A Man had two Daughters, one of whom he gave in marriage to a gardener, and the other to a potter. After a time he thought he would go and see how they were getting on; and first he went to the gardener's wife. He asked her how she was, and how things were going with herself and her husband. She replied that on the whole they were doing very well: “But,” she continued, “I do wish we could have some good heavy rain: the garden wants it badly.” Then he went on to the potter's wife and made the same inquiries of her. She replied that she and her husband had nothing to complain of: “But,” she went on, “I do wish we could have some nice dry weather, to dry the pottery.” Her Father looked at her with a humorous expression on his face. “You want dry weather,” he said, “and your sister wants rain. I was going to ask in my prayers that your wishes should be granted; but now it strikes me I had better not refer to the subject.”
一个男人有两个女儿，他把其中一个嫁给了一个园丁，另一个嫁给了一个制陶工人。一段时间之后，他想他应该去看看两个女儿过得怎么样了。他先去看了园丁的妻子，问她过得如何，和丈夫好不好。她说他们大体上都挺好的。“只是我真希望能够下上一场大雨，花园很缺水。”然后他又去看了制陶工的妻子，问了她同样的问题。她回答她和丈夫也都没有什么要抱怨的。“只是，我真希望天能干燥些，这样陶器才能变干。”父亲的脸上浮现出好笑的表情。“你想要干燥的天气，而你姐姐却希望能下雨。我本来想帮你姐姐祈祷，但现在看来，我还是别提这件事情了。”