The Poor Boy in the Grave
坟墓里的穷孩子
There was once a poor shepherdboy whose father and mother were dead， and he was placed by the authorities(authority n.权威， 威信， 权威人士， 权力， 职权， 典据， 著作权威) in the house of a rich man， who was to feed him and bring him up. The man and his wife， however， had bad hearts， and were greedy(greedy adj.贪吃的， 贪婪的， 渴望的) and jealous(jealous adj.妒忌的， 猜疑的， 警惕的， 嫉妒的) of their riches， and vexedvex vt.使烦恼， 恼怒 whenever anyone put a morsel of their bread in his mouth. The poor young fellow might do what he liked， he got little to eat， but only so many blows the more.
从前有个贫苦的牧童，他的父母亲都死了。当局把他交给一位富人，让他养育这个牧童。谁知这富人和他妻子心肠很不好，他俩吝啬成性，为富不仁，谁只要吃他们一口面包，他们也会心生恼恨。那穷孩子不论怎样做，得到的食物都很少，相反却常常挨打。
One day he had to watch a hen and her chickens， but she escaped through a hedge(hedge n.树篱， 障碍物) with them， and a hawk(hawk vt.捕捉， 咳出， 兜售， (沿街)叫卖， 散播) darted down instantly， and carried her off through the air. The boy called， “Thief， thief， rascal， with all the strength of his body”. But what good did that do. The hawk did not bring its prey back again. The man heard the noise， and ran to the spot， and as soon as he saw that his hen was gone， he fell in a rage， and gave the boy such a beating that he could not stir for two days. Then he had to take care of the chickens without the hen， but now his difficulty was greater， for one ran here and the other there. He thought he was doing a very wise thing when he tied them all together with a string(string n.线， 细绳， 一串， 一行)， because then the hawk would not be able to steal any of them away from him. But he was very much mistaken. After two days， worn out with running about and hunger， he fell asleep. The bird of prey came， and seized one of the chickens， and as the others were tied fast to it， it carried them all off together， perched itself on a tree， and devoured them. The farmer was just coming home， and when he saw the misfortune(misfortune n.不幸， 灾祸)， he got angry and beat the boy so unmercifully that he was forced to lie in bed for several days.
一天，他奉命照看母鸡和它的小鸡仔，母鸡却带着小鸡穿过荆棘篱笆跑散了。就在一眨眼间，老鹰猛扑下来，抓走了母鸡。牧童用尽全身力气叫：“小偷，小偷，不要脸。”可是有什么用？老鹰没把猎物还回来。富人听见叫声跑来，一看母鸡丢了，勃然大怒，立刻狠揍了男孩一顿，揍得他两天都动弹不得。随后，他照看没有了母鸡的小鸡，这一来可更糟糕，一只跑到东，一只跑到西。于是他自作聪明，把它们全套在一条绳子上，心想这样子老鹰就一只也抢不走了。然而大错特错！两天后，他由于跑来跑去又累又饿，便睡着了，老鹰飞来抓住一只小鸡，其他小鸡因为套在同一条绳子上，便全被带走了。老鹰落到一棵树上，吃掉了所有小鸡。这时富农正好回家看见了，立刻火冒三丈，狠狠地毒打那孩子，打得他好多天躺在床上都动弹不得。
When he was on his legs again， the farmer said to him， “You are too stupid for me， I cannot make a herdsman(herdsman n.牧者， 牧人) of you， you must go as errandboy.” Then he sent him to the judge， to whom he was to carry a basketful of grapes， and he gave him a letter as well. On the way hunger and thirst tormented(torment v.折磨) the unhappy boy so violently that he ate two grapes. He took the basket to the judge， but when the judge had read the letter， and counted the grapes he said， “Two are missing.” The boy confessed(confess v.承认， 坦白， 忏悔) quite honestly that， driven by hunger and thirst， he had devoured the two which were missing. The judge wrote a letter to the farmer， and asked for the same number of grapes again. These also the boy had to take to him with a letter. As he again was so extremely hungry and thirsty， he could not help it， and again ate two grapes. But first he took the letter out of the basket， put it under a stone and seated himself thereon in order that the letter might not see and betray him. The judge， however， again made him give an explanation about the missing grapes. “Ah，” said the boy， “how have you learnt that. The letter could not know about it， for I put it under a stone before I did it.” The judge could not help laughing at the boy"s simplicity(simplicity n.简单， 简易， 朴素， 直率)， and sent the man a letter wherein he cautioned(simplicity n.简单， 简易， 朴素， 直率) him to look after the poor boy better， and not let him want for meat and drink， and also that he was to teach him what was right and what was wrong.
当孩子重新站得起来时，富农对他说：“你这个小子太笨了，不能让你再喂鸡，当个跑腿吧。”于是他派他去法官那儿，让他给法官送一篮葡萄，另外还交给他一封信。路上，可怜的男孩又饥又渴，忍不住吃了两颗葡萄。他把篮子交给法官，法官看完信，数了数葡葡，说：“少了两颗！”孩子老老实实地承认：他因为又饿又渴，把那两颗葡萄吃了。法官给富农写了封信，要再送同样多葡萄给他。这次孩子还得带一封信给法官，可他又感到非常饿和非常渴，便再次吃了两颗葡萄。只不过，他先把信从篮子里取了出来，压在一块石头下面，自个儿往上一坐，好让信看不见他偷吃，不能再泄露他的秘密。法官发现还是少了两颗葡萄，又问他。“唉，”男孩说，“您是怎么知道的？信不可能知道，因为我先已把它压在石头下面了。”法官见他头脑如此简单，不禁笑了，随后带封信给富农，在信里劝他对这可怜的孩子要好一点，别在吃喝方面亏待他，并且要教他懂得什么是对，什么是错。