那些給我智慧和勇氣的寓言故事18：金錢包

A beggar found a leather purse that someone had dropped in the marketplace. Opening it, he discovered that it contained 100 pieces of gold. Then he heard a merchant shout,“A reward! A reward to the one who finds my leather purse!”

一個乞丐在集市撿到了一個別人遺失的皮錢包。他打開錢包一看，發(fā)現(xiàn)里面有100枚金幣。這時，他聽到一個商人大聲叫喊：“有重謝啊!誰發(fā)現(xiàn)我的皮錢包有重謝啊!”

Being an honest man, the beggar came forward and handed the purse to the merchant saying,“Here is your purse. May I have the reward now?”

乞丐很誠實，走過去把錢包遞給商人說：“這是你的錢包吧，我現(xiàn)在可以得到重謝了嗎?”

“Reward?”scoffed the merchant, greedily counting his gold.“Why, the purse I dropped had 200 pieces of gold in it. You've already stolen more than the reward! Go away or I'll tell the police.”

“重謝?”商人一邊貪婪地數(shù)著金幣，一邊嘲諷地說，“啊，我丟失的錢包里有200枚金幣，你偷走的金幣比我要給你重謝的還要多。走開，不然我要叫警察了!”

“I'm an honest man,”said the beggar defiantly,“Let us take this matter to the court.”

“我是個誠實的人!”乞丐反駁道，“我們到法庭評理去!”

In court the judge patiently listened to both sides of the story and said,“I believe you both. Justice is possible! Merchant, you stated that the purse you lost contained 200 pieces of gold. Well, that's a considerable cost. But, the purse this beggar found had only 100 pieces of gold. Therefore, it couldn't be the one you lost.”

法庭上，法官耐心地聽完雙方的陳述，然后說：“我相信你們兩個人，法律是公正的!商人，你說你丟失的錢包里有200枚金幣，這可是相當大的一筆錢。但是這個乞丐發(fā)現(xiàn)的錢包里只有100枚金幣，因此，這個錢包不是你丟的那個。”

And, with that, the judge gave the purse and all the gold to the beggar.

法官說完之后，就把錢包和所有的金幣都判給了乞丐。

單詞注解

implore [im'pl?:] v.懇求，哀求

decline [di5klain] v.謝絕;下降

delegation [di'klain] n.代表團

bid [bid] v.致敬;說(問候話)

leather ['leð?] n.皮革

marketplace ['mɑ:kitpleis] n.集市

reward [ri'w?:d] n.獎賞

considerable [k?n'sid?r?bl] a.相當大(多)的

實用句型

...he added to the official beside him, as the convict slunk away...

……當那個罪犯偷偷溜走時，他接著對身旁的這位官員說……

Justice is possible!

法律是公正的!

智慧點津

People always see the faults of others, and hardly realize that the behavior of others mirrors themselves.

人們往往只能看到別人的錯誤，殊不知，自己的不良行為和別人的沒有什么兩樣。

Blind greed will only lose more.

一味的貪婪只會失去更多。