stock  股票

　　spirit  精神

　　humble  卑微的

　　gloomy 悲观的

　　sundial 日晷

　　folly  愚蠢

　　steeple  尖塔

　　stupid  愚蠢的

　　boasting  吹嘘

　　modesty 谦虚

　　THE CLOCK AND THE SUNDIAL 时钟与日晷

　　One gloomy day, the clock on a church steeple, looking down on a sundial, said, "How stupid it is in you to stand there all the while like a stock!" 在一个阴霾的日子里，教堂塔尖上的时钟俯视着下面的日晷，说：“你真傻，就像树干似的一直站在那里！”

　　You never tell the hour till a bright sun looks forth from the sky, and gives you leave.  只有当明亮的太阳从空中直射到你，并且给予许可时，你才会计时，否则，你永远也不可能说出时间。

　　I go merrily round, day and night, in summer and winter the same, without asking his leave. 而我就在愉快地绕行，无论春夏秋冬，都在夜以继日地工作，从来不需要得到太阳的允许。

　　I tell the people the time to rise, to go to dinner, and to come to church. 我能告诉人们何时该起床，何时该出去吃饭，何时该到教堂来了。

　　Hark! I am going to strike now; one, two, three, four. 听！我现在该报时了；一，二，三，四。

　　There it is for you. How silly you look! You can say nothing. 这是给你听的。你看上去多么愚蠢呀！什么也不会说！

　　The sun, at that moment, broke forth from behind a cloud,and showed, by the sundial, that the clock was half an hour behind the right time. 就是那时，太阳从一片云彩后面喷薄而出，通过日晷显示出时钟走慢了半个小时。

　　The boasting clock now held his tongue, and the dial only smiled at his folly. 正在吹嘘的时钟这下可住了嘴，日晷转盘只是对它笑了笑而已。

　　MORAL.Humble modesty is more often right than aproud and boasting spirit. 寓意——谦虚、谦卑往往比浮夸的骄傲与吹嘘更真实确切。