A young man was about to finish school. For a long time he had expected to get a beautiful sports car. He knew his father could well afford it, so he told him that a sports car was all he wanted.

Then on the morning of his graduation¹, he was called to his father’s room. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful gift box. Surprised, the young man opened the box and found a lovely Bible² with his name on it. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, ”With all your money you give me a Bible? ”He then rushed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

Many years passed and the young man was very wonderful in business, and had a beautiful home and a wonderful family. Realizing that his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could go, he received a phone telling him that his father had died. He had to go home immediately³ and take care of the things that his father left him.

When he began to search through his father’s important papers⁴, he saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. He opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading⁵, a car key with a tag⁶ dropped from the back of the Bible. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words ”PAID IN FULL”. Sadness⁷ and regret⁸ filled his heart.

文章大意：

一个年轻人准备毕业了，一直以来他都梦想着能够拥有一辆漂亮的跑车，他知道父亲的积蓄完全可以支付得起，所以他告诉父亲他只想要跑车作为毕业礼物。

毕业当天早晨，他被叫到父亲的房里，父亲告诉他他为自己有这样一个出色的儿子而感到骄傲，同时也告诉他自己很爱他。说完就把一个漂亮的礼物盒交给了儿子。虽然很惊讶，但是这个年轻人还是打开了盒子，只看到一本写着他名字的圣经。年轻人很生气地提高了嗓门对他的父亲说：“你用光所有钱就给我买了一本圣经？”说完他就冲了出去，留下那本圣经。

很多年过去了，这个年轻人事业有成，拥有了自己的房子和一个温馨的家庭。他意识到自己的父亲也很老了，他想也许是时候去看看自己的父亲了。从毕业那天起他就再也没见过父亲了。在他出发之前，他接到了一个电话，电话那头的人告诉他他的父亲已经死了，他必须马上回老家和处理那些父亲遗留给他的东西。

当他查找父亲留下的重要文件时，突然发现那本圣经——还跟他离开时一样崭新。他打开这本圣经，开始翻着书页。他正阅读着，突然一个带着标签的汽车钥匙从圣经的后面掉了下来。标签上写着他的毕业日期，以及“全额支付”的字样。悲伤和遗憾填满了他的心。