A Miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had had converted it into a great lump of gold, which he hid in a hole in the ground, and went continually to visit and inspect it.

一个守财奴,为了确保他的财产,卖掉所有家当换成了一大块金子,埋在一个地洞里,并且不时地去查看.

This roused the curiosity of one of his workmen, who, suspecting that there was a treasure, when his master's back was turned went to the spot and stole it away.

这引起了手下一个雇工的好奇。雇工猜测那里肯定有宝贝,趁主人离开之际,他来到埋藏地点,把金子偷走了。

When the Miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But a neighbor who saw him in this extravagant grief, and learned the cause of it,

当守财奴回来发现金子不翼而飞,便痛哭流涕,乱撮头发。一个邻人见状问明原由后说

said: "Fret thyself no longer, but take a stone and put it in the same place, and think that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to use it, the one will do you as much gold as the other."

“你也别太痛苦了,拿一块石头再埋在原地,就当是那块金子好了,因为既然你永远不想用它,那么两者不是一回事吗”。

寓意:

金钱的价值不在于拥有,而在于使用

词汇:

extravagant 过分的

thyself = yourself