那些给我智慧和勇气的寓言故事18：金钱包

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!”

一个乞丐在集市捡到了一个别人遗失的皮钱包。他打开钱包一看，发现里面有100枚金币。这时，他听到一个商人大声叫喊：“有重谢啊!谁发现我的皮钱包有重谢啊!”

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?”

乞丐很诚实，走过去把钱包递给商人说：“这是你的钱包吧，我现在可以得到重谢了吗?”

“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.”

“重谢?”商人一边贪婪地数着金币，一边嘲讽地说，“啊，我丢失的钱包里有200枚金币，你偷走的金币比我要给你重谢的还要多。走开，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.”

“我是个诚实的人!”乞丐反驳道，“我们到法庭评理去!”

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，法官耐心地听完双方的陈述，然后说：“我相信你们两个人，法律是公正的!商人，你说你丢失的钱包里有200枚金币，这可是相当大的一笔钱。但是这个乞丐发现的钱包里只有100枚金币，因此，这个钱包不是你丢的那个。”

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

法官说完之后，就把钱包和所有的金币都判给了乞丐。

单词注解

implore [im'plɔ:] v.恳求，哀求

decline [di5klain] v.谢绝;下降

delegation [di'klain] n.代表团

bid [bid] v.致敬;说(问候话)

leather ['leðə] n.皮革

marketplace ['mɑ:kitpleis] n.集市

reward [ri'wɔ:d] n.奖赏

considerable [kən'sidərəbl] a.相当大(多)的

实用句型

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

……当那个罪犯偷偷溜走时，他接着对身旁的这位官员说……

Justice is possible!

法律是公正的!

智慧点津

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

人们往往只能看到别人的错误，殊不知，自己的不良行为和别人的没有什么两样。

Blind greed will only lose more.

一味的贪婪只会失去更多。