Mercury And The Woodman
墨丘利和樵夫
by Aesop
选《自伊索寓言》
A poor Woodman was cutting down a tree near the edge of a deep pool in the forest. It was late in the day and the Woodman was tired. He had been working since sunrise and his strokes were not so sure as they had been early that morning. Thus it happened that the axe slipped and flew out of his hands into the pool.
一天，有一个贫苦的樵夫在森林里砍树，这棵树的旁边是一个水很深的湖泊。当时天色也晚了，这个樵夫也累了。他从一大早就在忙碌，以至于这会儿他的精力已不如早晨那般充沛。突然，他的斧头从手中滑落、掉进了湖里。
The Woodman was in despair. The axe was all he possessed with which to make a living, and he had not money enough to buy a new one. As he stood wringing his hands and weeping, the god Mercury suddenly appeared and asked what the trouble was. The Woodman told what had happened, and straightway the kind Mercury dived into the pool. When he came up again he held a wonderful golden axe.
这个樵夫陷入了绝望。那把斧头是他唯一的谋生工具，而且他也没有足够的钱去买一把新的。就在他站着扭绞着双手不停地哭泣之时，神使墨丘利突然出现了，并问他遇到了什么麻烦事。樵夫把刚刚发生的事情告诉了墨丘利，墨丘利听后就立马跳进了湖里。当神使浮出水面时，他的手里握着一把很神气的金斧子。"Is this your axe?" Mercury asked the Woodman.
“这是你的斧头吗？”墨丘利对樵夫问道。
"No," answered the honest Woodman, "that is not my axe."
“不是的，”樵夫诚实地答道，“这不是我的斧头。”
Mercury laid the golden axe on the bank and sprang back into the pool. This time he brought up an axe of silver, but the Woodman declared again that his axe was just an ordinary one with a wooden handle.
墨丘利把这金斧子放在岸边，转头又跳回了湖里。这一次，他带了一把银斧头上来，但是樵夫再次解释说，他的斧头只是一把普通的木柄斧头。
Mercury dived down for the third time, and when he came up again he had the very axe that had been lost.
墨丘利第三次跳进了湖里，当他浮出水面时，他的手里拿着的正是樵夫所丢的那一把。
The poor Woodman was very glad that his axe had been found and could not thank the kind god enough. Mercury was greatly pleased with the Woodman's honesty.
那贫苦的樵夫对此非常高兴，他的斧头终于失而复得，但是他却不知道怎么感谢神使才好。神使墨丘利非常赏识樵夫的诚实。
"I admire your honesty," he said, "and as a reward you may have all three axes, the gold and the silver as well as your own."
“我很敬佩你的诚实，”神使说，“作为回报，你可以拥有三柄斧头，就是说那把金斧头和银斧头也是你的了。”
The happy Woodman returned to his home with his treasures, and soon the story of his good fortune was known to everybody in the village. Now there were several Woodmen in the village who believed that they could easily win the same good fortune. They hurried out into the woods, one here, one there, and hiding their axes in the bushes, pretended they had lost them. Then they wept and wailed and called on Mercury to help them.
樵夫带着他的宝贝高高兴兴地回家了，这天上掉馅饼的故事很快传遍了村子。村子里其他的几个樵夫听说后，也相信自己能够遇到这等好事。于是，他们急匆匆地跑进那片林子，东一个、西一个地把自己斧头藏进灌木丛中，并假装他们也弄丢了自己的斧头。接着他们就哭啊哭，呼唤着神使墨丘利来帮助他们。
And indeed, Mercury did appear, first to this one, then to that. To each one he showed an axe of gold, and each one eagerly claimed it to be the one he had lost. But Mercury did not give them the golden axe. Oh no! Instead he gave them each a hard whack over the head with it and sent them home. And when they returned next day to look for their own axes, they were nowhere to be found.
果然，墨丘利的确出现了，一个挨一个的问了呼唤他的缘由。接着，墨丘利对每个樵夫都展示了一把金斧头，樵夫们都急切地坚称这就是他们弄丢的斧头。但是墨丘利却并没有把这把金斧头交给他们。噢，不！相反地，他用这把金斧头在樵夫们的头上狠狠地敲打了一下，并把他们都送回了家。第二天，当这几个樵夫返回林子里去寻找自己的斧头之时，却发现根本找不到了。
Honesty is the best policy.
正所谓：诚实为上策。
词汇注解：
1.Mercury 墨丘利（拉丁语：Mercŭrĭus、英语：Mercury），是罗马神话中众神的使者，以及畜牧、小偷、商业、交通、旅游和体育之神，罗马十二主神之一。对应希腊神话中的赫尔墨斯（Hermes）。
2.stroke n.敲打动作
3.wring v.拧、绞
4.spring v.跳跃
5.wail v.哭号
6.whack n.重击
这是第六期《伊索寓言》双语故事分享，中文为本人所译，不当之处，敬请指正！
最后，感谢大家的阅读和关注，咱们下期再见^^
往期内容请戳：超简单双语故事05：Jupiter And The Monkey（丘比特和猴子）