A Miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had had converted it into a GREat lump of gold, which he hid in a hole in the ground, and went continually to visit and inspect it. This roused the curiosity of one of his workmen, who, suspecting that there was a treasure, when his master's back was turned went to the spot and stole it away. When the Miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But a neighbor who saw him in this extravagant grief, and learned the cause of it, said: "Fret thyself no longer, but take a stone and put it in the same place, and think that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to use it, the one will do you as much gold as the other.
一個守財奴,為了確保他的財產(chǎn),賣掉所有家當(dāng)換成了一大塊金子,埋在一個地洞里,并且不時地去查看,這引起了手下一個雇工的好奇。雇工猜測那里肯定有寶貝,趁主人離開之際,他來到埋藏地點,把金子偷走了。當(dāng)守財奴回來發(fā)現(xiàn)金子不翼而飛,便痛哭流涕,亂撮頭發(fā)。一個鄰人見狀問明原由后說“你也別太痛苦了,拿一塊石頭再埋在原地,就當(dāng)是那塊金子好了,因為既然你永遠(yuǎn)不想用它,那么兩者不是一回事嗎”。
金錢的價值不在于擁有,而在于使用。
詞匯:
extravagant 過分的
thyself = yourself