A young apprentice is obsessed with crafting the perfect vase, until his master shatters his proudest creation right before his eyes.
Scene 1: The Flawless Vase
陈舟在窑前守了整整一夜，只为等这只青瓷瓶出炉。
Chen Zhou kept watch by the kiln the whole night through, just to wait for this celadon vase to come out of the fire.
Chen Zhou
师父，您看，这次的均匀，一丝都没有，简直！
Master, look! This time the glaze is perfectly even, not a single crack anywhere. It's absolutely flawless!
老人接过瓶子，对着光转了一圈，眉头却渐渐皱了起来。
The old man took the vase, turned it once toward the light, and yet his brow slowly furrowed.
Master
光滑是光滑，可它太干净了，干净得不像出自人手。
Smooth, yes, it's smooth. But it's too clean, so clean it hardly looks like it came from human hands.
Scene 2: A Sudden Shattering
老人从架子最高处，捧下一只布满细密的旧瓶。
From the very top of the shelf, the old man lifted down an old vase covered in a web of fine cracks.
Master
这是我四十年前烧的，没控制好，开窑时就裂成了这样。
I fired this one forty years ago. I couldn't control the heat properly, and it had already cracked like this when I opened the kiln.
Chen Zhou
可您一直把它摆在最显眼的地方，我还以为那是什么呢。
But you've always kept it in the most prominent spot. I actually thought it was some priceless treasure.
话音未落，老人忽然松手，那只完美的新瓶在地上摔得粉碎。
Before the words had even faded, the old man suddenly let go, and the perfect new vase smashed to pieces on the floor.
Scene 3: Sunlight Through the Cracks
Chen Zhou
师父！那是我熬了一夜的，您怎么说摔就摔了？
Master! That was a whole night of my heart and soul. How could you just smash it like that?
Master
你心疼的是它完美，还是它出自你的手？冷静下来，看看这只旧瓶。
Is it the perfection you grieve for, or the fact that it came from your own hands? Calm down, and take a look at this old vase.
晨光斜斜地穿过那些，在墙上投下一片细碎而温暖的光斑。
The morning light slanted through those cracks, casting onto the wall a scattering of small, warm patches of glow.
Master
你那只瓶子挡住了所有的光，而它，偏偏让光透了进来。
Your vase blocked out all the light, while this one, of all things, let the light come shining through.
Scene 4: The Crack That Was Kept
陈舟蹲在碎片旁，半晌没说话，指尖轻轻碰着那些尖锐的边缘。
Chen Zhou crouched beside the shards, saying nothing for a long while, his fingertips gently brushing those sharp edges.
Chen Zhou
我一直拼命想藏起所有的，却忘了瓷器本来就是从火里裂出来的。
I kept fighting so hard to hide every flaw, and I forgot that porcelain itself is born cracking out of the fire.
几个月后，陈舟烧出一只新瓶，瓶身上特意留着一道的。
A few months later, Chen Zhou fired a new vase, deliberately leaving a single winding crack along its body.
Master
这一回，我总算在瓶子里，看见你这个人了。
This time, at last, I can see you, the real you, inside the vase.