Four Little Words
四个字
“Four little words did me more good, when I was a boy, than almost any thing else,” said a gentleman the other day. “I cannot reckon up all the good they have done me; they were the first words which my mother taught me.”
“Indeed! What were the four little words?” said I.
“当我还是个孩子的时候，有四个字对我影响巨大，是它们让我变得更优秀。”某天一个绅士这样说道。“我甚至无法将它们带来的好处说全……那是母亲教给我的最早的几个字。”
“到底是怎样的四个字啊？”我问。
He answered me by relating the following story:——
“My father grafted a pear tree: it was a very choice graft, and he watched it with great care. The second year it blossomed; and it bore but one pear. They were said to be a good kind of pear, and my father was quite anxious to see if they came up to the man’s promise. This single pear, then, was an object of some concern to my father. He wanted it to become fully ripe: the high winds, he hoped, would not blow off the pear; and he gave express directions to the children on no account to touch it. The graft was low, and easily reached by us. It grew finely. ‘I think that graft will meet my expectations,’ said my father many times to my mother. ‘There is some prospect of our having good pears.’
他用如下的故事回答了我。
“我的父亲曾经嫁接了一棵品种优良的梨树，并且照料得非常仔细。第二年梨树就开花了，接着结出了仅有的一只梨子。据说那将是质量上乘的梨，父亲就非常想知道是不是和传说的一样。一只小小的梨子，牵动着父亲的心。他希望它能长到充分成熟，最好不会被大风刮下；也叫孩子们离得远远儿的，不要去碰它。因为梨树并不高，摘到那颗果实对于我们来说不是什么难事。它长势良好。‘我敢肯定这棵树将会非常棒！’父亲有好几次这样对母亲说。大家都期待着能吃到美味的梨子。”
“Everybody who came into the garden he took to the graft, and everybody said, ‘It will prove to be a most excellent pear’
“‘Is it not almost ripe? I long for a bite,’ I cried, as I followed father one day down the alley to the pear-tree.
“他带每一位来到花园的客人去看那棵树，人人都说‘那将是一只天底下最完美的梨子’。
‘它还没有熟吗？实在是等不及要咬一口了！’一天当我和父亲走在通往梨树的小道上的时候，我忍不住大声嚷嚷起来。”
“‘Wait patiently, my child; it will not be fully ripe for a week,’ said my father.
“I thought I loved pears better than anything else; often I used to stop and look longingly up at this. ‘Oh, how good it looks!’ I used to think, smacking my lips; ‘I wish it was all mine.’
“‘耐心点，我的孩子。还要差不多一星期的时间它才能完全成熟。’父亲说。
“我想自己爱那梨子胜过其他任何东西，总是驻足在它的跟前然后抬头仰望，‘噢，它看上去多么好呀！’我常常这样想着，一边舔着嘴唇，‘多么希望它只属于我一个人。’
“The early apples did not taste as good, the currants were not as relishing, and the damsons I thought nothing of in comparison with this pear. The longer I stopped alone, under that beautiful pear-tree, the greater my longing for it, until I was seized with the idea of getting it. ‘Oh, I wish I had it,’ was the selfish thought that gradually got uppermost in my mind.”
“青涩的苹果不好吃，葡萄干也不怎么样，至于鲜李，它在我眼里简直无法和梨相比。我在那颗美丽的梨树下待的时间越长，渴望得到它的欲望就越强烈，直到自己成为它的奴隶。‘噢，我要得到它，’这个自私的念头渐渐占据了我的全部思想。”
“Once night, after we were in bed, my brothers fell asleep long before I did; I tossed about; and could not get to sleep. It was a warm, still, summer night; there was no moon; no noise except the hum of numberless insects. My father and my mother were gone away. I put my head out of the window, and peeped into the garden. I snuffed pleasant smells. I traced the dark outlines of the trees. I glanced in the direction of the pear-tree. My mouth was parched; I was thirsty; I thought how good a juicy pear would taste. I was tempted.
