英文小说:醋溜先生和他的财富(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（结实的）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.

      “朋友，”醋溜先生说道，“如果我能有你那根杖子来爬坡，我就是这世界上最幸福的人了！”

      “你出多少钱来买？”那人问道。

      “啊，我没钱了，可我愿把这副暖和的手套给你，”醋溜先生说。

      “这样的话，”那人说道，“你就拿去好了，因为我最喜欢成人之美。”

      醋溜先生的手早暖和过来了，于是他拿手套跟那人换了根上坡用的粗杖。“我多幸运啊！”他一边费劲地上坡一边说道。

      到了山顶，他停下来休憩。可正当他想着一整天的好运时，他听到有谁在叫着自己的名字。他抬起头，只看到树枝上坐着只绿鹦鹉。

      “醋溜先生，醋溜先生，”鹦鹉喊道。

      “怎么了？”醋溜先生问。

      “你是傻瓜，你是傻瓜！”鸟儿答道，“你出门找钱，找到了，却拿钱买牛，用牛换了风笛，用风笛换了手套，又用手套去换根能在路边弄到的棍子。呵呵呵，你是傻瓜！你是傻瓜！”

      这话让醋溜先生生气极了。他用尽力气拿棍子朝鸟儿掷去。可鸟儿只回了句：“你是傻瓜！你是傻瓜！”而棍子又卡在树枝上，他够不着。

      醋溜先生慢慢地向前走着，他脑子里乱腾腾的。他的太太正站在路边呢，一见到他，她就喊起来：“奶牛呢？奶牛呢？”

      “唔，我可不知道奶牛到哪去了，”醋溜先生说道。接着他把事情完完整整地告诉了她。