雙語·《伊索寓言》 賣神像的人

THE IMAGE-SELLER

A certain man made a wooden Image of Mercury, and exposed it for sale in the market. As no one offered to buy it, however, he thought he would try to attract a purchaser by proclaiming the virtues of the Image. So he cried up and down the market, “A god for sale! a god for sale! One who'll bring you luck and keep you lucky!” Presently one of the bystanders stopped him and said, “If your god is all you make him out to be, how is it you don't keep him and make the most of him yourself?” “I'll tell you why,” replied he; “he brings gain, it is true, but he takes his time about it; whereas I want money at once.”

賣神像的人

有一個人做了一個木頭的墨丘利神像，帶到市場上去賣，可是沒有人買。他想，如果能夠宣傳一下這尊神像的好處，應(yīng)該就能吸引來購買者了。所以，他在市場中來來回回地走著喊道：“賣神像啦！賣神像啦！可以給你帶來好運，可以幫你守住好運！”立刻就有一個看熱鬧的人攔住他問：“要是你的神像如你說的那樣，你怎么不留著他，給你自己謀到最大好處呢？”“是這樣的，”那人回答說，“他的確能夠帶來益處，但卻需要時間，而我現(xiàn)在就需要用錢?！?/p>