“一天晚上，大家都上床了，我的兄弟们早早地进入梦乡，而我却辗转反侧难以成眠。那是一个温暖、静谧的夏夜，天空中没有月亮，听得到低低的虫鸣。父亲和母亲都离开了。我从窗口探出头去，偷偷注视着花园。贪婪地嗅吸着那些迷人的气味，顺着黑暗中树木的阴影找寻那棵梨树的所在。盯着它，不由得口干舌燥。想象着那是一只多么美味多汁的果子，我被诱惑了。
“A few moments found me creeping down the back stairs, with neither shoes, stockings, nor trousers on. The slightest creaking frightened me. I stopped on every stair to listen. Nancy was busy somewhere else, and John had gone to bed. At last I fairly felt my way to the garden door. It was fastened. It seemed to take ages to unlock it, so fearful was I of making a noise, and the bolt grated. I got it open, went out, and latched it after me. It was good to get out in the clear air. I ran down the walk. The pattering of my feet made no noise on the moist earth. I stopped a moment and looked all around; then turned in the direction of the pear-tree. Presently I was beneath its branches.
“几分钟后，我蹑手蹑脚地从后楼梯下去，没有穿鞋子、袜子和裤子。即使是最轻微的动静也会惊吓到我。每下一级台阶都会停下来听。南希正在别的什么地方忙碌，约翰已经去睡觉了。最终我发现自己竟然是朝着花园的门口走去。门是锁着的。打开它要花不少时间，插销嘎吱作响，而我是这么害怕弄出声音。门被打开了，我走出去，从身后将它关上。潮湿的泥土使我的脚步听起来悄无声息。我原地站了一会儿，朝四周看看，尔后径直向梨树走去。现在我站在它的枝叶下方了。
“‘Father will think the wind has knocked it off;’but there was not a breath of air stirring. ‘Father will think somebody has stolen it-some boys came in the night, and robbed the garden-he’ll never know.’ I trembled at the thought of what I was about to do. ‘Oh, it will taste so good! And father never will, never can, know it; he never would think I took it.’
“‘父亲会认为是风把它吹落的。’ 可是空气中没有一丝风。‘那么也可能是有人偷了它。几个男孩在晚上翻进花园，然后把它偷走了。父亲不会知道的。’想着自己将要做的事，我不禁紧张得瑟瑟发抖。‘噢，它是多么诱人！父亲永远都不会发觉，绝对不会想到是我干的。’
“I leaned against the trunk of the tree, and raised my hand to find it, and to snatch it. On tiptoe, with my hand uplifted, and my head turned upward, I beheld a star looking the leaves. ‘THOU GOD SEEST ME!’I could not help saying over and over side. He was looking me through and through. I was afraid to look, and hid my face. It seemed as if father, mother, and all the boys, and everybody in town,would take me for a thief. It appeared as though all my conduct had been seen as by the light of day. It was some time before I dared to move, so vividly was the impression made upon my mind by the awful truth in those four words, ‘Thou God seest me.’ I know He saw me. I felt that He saw me.
我倚靠在树干上，伸手去摸那颗果子，试图把它摘下来。踮着脚，手举得高高的，仰着头，我发觉有一颗星星正对着这里，好像盯着我。‘上帝在看！’我不由自主地反复念叨着，他将我看了个通透。我的眼神开始回避，脸也藏了起来。那感觉就像父亲、母亲，所有的兄弟们，乃至镇上的每一个人，都将认为我是一个小偷；而我的所作所为正曝露在光天化日之下。我这样想着，过了好一阵才回过神来。那该死的四个字所隐含的真相对自己的震撼是如此清晰而强烈。“上帝在看！”我知道他看到了，我感觉到他的存在。
“I hastened from the pear-tree; nothing on earth would have tempted me at that moment to touch the pear. With very different feelings did I creep back to bed again. I laid down beside Asa, feeling more like a condemned criminal than anything else. No one in the house had seen me; but oh! It seemed as if everybody knew it, and I should never dare to meet my father's face again. It was a great while before I went to sleep. I heard my parents come home, and involuntarily hid my face under the sheet. But I could not hide myself from a sense of God's presence. His eyes seemed everywhere, divining into the very depths of my heart. It started a train of influences which, God be praised, I never got over. If I was ever tempted to any secret sin, ‘Thou God seest me,’stared me in the face, and I stood back, restrained and awed.”
