The Cobbler and the Banker 皮匠和銀行家
A cobbler passed his time in singing from morning till night;it was wonderful to see,wonderful to hear him;he was more contented in shoes,than was any of the seven sages.his neighbor,on the contrary,who was rolling in wealth,sung but little and slept less.he was a banker;when by chance he fell into a doze at day-break,the cobbler awoke him with his song.the banker complained sadly that providence had not made sleep a saleable commodity,like edibles or drinkables.having at length sent for the songster,he said to him,"how much a year do you earn,master gregory?" "how much a year,sir?"said the merry cobbler laughing,"i have reckon in that way,living as i do from one day to another;somehow i manage to reach the end of the year;each day brings its meal." "well then!how much a day do you earn,my friend?""sometimes more,sometimes less;but the worst of it is,-and,without that our earnings would be very tolerable,-a number of days occur in the year on which we are forbidden to work;and the curate,moreover,is constantly adding some new saint to the list." the banker,laughing at his simplicity,said,"in the future i shall place you above want.take this hundred crowns,preserve them carefully,and make use of them in time of need."the cobbler fancied he beheld all the wealth which the earth had produced in the past century for the use of mankind.returning home,he buried his money and his happiness at the same time,no more singin;he lost his voice,the moment he acquired that which is the source of so much grief.sleep quitted his dwelling;and cares,suspicions,and false alarms took its place,all day,his eye wandered in the direction of his treasure;and at night,if some stray cat made a noise,the cat was robbing him.at length the poor man ran to the house of his rich neighbor;"give me back." said he,"sleep and my voice,and take your hundred crowns."
一個皮匠從早到晚在唱歌中度過。無論見到他本人或聽見他的歌聲都使人覺得很愉快。他對于制鞋工作比當上了希臘七對還要滿足。與此相反，他的鄰居是個銀行家，擁有萬貫家財，卻很少唱歌，晚上也睡得不好。他偶爾在黎明時分迷迷糊糊剛入睡，皮匠的歌聲便于工作把他吵醒了。銀行家郁郁寡歡地抱怨上帝沒有睡眠也制成一種像食品或飲料那樣可以買賣的商品。后來，銀行家就叫人把這位歌手請來，問道：“格列戈里師傅，你一年賺多少錢？”“先生，你問我一年賺多少錢嗎？”快樂的皮匠笑道：“我從來不算這筆帳，我是一天一天地過日子，總而言之堅持到年底，每天掙足三餐。”“啊，朋友，那么你一天賺多少錢呢？”“有時多一點，有時少一點；不過最糟糕的是一年中總有些日子不準我們做買賣，牧師又常常在圣徒名單上添新名字，否則我們的收入也還算不錯的。”銀行家被皮匠的直率逗笑了，他說：“我要你從今以后不愁沒錢用。這一百枚錢你拿去，小心放好，需要時拿來用吧。”皮匠覺自己好像看到了過去幾百年來大地為人類所需而制造出來的全部財富。他回到家中，埋藏好硬幣，同時也埋葬了他的快樂。他不再唱歌了；從他得到這種痛苦的根源那一刻起，他的嗓子就啞了。睡眠與他分手；取而代之的卻是擔心、懷疑、虛驚。白天，他的目光盡朝埋藏硬幣的方向望；夜間，如果有只迷途的貓弄出一點聲響，他就以為是有人來搶他的錢。最后，這個可憐的皮匠跑到他那富有的鄰居家里說：“把你的一百枚錢拿回去，還我的睡眠和歌聲來。”
本文地址：http://www.hengchuai.cn/writing/story/21655.html
相關文章
-
安徒生童話：“There Is a Difference” 區別
it was in the month of may. the wind was still cold, but spring had come, said the trees and the bushes, the fields and the meadow...
2018-10-29 英語故事 -
The Story of the Yara
Down in the south， where the sun shines so hotly that everything and everybody sleeps all day， and even the great forests seem silent， except early in the morning and late in the evening――down...
2018-12-12 英語故事 -
伊索寓言：The Father and His Sons
The Father and His Sons A FATHER had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them...
2018-12-12 英語故事 -
俄狄浦斯 Oedipus
A prophet warned King Laius of Thebes that because he had married his cousin Jocasta，he would be killed by his son．To avoid the disaster，he ordered his loyal shepherd to k...
2018-11-24 英語故事 -
格林童話集：The Beam 雄雞馱木梁
THERE was once an enchanter who was standing in the midst of a great crowd of people performing his wonders. He had a cockbrought...
2018-10-29 英語故事 -
英語成語故事:聞雞起舞
Zu Ti of the Jin Dynasty（265-420）was a big-hearted and farsighted person who，however，was very naughty and did not like to study when he was a small kid.When he became a young man，he felt acutely th...
2018-12-09 英語故事 -
英語勵志故事：做雄鷹還是山雞，都在一念之間
a boy found an eagle's egg and he put it in the nest of a prairie chicken. the eagle hatched and thought he was a chicken. he grew up doing what prairie chicken do-scratching at the dirt fo...
2018-10-29 英語故事 -
格林童話： 小人兒的禮物(中)
一個裁縫和一個金匠一起外出旅行。一天傍晚太陽下山后，他們聽到遠處傳來了歌聲，而且聲音越來越清晰。樂聲很怪但又如此悅耳，以致他們忘記了疲勞，趕緊向前走去。月亮升起時，他們走到了山頂，在那兒看到一大幫個子矮小...
2018-12-12 英語故事 -
少兒英語故事:A Country Road(中英文對照)
英文：A Country Road Very far away from the city lived a poor farmer and his wife. In front of their house was a small dirt road. Very few cars drove on this road because it was so far from t...
2018-12-07 英語故事 -
The Magic Flute
The sun was setting as Sukumar walked up the dirt path and into the small village. He was a boy of about eleven or so. In the distance lay the majestic panorama of the Himalayas， the uppermost...
2018-12-12 英語故事
