Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well-known German composer, was far from being handsome. Along with a rather short stature, he had a grotesque hunchback.
One day he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Frumtje. Moses fell hopelessly in love with her. But Frumtje was repulsed by his misshapen appearance.
When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered his courage and climbed the stairs to her room to take one last opportunity to speak with her. She was a vision of heavenly beauty, but caused him deep sadness by her refusal to look at him. After several attempts at conversation, Moses shyly asked, "Do you believe marriages are made in heaven?"
"Yes," she answered, still looking at the floor. "And do you?"
"Yes I do," he replied. "You see, in heaven at the birth of each boy, the Lord announces which girl he will marry. When I was born, my future bride was pointed out to me. Then the Lord added, 'But your wife will be humpbacked.'
"Right then and there I called out, 'Oh Lord, a humpbacked woman would be a tragedy. Please, Lord, give me the hump and let her be beautiful.' "
Then Frumtje looked up into his eyes and was stirred by some deep memory. She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand and later became his devoted wife.
编者按：何谓“真爱”？真爱就是甘愿牺牲自己而去分担对方的痛苦与不幸。且不管德国哲学家门德尔松的这一番解释是否真的源于与上帝对话，这种为爱人舍身的精神着实让人感动，相信任何一个姑娘听到这番爱语都会为之动容。
相关单词：stature
stature解释：n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材
stature例句：
He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。
相关单词：grotesque
grotesque解释：adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）
grotesque例句：
His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。
相关单词：repulsed
repulsed解释：v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝
repulsed例句：
I was repulsed by the horrible smell. 这种可怕的气味让我恶心。
At the first brush,the enemy was repulsed. 敌人在第一次交火时就被击退了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
相关单词：pointed
pointed解释：adj.尖的，直截了当的
pointed例句：
He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
相关单词：devoted
devoted解释：adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的
devoted例句：
He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
