The old man woke up before sunrise, as he often did, to walk by the beach and greet the new day. As he moved through the early morning, he saw a young man , bending(弯腰) and reaching and throwing, in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin
As he came near, he realized that the young man was not dancing to the day, but rather bending to check the debris (残骸、残余) left by the night's tide(潮水), stopping now and then to take starfish(海星) and then standing, to throw it back into the sea.
He asked the young man the purpose of the effort.“The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves ," the young man repied.“when the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back into the sea.”
As the young man explained, the old man looked at the beach .“But there are more starflish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference.”
The young man listened politely. Then he bent down to take another starfish, threw it into the sea and said,“It made a difference for that one.”
There is something very special in each and every one of us."
