佚名/Anonymous
A young man,a student in one of our universities,was one day takin g a walk with a professor,who was commonly called the students'friend,from his kindness to those who waited on his instructions.
As they went along,they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes,which they supposed to belong to a poor man who was employed in a field close by,and who had nearly finished his day's work.
The student turned to the professor,saying,"Let us play the man a trick:we will hide his shoes,and conceal ourselves behind those bushes,and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them."
"My young friend," answered the professor,"we should never amuse ou rselves at the expense of the poor.But you are rich,and may give yours elf a much greater pleasure by means of the poor man.Put a coin into ea ch shoe,and then we will hide ourselves and watch how the discovery aff ects him."
The student did so,and they both placed themselves behind the bushe s close by.
The poor man soon finished his work,and came across the field to th e path where he had left his coat and shoes.While putting on his coat h e slipped his foot into one of his shoes;but feeling something hard,he stooped down to feel what it was,and found the coin.
Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance.He gazed upo n the coin,turned it round,and looked at it again and again.He then l ooked around him on all sides,but no person was to be seen.He now put the money into his pocket,and proceeded to put on the other shoe;but h is surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.
His feelings overcame him;he fell upon his knees,looked up to heav en and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving,in which he spoke of his wi fe,sick and helpless,and his children without bread,whom the timely b ounty,from some unknown hand,would save from perishing.
The student stood there deeply affected,and his eyes filled with te ars."Now," said the professor,"are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"
The youth replied,"You have taught me a lesson which I will never f orget.I feel now the truth of those words,which I never understood bef ore:'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
一天，我們大學裏一個年輕的學生和一位教授一起散步。這位仁慈的教授常被學生稱為朋友，他對那些急切希望得到指教的學生非常友善。
途中，他們看到一雙舊鞋放在路邊，便猜測鞋子可能是某個在附近田地裏勞作的窮人的，他一天的勞動可能就快結束了。
學生轉過頭對教授說：“我們愚弄他一下吧，把他的鞋先藏起來，然後躲到灌木叢後，等著看他找不到鞋子會是怎樣困惑的表情。”
“年輕的朋友，”教授答道，“我們永遠不該拿窮人取樂。如果你富有，就應該去幫助窮人，那樣會讓你獲得更大的快樂。我們在每隻鞋裏各放一枚硬幣，然後躲起來看他對這一意外發現有何反應。”
學生按教授說的做了，然後他們躲到附近的灌木叢中。
很快，那個窮人的勞動結束了，他走出田地，來到放外套和鞋子的小路上。他邊穿外套，邊把一隻腳伸到鞋子裏，但是感覺到鞋裏有硬東西，他便彎下腰摸那是什麽，他發現那竟是一枚硬幣。
他吃驚地看著那枚硬幣，又看另一麵，如此看了又看。然後，掃視了一下周圍，一個人影都看不到。他把這枚硬幣裝進口袋，又去穿另一隻鞋，結果又發現了另一枚硬幣，他更驚訝了。
他感動至極，雙膝跪地，仰望上蒼，大聲地表達著自己的感激之情——正是陌生人的解囊相助，使他患病無助的妻子和食不果腹的孩子有了新的希望。
那名學生被深深地感動了，他的眼裏飽含著淚水。“喏，”教授說，“這難道不比惡作劇更使你快樂嗎？”
年輕人答道：“您給我上的這堂課我將永生難忘。現在，我終於明白了那句我一直都不理解的話：‘給予比接受更幸福。’”