as before, it will become other people?'s wealth.
then what is the most precious and ev－erlasting thing in the world?
when you are far away from your fam－ily and feel especially lonely, who will you think of? when you stand on the crossroad in your life and do not know which way to choose, who will you think of? when you encounter greater difficulties than ever and need other?'s encouragement, who will you think of? when you decide to make the greatest decision in your favorite course, who will you think of? who gave birth to you? who brought you up? who shed cheer－ful tears when seeing you make achieve－ments? whose wholehearted blessing will be always with you no matter how far you will go?
yes, it's mother that you will always think of and it's mother's love that will be always together with you.
i once heard a moving story about a mother. two children were drawn into the flood and the situation was very dangerous. their mother jumped into the water without the least hesitation. but you know the moth－er could not swim at all. jumping into the water means she might lose her life. but at that time she had no time to think about herself. she just wanted to try all means to save her children.
maybe her courage moved the god. the miracle happened. she finally succeeded in saving her children one by one. and she, of course, felt extremely ex－hausted.
my friends, mother's love is the greatest love. mother's love is the safest love. no matter you are happy or sorrowful, rich or poor, mother's love will always stay with you.
thank you all!
母
愛
靈 筠（譯）
親愛的朋友：
你知道什麼是世界上最珍貴、最永恆的事物嗎？金錢？不！不是！因為即使你腰纏萬貫，但如果揮霍無度的話，你也會有不名一文的時候。青春？也不是！在人漫長的一生中，青春如曇花一現，稍縱即逝，世界上誰也沒有永葆青春的祕訣。也許你會說美貌，我覺得也不是。儘管很多人都希望美麗常在，可是往往不如人意，況且我們一旦陷入困境時，即使擁有美貌，那也無能為力。那麼，一個好的工作應該是了吧？但是，朋友，你應意識到，隨著年齡的逐漸增大，我們一天天在衰老，思維呢，不如以前敏捷；手腳呢，也不如人家靈活。這時，你不能勝任那個工作了，即使它再好，也不得不拱手相讓。
那麼，到底什麼才是世界上最珍貴、最永恆的事物呢？
當你遠離家鄉漂泊異地，倍感孤單寂寞的時候，你會想到誰？當你站在人生的十字路口，迷惘彷徨，不知何去何從時，你會想到誰？當你在挫折和痛苦面前悲觀、嘆息、失望，急需別人的安慰和鼓勵時，你會想到誰？人生道路，需要你做出重大抉擇時，你會想起誰？是誰給了你最初的生命，把你帶到這個世界，享受多姿多彩的生活？是誰教你說話，教你走路，含辛茹苦把你撫養成人？當你取得成績時，誰會激動得淚流滿面？誰的祝福，無論你走得多遠，都會圍繞在你身邊，直到永遠？
是的，種種情況下，你想得最多的就是母親，因為，你知道也相信，母親的愛是永遠和你在一起的。
我曾聽到過這樣一個關於母親的感人故事：兩個小孩不幸被捲入洪水中，也許一瞬間他們幼小的生命就將被無情的大水所吞噬。可就在這危急時刻，他們的母親毫不猶豫地跳進了那正在怒吼著的洪水之中……同學們，洪水是無情的！可更讓我們擔心的是，這位母親根本不會游泳！跳入水中也就意味著她可能失去她自己寶貴的生命！但是，那個救孩子心切的母親根本沒有時間去考慮她自己，她心裡裝的只是那兩個孩子，那兩個將被洪水奪去生命的孩子，她必須想方設法去搶救他們。也許她的勇氣和她那無私的偉大的母愛感動了上帝，奇蹟發生了：她竟然成功地把兩個小孩的生命從無情的洪水中搶了回來！毫無疑問，與洪水一番搏鬥之後，這位母親也筋疲力盡了。
朋友們，母愛是偉大的，母愛也是最安全的，不管你是快樂還是悲傷，富裕還是貧窮，母親的愛都將永遠和你在一起。
謝謝大家！
簡評：向聽眾提問是演講者慣用的開始講演的手段，以期一開場便能吸引聽眾的注意力。本篇演講的作者便是利用這一方式提出了“什麼是世界上最珍貴、最永恆的事物”這一問題，並對可能的回答逐一進行了分析、辨別和否定，當聽眾心中疑團頓生之時，八個有序而有力的問題的引導使人心中豁然開朗，如有撥雲見日之感：是啊，世界上有什麼東西能超越母親的愛呢？作者還用典型事例更加有力地說明了這一點。
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