拉·封丹/ La Fontaine
First listen and then answer the questions.
1.What did the banker give the cobbler?
2.Why did the author say that the cobbler burried the happiness with the money together?
A cobbler passed his time in singing from morning till night; it was wonderful to see, wonderful to hear him; he was more contented in making shoes than was any of the seven sages. His neighbor, on the contrary, who was rolling in wealth, sung but little, and sleepless. He was a banker; when by chance he fell into a doze at day-break, the cobbler awoke him with his song. The banker complained sadly that Providence had not made sleep a saleable commodity, like edibles or drinkables. Having at length sent for the songster, he said to him,“How much a year do you earn, Master Gregory?”
“How much a year, sir?”said the merry cobbler laughing,“I never reckon in that way, living as I do from one day to another; somehow I manage to reach the end of the year; each day brings its meal.”
“Well then! How much a day do you earn, my friend?”
“Sometimes more, sometimes less; but the worst of it is, and, without that our earnings would be very tolerable, a number of days occur in the year on which we are forbidden to work; and the curate, moreover, is constantly adding some new saint to the list.”
The banker, laughing at his simplicity, said,“In the future I shall place you above want. Take this hundred crowns, preserve them carefully, and make use of them in time of need.”
The cobbler fancied he beheld all the wealth which the earth had produced in the past century for the use of mankind. Returning home, he buried his money and his happiness at the same time. No more singing; he lost his voice, the moment he acquired that which is the source of so much grief. Sleep quitted his dwelling; and cares, suspicions, and false alarms took its place. All day, his eye wandered in the direction of the treasure; and at night, if some stray cat made a noise, the cat was robbing him. At length the poor man ran to the house of his rich neighbor;“Give me back,”said he,“sleep and my voice, and take your hundred crowns.”
一個皮匠以歌自娛，在歌聲中度過每一天。每一個見到他，或聽到他歌聲的人都甚感愉快。他安於自己的製鞋工作，甚至覺得比做希臘七聖還滿足。他的鄰居是一個家財萬貫的銀行家，與他相反，銀行家很少唱歌，睡眠也不好，偶爾在天快亮時才打個盹，又被皮匠的歌聲吵醒了。他痛苦地抱怨上帝沒有把睡眠也變成商品，他多想睡眠也像食品和飲料那樣能隨意購買啊。最後，銀行家把這個歌唱者請過來，對他說：“格雷戈裏師傅，您一年能賺多少錢啊？”“一年賺多少錢嗎，先生？”快樂的皮匠笑道，“我可從來沒有統計過，我天天如此，每天掙足三餐，總能撐到年底。”
“啊，朋友，那麽，你一天掙多少呢？”
“有時候掙得多，有時又少點，我們的收入還可以。最難過的日子就是每年總有些時候不讓我們工作，而牧師又常吸納新的聖徒。”
銀行家被皮匠的直率逗樂了，他說：“今後，我將滿足你的一切需求，你把這一百枚錢拿去存好，需要時就拿出來用。”
皮匠覺得自己好像看到了幾個世紀以來，大地為人類所需創造出來的所有財富。他回家後，把這筆錢埋了起來，同時，也埋葬了他的歡樂。從此，他不再唱歌。在他得到錢這個痛苦根源的那刻起，就失去了歌喉。擔心、懷疑、虛驚讓他不能安穩入睡。他的目光整天遊移在藏錢的地方。晚上，就是野貓弄出點聲響，他也會以為有人來搶他的寶貝。最後，這個可憐的人跑到他富有的鄰居那裏，“還我睡眠和歌喉吧，把你的一百枚錢幣拿回去。”
心靈小語
很多時候，人的煩惱是因心中的貪欲產生的。其實，快樂並非是用財富堆砌而成的。簡簡單單的生活，才能體會一種雖然平凡卻幸福無比的滋味。
Learning for Better Understanding
Keywords and expressions
1. reckon
作動詞：測算，估計
詞組：reckon with處理；對付；和…算帳；預料到
reckon on指望；依賴
reckon in把……計算在內
reckon up計算；合計
例：I reckon that he is old enough.
我認為他的年齡已經夠大了。
2. stray
作形容詞：迷路的；離群的
例：Perhaps, I thought, a stray ambulance would pick her up.
我心裏想，也許一輛過路的救護車會把她帶走。
Practicing for Better Learning
Do the following statements agree with the information in the reading text?
Write
TRUEif the statement agrees with the information
FALSEif the statement contradicts the information
_______ (1) The banker, appreciating his simplicity, said,“In the future I shall place you above want. Take this hundred crowns, preserve them carefully, and make use of them in time of need.”
_______ (2) His neighbor, on the contrary, who was rolling in wealth, sung but little, and sleepless. He was a banker.
_______ (3) At length the poor man ran to the house of his rich neighbor;“Give me back,”said he,“sleep and my voice, and take your hundred crowns.”