英文小說:醋溜先生和他的財富(2)

Mr. Vinegar and His Fortune

Mr. Vinegar gave him the bagpipes and drew the gloves on over his half frozen fingers. "How lucky I am," he said as he trudged（跋涉）homeward. His hands were soon quite warm, but the road was rough and the walking hard. He was very tired when he came to the foot of the steep hill. "How shall I ever get to the top?" he said. Just then he met a man who was walking the other way. He had a stick in his hand which he used as a cane to help him along.

"My friend," said Mr. Vinegar, "if only I had that stick of yours to help me up this hill, I would be the happiest man in the world!"

"How much will you give me for it?" asked the man.

"Well, I have no money, but I will give you this pair of warm gloves," said Mr. Vinegar.

"Well," said the man, "you may have it for I always like to oblige a friend."

Mr. Vinegar's hands were now quite warm, so he gave the gloves to the man and took the stout（結實的）stick to help him along. "How lucky I am!'' he said as he toiled upward.

At the top of the hill he stopped to rest. But as he was thinking of all his good luck that day, he heard someone calling his name. He looked up and saw only a green parrot sitting in a tree.

"Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar," it cried.

"What now?" said Mr. Vinegar.

"You're a dunce（傻瓜）, you're a dunce!'' answered the bird, "you went to seek your fortune and you found it, then you gave it for a cow, and the cow for some bagpipes, and the bagpipes for some gloves, and the gloves for a stick which you might of cut by the roadside. He He He, you're a dunce! You're a dunce!''

This made Mr. Vinegar very angry. He threw the stick at the bird with all his might. But the bird only answered, "You're a dunce! You're a dunce!" And the stick lodged in the tree where he could not get it again.

Mr. Vinegar went on slowly for he had many things to think about. His wife was standing by the roadside and as soon as she saw him, she cried out, "Where's the cow? Where's the cow?"

"Well, I just don't know where the cow is," said Mr. Vinegar. And then he told her the whole story.

醋溜先生把風笛給了那人，拿過手套戴在凍僵的手指頭上。“我多幸運啊，”他邊往家走邊說道。他的手很快就暖起來了，可是道路坑坑窪窪的，走得很艱難。走到一個陡坡下的時候，他累極了。“我怎麼才能爬上去呢？”他說。這時候，他看到一個人從另一邊走了過來。那人手裏握着一根棍，用做爬坡的杖子。

“朋友，”醋溜先生說道，“如果我能有你那根杖子來爬坡，我就是這世界上最幸福的人了！”

“你出多少錢來買？”那人問道。

“啊，我沒錢了，可我願把這副暖和的手套給你，”醋溜先生說。

“這樣的話，”那人說道，“你就拿去好了，因爲我最喜歡成人之美。”

醋溜先生的手早暖和過來了，於是他拿手套跟那人換了根上坡用的粗杖。“我多幸運啊！”他一邊費勁地上坡一邊說道。

到了山頂，他停下來休憩。可正當他想着一整天的好運時，他聽到有誰在叫着自己的名字。他擡起頭，只看到樹枝上坐着只綠鸚鵡。

“醋溜先生，醋溜先生，”鸚鵡喊道。

“怎麼了？”醋溜先生問。

“你是傻瓜，你是傻瓜！”鳥兒答道，“你出門找錢，找到了，卻拿錢買牛，用牛換了風笛，用風笛換了手套，又用手套去換根能在路邊弄到的棍子。呵呵呵，你是傻瓜！你是傻瓜！”

這話讓醋溜先生生氣極了。他用盡力氣拿棍子朝鳥兒擲去。可鳥兒只回了句：“你是傻瓜！你是傻瓜！”而棍子又卡在樹枝上，他夠不着。

醋溜先生慢慢地向前走着，他腦子裏亂騰騰的。他的太太正站在路邊呢，一見到他，她就喊起來：“奶牛呢？奶牛呢？”

“唔，我可不知道奶牛到哪去了，”醋溜先生說道。接着他把事情完完整整地告訴了她。