The Cobbler and the Financier

There was once a cobbler who was so light hearted that he sang from morning to night. It was wonderful to watch him at his work, and more wonderful still to hear his runs and trills. He was in fact happier than the Seven Sages.

从前有一个鞋匠，他生性无忧无虑，从早到晚都唱个不停。看他干活是一件乐事，听他那婉转的歌声、颤动的曲调，就更是妙不可言了。他实际上比古代的七贤还要快乐。

This merry soul had a neighbour who was exactly the reverse. He sang little and slept less; for he was a financier, and made of money, as they say. Whenever it happened that after a sleepless night he would doze off in the early morning, the cobbler, who was always up betimes, would wake him up again with his joyful songs. "Ha!" thought the man of wealth, "what a misfortune it is that one cannot buy sleep in the open market as one buys food and drink!" Then an idea came to him. He invited the cobbler to his house, where he asked him some questions.

这个开朗的人有个邻居，脾气性情跟他截然相反。这位邻居很少唱歌，睡得更少；因为他是个金融家，用俗话说，是个视钱如命的人。每逢他熬了一整夜没睡，好不容易在清晨打起盹来，那位总是早起的鞋匠便会用他那欢快的歌声把他吵醒。“哈！”这位有钱人心想，“真是不幸啊，人竟不能像在公开市场上买卖食物和饮料那样，去买一份睡眠！”这时，他脑子里冒出了一个主意。他把鞋匠请到自己家里，向他问了几个问题。

"Tell me, Master Gregory, what do you suppose your earnings amount to in a year?"

“告诉我，格雷戈里师傅，你估计你一年能挣多少钱？”

"In a year," laughed the cobbler, "that's more than I know. I never keep accounts that way, nor even keep one day from another. So long as I can make both ends meet, that's good enough for me!"

“一年嘛，”鞋匠笑着说，“这我可说不上来。我从来不那样记账，甚至连一天和另一天都分不清楚。只要我能维持收支平衡，对我来说就足够了！”

"Really!" replied the financier. "But what can you earn in one day?"

“真的吗！”金融家答道。“那你一天能挣多少呢？”

"Oh, sometimes more and sometimes less. The mischief of it is that there are so many fête days and high-days and fast-days crowded into the year, on which, as the priest tells us, it is wicked to work at all; and worse still he keeps on finding some new saint or other to give weight to his sermons. If it were not for that, cobbling would be a fine paying game."

“哦，有时多些，有时少些。麻烦就麻烦在，一年里塞进了太多的节日、圣日和斋戒日，正如神父告诉我们的那样，在这些日子里干活是有罪的；更糟的是，他还不断地找出些新的圣人来，好给他的布道添些分量。要不是这样，做鞋这一行本该是很赚钱的营生呢。”

At this the wealthy man laughed. "Look here, my friend, to-day I'll lift you to the seats of the mighty! Here is a hundred pounds. Guard them and use them with care."

听到这里，这位富人笑了起来。“听着，朋友，今天我要把你抬举到有钱有势的人那个位置上去！这里是一百英镑。好好收着，小心花用。”

When the cobbler held the bag of money in his hand he imagined that it must be as much as would be coined in a hundred years.

鞋匠一把那袋钱拿在手里，就以为这该是花上一百年才能攒下的钱吧。

Returning home he buried the cash in his cellar. Alas! he buried his joy with it, for there were no more songs. From the moment he came into possession of this wealth, the love of which is the root of all evil, his voice left him, and not only his voice, but his sleep also. And in place of these came anxiety, suspicion, and alarms; guests which abode with him constantly. All day he kept his eye on the cellar door. Did a cat make a noise in the night, then for a certainty that cat was after his money.

回到家后，他把这笔钱埋进了地窖里。唉！他连同自己的快乐也一并埋了进去，因为从此再也没有了歌声。从他拥有了这笔财富——而对财富的贪爱正是万恶之源——的那一刻起，他的歌声离他而去，不仅如此，他的睡眠也随之而去。取而代之的是焦虑、猜疑和惊慌，这些不速之客从此常伴他左右。整整一天，他都紧盯着地窖的门。哪怕夜里一只猫弄出点动静，他也一口咬定，那猫准是冲着他的钱来的。

At last, in despair, the wretched cobbler ran to the financier whom he now no longer kept awake. "Oh, give me back my joy in life, my songs, my sleep; and take your hundred pounds again."

最后，这个可怜的鞋匠绝望之下，跑去找那位如今再也吵不醒他的金融家。“哦，把我生活里的快乐、我的歌声、我的睡眠都还给我吧；你的那一百英镑，我还给你。”