“我急急地离开了梨树，彼时彼刻，再没有什么可以驱使我去触碰那只梨子。带着和之前非常不同的心情，我又回到了自己的床上。从头至尾，并没有谁看到我。但是，感觉上就像每个人都知道，而我再也不敢直视父亲的脸。我失眠了。我听到父母回家的声音，恨不得钻到地洞里去。但是我无法逃避上帝的存在。他的双眼注视着世间的每一寸土地，潜入到我灵魂的深处……我失去了获得他嘉奖的机会。如果我从未被任何隐秘的罪恶诱惑，即使‘上帝在看’，盯着我的脸，我也只是后退一步，克制而敬畏。”
The gentleman finished: his story interested me greatly. I think it will interest many children. I hope it will do more than interest them- I hope it will do them good.
绅士的故事讲完了，我已被深深吸引。我想这个故事会让许多孩子着迷，当然不仅仅是着迷，希望孩子们都能从中获益。
"Thou God seest me." These four little words are from the Bible. Hagar uttered them. She fled in anger from her mistress, Sarah, and went into the wilderness. An angel met her by a fountain of water. The angel bade her return to her mistress, and told her some things in her life which Hagar thought nobody knew but herself. "Thou God seest me," she exclaimed. Then she knew it was the angel of God, for none but He could look into the most secret things.
“上帝在看。”这四个字从圣经中来，从阿加尔的口中说出。为了逃避女主人莎拉的雷霆，她跑进一片荒野。一位天使在喷泉边遇见了她，天使吩咐阿加尔回到主人身边，并且告诉她一些只有她自己才知道的事情。“上帝在看，”她惊呼道。接着她意识到眼前的正是上帝，因为他可以看到最隐秘的东西。
Boys, learn these four small words. Let them be impressed on your hearts. Think of them when you lie down, when you get up, and when you go by the way; when alone, or when with your companions, both at home and abroad, remember-
孩子们，请学会这四个字，把它们牢牢记在心间。想着它们，当你入睡和起床的时候，行走的时候，孤独的时候，抑或是取得成功的时候，无论在家或在外，请记着它们。
Honesty in Small Things
在小事上保持诚实
A few days ago, being in a shop, I noticed a gentleman, in passing along the street, stop to look at a truss of straw outside the shop; and then, stepping in,say to the shopman:
"I'm not a very profitable customer, but would you be so good as to allow me to take one straw from the bundle?"
几天前,我在一家商店,注意到街上有一位绅士停下脚步,盯着店外的一捆麦秆看,然后他走进来,店员说:
"我不是来买东西的,但是请问我可以从外面的那堆麦秆中抽一根带走吗?"
The shopman replied, "Certainly,sir."
"I was giving my little girl a lesson on wheat,"said the gentleman, "and I cannot make her understand how the grain comes into the ear; this straw will well serve to illustrate my lesson."
"当然可以了,先生！"店员回答道。
“我正在给我的小女儿讲有关小麦的知识。”绅士接着说，“但我没有办法让她理解谷物是如何进入耳朵的。这根麦秆正好可以帮上忙。”
Little boys and girls should remember that when they sometimes pull a little bit of hay or straw from the bundles outside the shops without leave, although it may not be of much value, it is still stealing in little things,and "He that dares to steal a pin, Will likely steal a larger thing."
"Thou shalt not steal"."Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it"."Let him that stole steal no more".
小孩子总有这样的经验，随随便便从那些放在店门口的干草堆或麦秆堆里抽一根拿走，不经过任何人同意。虽然是不值钱的稻草，但仍然属于偷盗的行为。所谓“小时偷针，长大偷金”，“三岁看老”……永远不要让一个孩子尝试偷取任何不属于他的东西。