英语美文：一块大金子

 Once upon a time there was a rich village. The wealthiest of the villagers decided¹ to hide a huge lump of gold to protect it from bandits and robbers. So he buried it in a nearby rice field.

从前有一个富裕的村庄。村民中最有钱的人决定将一大块金子藏起来以免土匪和强盗来打劫。于是他将那块金子埋在附近的稻田地里。

Many years later, the village was no longer rich, and the rice field was abandoned and unused. A poor farmer decided to plow² the field. After some time plowing³, it just so happened that his plow struck the long forgotten buried treasure.

许多年后，村子不再像以前那样富裕，稻田地被荒废，没有人再去耕种，一个贫穷的农民决定去犁地。犁了一些地后，犁头恰巧碰到了那块早被人们遗忘的金子。

At first he thought it must be a very hard tree root. But when he uncovered it, he saw that it was beautiful shining gold. Since it was daytime he was afraid to try and take it with him. So he covered it up again and waited for nightfall.

起先，农民以为犁头一定是翻到了坚硬的树根，但他扒开土时，才看到那是一块闪光的金子。在白天他不敢将金子拿回家，于是他又将金子埋起来并等待夜幕的降临。

The poor farmer returned in the middle of the night. Again he uncovered the golden treasure. He tried to lift it, but it was far too heavy. He tied ropes around it and tried to drag it. But it was so huge he couldn’t budge⁴ it an inch. He became frustrated⁵, thinking he was lucky to find a treasure, and unlucky to not be able to take it with him. He even tried kicking the huge lump of gold. But again it wouldn’t budge an inch.

半夜时，农民回来了。他将金子挖出来，想抬走金子，但是金子是在太重了，他用绳子将金块捆住，想将金子拽回去。但是金块太大了以致于他根本无法挪动。农民开始心烦，心想他能够幸运地找到金子，却无法抬走真是太倒霉了。他甚至去踢金块，但是金块仍然纹丝不动。

Then he sat down and began to consider the situation. He decided the only thing to do was to break the lump of gold into four smaller lumps. Then he could carry home one piece at a time.

农民坐下来开始想办法。他决定唯一可行的办法就是将金块分成4个小块。那样他每次可以抬一块回家。

He thought, "One lump I will use for ordinary day-to-day living. The second lump I will save for a rainy day. The third lump I will invest in my farming business. And I will gain merit with the fourth lump by giving it to the poor and needy⁶ and for other good works."

他这样盘算着：“一块金子用来支付日常的花销。第二块金子我会储存起来度过雨季。第三块金子我会用来投资农场生意。第四块金子施舍给穷人和需要帮助的人，和交换其它的好东西，这样我就可以获得很多好处。”

With a calm mind he divided the huge lump of gold into these four smaller lumps. Then it was easy to carry them home on four separate trips.

于是他平静地将那块金子分成4个小块。然后分4次将金块带回家。

Afterwards he lived happily.

从那以后他幸福地生活着。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

3 plowing   

v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀，宝贝儿。 来自飘（部分）
• Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后，他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句

4 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

5 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。