雙語故事:一塊錢買頭驢
【英文原文】
摘要：一天，村裏的頭面人物毛拉，發現他的驢子丟失了。他本想騎驢去拜訪朋友。他很生氣，到處奔着尋找那頭驢。
One day the Mullah, an important man in the village, found his donkey was gone when he wanted to go visit a friend. He was very angry and ran around to look for his donkey.
The Mullah ran about looking until he was too tired. He sat down to rest at his gate. A few friends came to join him.
"That no-good lazy donkey!" said he. "If I ever see her again, I'll sell her for a dollar!" Selling a donkey for a dollar was just a joke.
Just then the Mullah heard the sound of his donkey's feet. He looked around. There was his donkey. On her back rode a boy.
"Where did you find her?" asked the Mullah. "We couldn't find her anywhere."
"I knew where I would go if I were a donkey," said the boy. "I found her eating grass with the sheep and goats."
Suddenly, the Mullah looked to one side and saw one of his friends holding up a dollar. On the other side he saw another with a dollar.
"I'll buy your donkey, " said the two.
"I was joking!" said the Mullah.
"You didn't sound as if you were joking, " said the two.
The Mullah couldn't break his word. That would be wrong for an important person in the village. He certainly didn't want to sell his donkey for a dollar. So he said, "Meet me at the donkey fair on Saturday. I shall sell her at that time. I shall sell my donkey to the one who will treat her most kindly."
Everybody was kind to animals in the village. So the Mullah thought out a plan. He wanted to keep his word and also to keep his donkey.
On the night before the donkey fair, the Mullah bought a piece of rope. No one had any idea why the Mullah should want a piece of rope.
On Saturday, man and boy in the village came to the donkey fair.
They found a cat tied with a piece of rope to the tail of the Mullah's donkey! Beside them stood the Mullah, who looked happy.
"It is true, I'll sell my donkey for a dollar," said the Mullah. "Just one thing, though. My donkey and my cat are very good friends. They must not be parted. The kind man who buys my donkey must buy my cat also."
"How much is your cat?" asked many voices.
"Oh, my cat is a very important animal," said the Mullah. "Her father caught a mouse for a king. Her mother caght a mouse for the Queen. She is one of the finest of cats. For such a great cat I want one hundred dollars."
The men laughed, and gave up the idea of owning the donkey.
【中文譯文】
一天，村裏的頭面人物毛拉，發現他的驢子丟失了。他本想騎驢去拜訪朋友。他很生氣，到處奔着尋找那頭驢。
毛拉四面八方尋找了一通，直到太累才歇息。他坐在門口休息。幾位朋友也過來和他坐在一起。
“那頭不中用的懶驢！”他說。“要是我重新見到她，願一塊錢將她賣掉！”一塊錢賣掉他的驢，僅是說來玩的。
就在那時，毛拉聽到驢子的蹄聲。他的驢子出現了，由一個男孩騎着過來。
“你在哪裏找到她的？”毛拉問。“我們到處都沒有找到。”
“要是我是驢，我曉得應該上哪兒去，”男孩說。“我看見她時，他正在跟山羊、綿羊一起吃草呢。”
突然，毛拉側過臉，看見他的一位朋友伸出握着一塊錢的手；朝另一側一看，又有一人遞過來一塊錢。
“我想要買你的驢子，”兩人異口同聲說。
“我剛纔是說着玩的！”毛拉說。
“你聽上去不像是說着玩的，”兩人說。
毛拉不能食言。村裏的要人不能這樣做。但他當然不願一塊錢出售驢子。於是他說，“我們星期六在驢市場會面。那時候我將驢子賣給你們。我將把她賣給待她最仁慈的人。”
村子裏人人對動物都很仁慈。因此毛拉想出一個計謀，他既要守信，又要守住自己的驢子。
在驢市場舉行前夕，毛拉買了一根繩子。沒人知道毛拉要繩子幹什麼。
星期六，村裏的男人和男孩都來到驢市場。人們發現，有一隻貓被用繩子拴在毛拉的驢子的尾巴上！邊上站着樂哈哈的毛拉。
“的確，我將以一塊錢出售驢子，”毛拉說。“然而得有一椿條件。我的驢和我的貓是好朋友，他們不得分離。哪位仁慈心腸的人要買我的驢，也必須買我的貓。”
“你的貓要賣多少錢？”七嘴八舌在問。
“哦，我的貓可是頭非常顯赫的動物，”毛拉說。“她父親曾經替國王逮住一隻老鼠。她母親替王后逮過一隻老鼠。她是貓中最姣好的。這隻貓我要價一百塊。”
人們都笑了，也放棄了得到那頭驢的想法。
