The Poor Man and the Vase
Once upon a time, there was an unfortunate poor man.
从前，有一个不幸的穷人。
His home was also very poor —a small and empty house, where mice made their nests and spiders made their webs.
他的家也很一贫如洗——一间又小又空的房子，老鼠在那里筑窝，蜘蛛在那里结网。
People tried to avoid coming into his house —why should they stick their noses into those poor ruins? And the poor man thought that poverty is the reason of his misfortunes —his eternal destiny.
人们都尽量避免进他的房子——他们为什么要把鼻子伸进那可怕的废墟里呢？这个可怜的人认为贫穷是他不幸的原因——是他永恒的命运。
So once, the poor man met a wizard and complained to him about his poverty and miserable life.
有一次，这个穷人遇到了一个巫师，他向巫师抱怨自己的贫穷和悲惨的生活。
The wizard felt sorry for the poor man and gave him a unique vase, and said, "This is a magical vase that will save you from poverty."
巫师为这个穷人感到难过，就送给他一个独一无二的花瓶，说：“这是一个有魔力的花瓶，可以让你摆脱贫穷。”
The poor man took the vase and wanted to sell it at first and then spend the money on alcohol, as usual, besides, why would he need such a beautiful thing?
这个穷人接过花瓶，想先把它卖掉，然后像往常一样把钱用来买酒。再说，他为什么需要这么漂亮的东西呢?
But then he started admiring the vase and couldn't take it to the market. He brought the vase home, put it on the table and started admiring it.
但后来他开始欣赏这个花瓶，就不想把它拿到市场上去了。他把花瓶带回家，放在桌子上，开始欣赏起来。
"It's not right for such a beautiful thing to be empty," the poor man thought, so he picked some wildflowers and put them into the vase. It became even more beautiful.
“这么漂亮的花瓶不应该是空的，”穷人想，于是他摘了一些野花放进花瓶里。花瓶甚至变得更加美丽。
"Not good," the poor man thought again, "that such a beautiful thing stands next to a spider web."
“不太好，”穷人又想了想，“这么漂亮的东西竟然放在蜘蛛网旁边。”
So the poor man started cleaning his house from spider webs, sweeping out cockroaches and mice, cleaning the dust, washing the floor and the walls, and whitening the ceiling.
于是这个穷人开始清理他的房子，清除蜘蛛网，清除蟑螂和老鼠，打扫灰尘，清洗地板和墙壁，刷白天花板。
And it became clear that his house wasn't poor, but rather warm and cozy.
这时候很明显，他的房子并不再是一贫如洗，而是相当温暖舒适。
And the poor man wasn't a poor man anymore, but a hard-working host, who had no time for thoughts about misfortune.
这个穷人不再是一个穷人，而是一个勤劳的主人，没有时间去想他的不幸。
整理：2024年2月23日于昆明马军场
网友评论