一位父亲很有钱，有一天，他和家人带着小儿子到乡下去参观。他们立意要让小儿子知道什么叫做「穷」，所以带他去农村，要他实地体会一下穷人的生活。
他们在一个很穷的农家里住了两天。
农家的孩子要负责喂养家畜，要负责训练帮忙农事的狗。
傍晚时分，为了节省自来水费，农家的孩子们都到附近的小溪里去洗澡；晚上没钱没灯、没钱付电费，只能全家聚在黑漆漆的院子里聊天。
当他们从农家回来以后，爸爸问孩子说：「你觉得这趟行程如何？」
孩子说：「很好啊！爸爸！」
「你见识到穷人家到底有多穷了吧？」爸爸问。
「是啊！」孩子点头称是。
「那你看到了什么吗？」爸爸又问。
孩子回答说：「我终于见识到我们家到底有多穷了。」
孩子继续说：「我们只有一只狗，但是他们却有四只狗；那四只大狗在他们小孩的指挥之下，又听话，又懂事。当他们家的小孩好神气！」
「而且，我们只有一个游泳池，还是在花园中间；但是他们却有一整条溪流，没有尽头；他们每天都可以尽情地玩水仗，我们家却只有我一个人游泳。」
「还有，我们家的花园只有一排进口的路灯，可是他们却有满天的星星；他们每天晚上都可以聊天聊得好高兴，可是我们家却没有人跟我聊天。」
「我们家的空间只到前面庭院，但他们却有整个天地的空间。」孩子作了个结论。
孩子说完，父亲无言以对。
这位富爸爸用心良苦的，希望自己的孩子体验何为贫穷生活，并刻意安排孩子住在很穷的农家里两天。最后，为这位父亲万万没想过，原来儿童所看到的东西，的确与大人是不同的 - 不同的观察、不同的视野、不同的定义。
本篇非常感人, 更具激励人心, 身为台湾原住民教会之牧者, 真想译为族语(阿美族)供多人分享与得激励.不知可否同意本人将诸多好文章译为阿美语,供团契聚会分享与使用,若可烦请出具"同意翻译阿美语授权书"以便以尊重著作权之礼.专此请示, 谢谢, 并愿主赐福圣工.
The original author is unknown, the article was translated from English.
Here is the English version.
One day, a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night."
"Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight."
"We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. "
"We have walls around our property to protect us and they have friends to protect them."
With this, the boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't have.
What is one person's worthless object is another's prize possession. It is all based on one's perspective.
Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for all the bounty we have, instead of worrying about wanting more. Take joy in all you have, especially your friends.