一个可怜的人才(A Miserable Talent)

　　there once was a person who lived all his life in the king dom established by himself, poor, lonely, and without any recognition by others.

　　when he was 28, he fell in love with his cousin who was a pregnant widow. to express his love, he stretched his hand into the burning stove and seriously hurt his hand, almost disabling it. but his cousin didn't understand the special and weird way of love, and refused him. he nearly killed himself for this incident.

　　once he went to a place requiring tickets. without even five francs, he was not allowed to get in. a woman named rashell said to him, "since you haven't got any money, why not cut your ears instead?" he went back home and really cut his ears off with a sharp knife, then wrapped them in a piece of cloth,and sent them to rashell. most citizens in the town thought that he must be insane, and even asked the government to send him to the madhouse.

　　he loved painting, and he was a very talented painter.however, nobody could understand his pictures, nor could any one be aware of their value. his pictures could only be left in a tiny gallery administered by his brother, but none of them was sold for years. because of that, his brother was almost fired by the gallery holder.

　　perhaps there was only one picture finally sold out during his lifetime, which was named "red vineyard," at a price of four pounds. but the fact was that it was bought by his brother and friends who wanted to help him.

　　his biggest wish was to find a cafe to exhibit his works, but no cafe was willing to offer the service until he was dead.

　　in total desperation, he shot his abdomen but not fatally.he said to the doctor who came hurriedly, "it seems.., that i didn't do it well.., again..."

　　he died in boundless despair and loneliness. his funeral was also very simple.

　　he was vincent van gogh, the great painter. no one can rival him in the artistic achievement even up to now. every single one of his pictures is priceless. now these pictures are collected in the museums in paris, london and the netherlands,and all of them are hung in the most conspicuous places. his birthplace holland and his death place france both consider him a citizen.

　　why does god treat him so unfairly? creating him as a talent while not creating even one person appreciating him? does a talent need equal suffering to match with? talented to the extreme, miserable to the extreme? maybe god has already figured it out.