SOUNDING BRASS
空鸣的锣
1.It was a bright winter morning，not far from the holidays，and little Dick Melville was busily collecting his dinner-basket and books preparatory to setting out for school，when his older sister asked，“Did you learn any verse this morning，Dick？”
2.“Of course I did，and said it to mother，too.It was-Oh where is my geography？-I do believe baby has hid it somewhere.Well，it began-Oh，Bridget！please put in one more slice of bread and butter.”
3.“That is the queerest verse I ever heard，”said Sam，whorather liked to tease his little brother.
4.“Now，really，Sam，I was just going to repeat it.It was，’though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels，and have not charity，I am become as sounding brass，or a tinkling cymbal，‘and mother said charity meant love，and feeling kindly towards everybody；but if we are cross and hateful，then we are like ’sounding brass，‘which is-”
5.“Hear me，”interrupted curly-headed little Madge，“I learned one too-’Charity suffereth long，and is kind.‘”
6.“That is a nice verse for kind little Madge，”said Sam，lifting her on his knee.
7.“Dear me，”again broke in Dick，“where can my skates be？Fred Allen said the pond was frozen over，and we would have a great time up there after school.”
8.“Why，Dick，Gussy Burton came here last night，and toldme you said he might take them.”
9.“Now，Nelly，that is too bad！He told you a downright falsehood.He has lost his own skates，and he told me yesterday he was afraid he should not get another pair till Christmas；but he did not say a word about mine，for he knew I wanted to use them myself.”
10.“That is very strange，”said Nelly.
11.“Strange！it is downright mean，”cried Dick，vehemently，“and I will say that Gussy Burton is the slyest，most selfish boy in school，and I do not believe he would mind telling a lie any more than-”
12.“Hush a minute，”cried Sam，with a merry twinkle in his eye，“I should not think the band would be out so early in the morning，but I am sure I hear plenty of ’sounding brass‘somewhere.”
13.Little Madge eagerly listened，with her curly head on one side，but Dick，coloring，angrily retorted.
14.“I know what you mean，Sam，but if you would just look at home，I think you would find enough ’tinkling cymbals‘to match my ’brass.‘“15.”Dear little Dick，“began gentle sister Nelly.
16.”Yes，I know it，Nelly；I know I was wrong；but if you were only a boy，and loved to skate as I do，and then had every thing go wrong，you would forget all about charity，and wouldnot care a bit if you had just turned into ’sounding brass.‘“17.”Well，I did not know you were in such a sad state of mind，“said Sam，laughing.“You may take my skates，if you like them.”
18.“Oh dear，no；thank you just the same，but they are a great deal too large；”and little Dick，with a heavy step，started for school.
【中文阅读】
1.这是一个冬天。这天天空晴朗，离节日很近了，小迪克o 梅尔维尔正忙着收拾上学用的午餐盒和书，这时姐姐问他：“今天早晨你读《圣经》了吗，迪克？”
2.“当然读了，而且我还说给妈妈听了。我再说一遍--我的地理书哪去了？--肯定是宝宝藏起来了。现在开始说了啊--哦，布里奇特！再放进去一片面包夹黄油。”
3.“这是我听到过的《圣经》中最古怪的部分了。”萨姆开着弟弟的玩笑。
4“.
萨姆，我真的刚刚要背诵，听好：’纵使我具备人间的言辞，并拥有天使的话语，若没有博爱之心，也不过是空鸣的锣，徒噪的钹。一样毫无意义。‘妈妈说’charity‘的意思是’仁爱‘，就是对每一个人都善良；如果我们生气或是憎恨，我们就会像’铜锣和铙钹的噪音‘一样。”
5.“听我说，”满头卷发的小麦琪插话了，“我也学了一句话--爱是持久忍耐，亲切友爱。”
6.“善良的小麦琪这一句说得真好。”萨姆说着，把她抱了起来。
7.“亲爱的，”迪克又插话了，“我的溜冰鞋呢？弗雷德o 爱伦说池塘已经完全冻住了，放学后我们可以去滑冰了。”
8.“迪克，谷希o 伯顿昨天来了，他说你允许他拿走你的溜冰鞋了。”
9.“什么？内利！那真是太糟糕了！他绝对撒谎。他的溜冰鞋丢了，他昨天告诉我直到圣诞节他才会有新的溜冰鞋，但是他并没有提到想借我的，因为他知道我自己还要用呢。”
10.“那太奇怪了。”内利说。
11.“奇怪？这绝对是卑鄙！”迪克言辞有些激烈，“我敢说谷希o 伯顿是学校里最狡猾、最自私的小子，我不相信他会介意自己撒谎。”
12.“安静一会儿，”萨姆大喊着，眼睛里闪着兴奋的光芒，“没想到这么一大早乐队就开始表演了，让我听到了这么多’铜锣响钹的噪音‘啊。”
13.小麦琪歪着头专心地听着，但是迪克的脸却红了，生气地反驳：
14.“萨姆，我知道你什么意思，如果你好好看看咱们家，就会看到不只我一个铜锣响钹。”
15.“亲爱的小迪克。”温柔的内利姐姐开始要说话了。
16.“我知道，内利，我知道我错了。但如果你也是个男孩子，而且和我一样热爱滑冰，可是现在还滑不成冰了，那你就会完全忘记仁爱，就会一点都不在乎你是不是成了’铜锣响钹‘了。”
17.“我知道你刚才是情绪不好，”萨姆笑着说，“如果你喜欢，可以把我的滑冰鞋拿走。”
18.“哦不，亲爱的，但我还是要感谢你，不过你的鞋太大了。”说完，小迪克脚步沉沉地上学走了。