A Song and Its Story

A good song is a feast of mind. The melody keeps shaking our spirit, the lyrics (words of the song) touching our soul. After admiring an excellent song from time to time, we also have a tendency to learn something more about it.

Here is a song called Heart of Gratitude. The words were probably written by a dumb person because there is a finger language performance when singing. The song is permeating with a kind of forlorn and hopeless emotion, and yet, after the author's own reflection and enlightenment, there is also a kind of courage and hope born out of despair.

The following words are the English translation of the song and the background of this song's creation. The translation is never good, but I can't help translating it because the song touches me deeply to the core and, I feel obliged to present such an extraordinary song to my kindred spirits.

感恩的心 Heart of Gratitude

我来自偶然像一颗尘土

I came form nowhere as a dust

有谁看出我的脆弱

Who cares my existence

我来自何方我情归何处

Where did I come from, where shall I go

谁在下一刻呼唤我

Who can find out my despair

天地虽宽这条路却难走

Large is the world, hard is the life

我看遍这人间坎坷辛苦

All I saw was bitterness and hardship

我还有多少爱我还有多少泪

How many love and tears do I have

要苍天知道我不认输

I will never desert myself

感恩的心感谢有你

Heart of gratitude, heart of gratitude

伴我一生让我有勇气作我自己

I defy the fate and remain true to myself

感恩的心感谢命运

Heart of gratitude, heart of gratitude

花开花落我一样会珍惜

I will cherish everything I have

重复（Repeat)

《感恩的心》创作背景 Creation of Heart of Gratitude

有一个天生失语的小女孩，爸爸在她很小的时候就去世了。她和妈妈相依为命。妈妈每天很早出去工作，很晚才回来。每到日落时分，小女孩就开始站在家门口，充满期待地望着门前的那条路，等妈妈回家。妈妈回来的时候是她一天中最快乐的时刻，因为妈妈每天都要给她带一块年糕回家。在她们贫穷的家里，一块小小的年糕都是无上的美味了啊。

There was a naturally dumb girl whose father died when she was a little child. She lived with her mother for survival. To eke out a living, her mother had to work overtime from dawn till dusk. Every day when the sun was setting down, the girl would be awaiting at the door, gazing at the way in front of their house in earnest aspiration, eagerly expecting her mother's return. Seeing mom was the happiest moment during the whole day. Her mother would bring a piece of rice cake for her everyday. Being an extremely poor family, a rice cake was the most delicious food.

有一天，下着很大的雨，已经过了晚饭时间了，妈妈却还没有回来。小女孩站在家门口望啊望啊，总也等不到妈妈的身影。天越来越黑，雨越下越大，小女孩决定顺着妈妈每天回来的路自己去找妈妈。她走啊走啊，走了很远，终于在路边看见了倒在地上的妈妈。她使劲摇着妈妈的身体，妈妈却没有回答她。她以为妈妈太累，睡着了。就把妈妈的头枕在自己的腿上，想让妈妈睡得舒服一点。但是这时她发现，妈妈的眼睛没有闭上！小女孩突然明白：妈妈可能已经死了！她感到恐惧，拉过妈妈的手使劲摇晃，却发现妈妈的手里还紧紧地拽着一块年糕……她拼命地哭着，却发不出一点声音……

One day, there was a pouring rain. Her mother did not come back after supper time. The girl waited and waited, her mother did not appear at last. As the dusk growing darker and the rain falling heavier, she decided to look for her mom by following the way her mother went and returned everyday. She walked and walked, after a long distance walking, she found her mother was lying on the ground. She rocked her mother fiercely, but her mother showed no response. The girl thought that her mom might be too tired to wake up, so she made a pillow with her legs and let her mother rest on it to make her mom comfortable. At the very moment, the girl found her mother's eyes did not close. It suddenly began to dawn on her that her mother had already died. A great trepidation and grief overcame her, she held fast her mother's hands and kept rocking and then found her mother was still grasping a piece rice cake. She wanted to cry, but found there was no crying voice come out.

雨一直在下，小女孩也不知哭了多久。她知道妈妈再也不会醒来，现在就只剩下她自己。妈妈的眼睛为什么不闭上呢？她是因为不放心她吗？她突然明白了自己该怎样做。于是擦干眼泪，决定用自己的语言来告诉妈妈她一定会好好地活着，让妈妈放心地走……

The rain kept pouring, the girl did not know how long had past since she began to cry. She was aware that her mother would never come back to life and, she had no one do depend on and had to live on her own from then on. Why mom's eyes refused to close? Was she still worrying about her beloved daughter? Suddenly, she got enlightened and knew how to do. She wiped off tears from her face, convincing to her mother that she will brave life afterward no matter how harsh life might be. Her mother had suffered the uttermost and sacrificed all her life to her, she had no reason to let her mother still worry about her after the departure from this miserable life.

小女孩就在雨中一遍一遍用手语做着这首《感恩的心》，泪水和雨水混在一起，从她小小的却写满坚强的脸上滑过….“感恩的心，感谢有你，伴我一生，让我有勇气做我自己……感恩的心，感谢命运，花开花落，我一样会珍惜……”她就这样站在雨中不停歇地做着，一直到妈妈的眼睛终于闭上……

The girl began to gesticulate in the heavy rain to express this kind of emotion. Tears and raindrops mixed together. Words were flowing out from her fingers...Heart of gratitude, thank you mother for bring me to the world. The gratitude will follow me for life. I will never desert myself... ... Heart of gratitude, I am always grateful no matter how hard life might be. Flowers blooming and withering, I will cherish everything I have ...... She kept gesticulating piously and religiously, until her mother's eyes finally closed.

这是一首感人肺腑的手语歌，这首歌的歌词是这样的凄婉悲凉，而这首歌的由来与内涵更催人泪下，激人奋进。最后，愿我们每个人都能怀着一颗感恩的心来面对我们的家人、朋友和他人吧！（尤其是残疾人）

This is a heart-breaking and soul-touching song performing with finger language. The words of the song is pathetic and pitiful. The dispair, the forlornness, the hopelessness and the despondency drive us all the more into an empathy. The story of the song is also tear-triggering and spirit-invigorating. It is a song of hope against hope.

May everyone holds a heart of gratitude to his family members, friends and others who concern about him/her. It might be more important for the disabled people to hold such a grateful heart, because gratitude begets courage, hope, love and rebornness.