A man was taking a basket of plums to market. He carried the basket on his head. 一个男人拿着一筐李子去市场。他用头顶着框。

　　As he walked along the road, three or four of the plums dropped out, and fell on the ground. 他沿街走着，三四个例子从筐里掉出来，落在了地上。

　　The man did not notice them fall, so he went on. But a poor boy saw them fall, and picked them up. 这个男人没意识到，于是继续走着。但是一个穷小子看见李子掉落了，于是捡了起来。

　　"Here! here!" he called to the man; who turned round when he heard him, and stopped.  “这里！这里！”他向男人喊着，而后者听到后停下脚步，转了过来。

　　The boy brought the plums to him, and put them in his hand. 男孩儿将李子拿过去，放在男人的手里。

　　"Thank you kindly," said the man as he took the fruit; "and now," said he, putting his basket on the ground, " “谢谢你这样好心，”男人接过水果，“现在，”一边说着，他一边把篮子放在地上，

　　take the best you can pick for yourself, for you are an honest boy." “为自己从中选出最好的，因为你是个诚实的孩子。”

　　When the man had gone on, a lad came up and said to the boy,  男人走远后，一个小伙子来到男孩跟前说，

　　"You might as well have kept all that fell; for then you could have given some to me." “你应该把那些掉落的留下，那样你还能分我一些。”

　　"No, no," replied the boy: "you may have this plum if you like, for it is mine to give; “不行，不行，”男孩回答说，“如果你喜欢的话就拿着这个，因为这个是我的了；

　　but if I had given you what was not mine, I should have been stealing.  但如果我把不属于我的给了你，我那就叫偷。

　　Poor as I am, I am too proud to lose my good name." 尽管我穷，但我很自豪没有丢了我的好名声。”