Love never fails

      Many years ago a boy of ten was working in a factory in Naples. He longed to be a singer, but his first teacher discouraged him. "You can't sing," he said. "You haven't any voice at all. It sounds like the wind in the shutters."
      But his mother, a poor peasant woman, put her arms about him and praised him and told him she knew he could sing, she could already see an improvement, and she went barefoot in order to save money to pay for his music lessons. That peasant mother's praise and encouragement changed that boy's life. His name was Enrico Caruso, and he became the greatest and most famous opera singer of his age.
     Like it says in 1st Corinthians 13, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things--Love never fails. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

      昔、10歳になる少年がナポリのある工場で働いていた。歌手になるのが少年の夢だったのだが、最初の教師は、こう言って彼を思いとどまらせた。 「君には歌えない。全く声量がない。まるで雨戸を揺する風のような声じゃないか。」
      ところが、貧しい農婦だった少年の母親は、少年を腕に抱き締め、心からほめると、こう言って励ました。「お前には歌える。歌が上手になっているのが、手に取るようにわかるよ。」　そして、少年が音楽のレッスンを受けられるようにと、自分は靴も履かずにお金を蓄えたのだった。そして、その母親の励ましと称賛は、少年の人生を変えた。少年の名はエンリコ・カルーソ。少年は、一世を風びした、最も偉大で、最も有名なオペラ歌手となったのである。