好乐观的人啊
THE BOGEY-BEAST捣蛋兽THERE was once a woman who was very, very cheerful, though she had little to make her so; for she was old, and poor, and lonely. She lived in a little bit of a cottage and earned a scant living by running errands for her neighbors, getting a bite here, a sup there, as reward for her services. So she made shift to get on, and always looked as spry and cheery as if she had not a want in the world.
很久以前，有个总是乐呵呵的女人，虽然她又老又穷，还孤身一人，实在没什么事好叫她开心的。老妇人住在一个小屋子里，平日里就靠为街坊邻居做点细碎活儿糊口饭吃。经常是东家吃一口，西家喝一瓢——大伙儿对她的酬劳。她就这样撑着过日子，但看起来很有精神头儿，似乎无欲也无求。
Now one summer evening, as she was trotting, full of smiles as ever, along the high road to her hovel, what should she see but a big black pot lying in the ditch!
夏日里的一天晚上，老妇人正沿着大道快步走回她的小屋呢，脸上跟平常一样挂满了笑容。忽然，她看到小沟里躺着一个大大的黑罐子！
"Goodness me!" she cried, "that would be just the very thing for me if I only had something to put in it! But I haven't! Now who could have left it in the ditch?"
“天哪！”她叫道，“要是我有什么东西放里头，那它真的是为我而准备的啊！可惜我没有！话说回来，是谁把它落在这沟里了呢？”
And she looked about her expecting the owner would not be far off; but she could see nobody.
她环顾了下四周，希望失主就在附近，可是一个人也没看到。
"Maybe there is a hole in it," she went on, "and that's why it has been cast away. But it would do fine to put a flower in for my window; so I'll just take it home with me."
“兴许是因为它破了个洞，”她继续自言自语地说道，“所以人家才不要的。可是，如果我往里面插点花，然后摆在我的窗前，那应该很不错吧。好吧，我这就把它带回家去！”
And with that she lifted the lid and looked inside. "Mercy me!" she cried, fair amazed. "If it isn't full of gold pieces. Here's luck!"
打定了主意，她就把盖子拔了起来，然后往里瞅。“哇！”她叫道，惊讶极了，“里面莫非都是金币！我交好运啦！”
And so it was, brimful of great gold coins. Well, at first she simply stood stock-still, wondering if she was standing on her head or her heels. Then she began saying:
的确如此，大枚金币盈满了罐口。不过，老妇人刚开始都回不过神来，整个人就傻愣愣地站着，还不清楚自己是头朝地站着呢，还是脚踩着地站着的。好一会儿，她终于开口道:
"Lawks! But I do feel rich. I feel awful rich!"
“饶了我老太婆吧！可是我真的觉得自己有钱了，是非常非常有钱啊！”
After she had said this many times, she began to wonder how she was to get her treasure home. It was too heavy for her to carry, and she could see no better way than to tie the end of her shawl to it and drag it behind her like a go-cart.
她把这话说了无数遍，然后开始静下心来想，怎么把她的这笔财富运回家去呢。抬，对她来说太吃力了。这时候她所能想到的最好的办法就是把她披肩的一头绑在它上面，然后像拉车一样拽着它走。
"It will soon be dark," she said to herself as she trotted along. "So much the better! The neighbors will not see what I'm bringing home, and I shall have all the night to myself, and be able to think what I'll do! Mayhap I'll buy a grand house and just sit by the fire with a cup o' tea and do no work at all like a queen. Or maybe I'll bury it at the garden-foot and just keep a bit in the old china teapot on the chimney-piece. Or maybe—Goody! Goody! I feel that grand I don't know myself."
“天很快就要黑了。”她一边加快步伐，一边自言自语道，“这样反倒更好！邻居们就不会看到我带什么东西回家了。我可以一个人享受整个夜晚，好好想下我接下来可以做什么事。也许我可以买栋大房子，每天只需要端杯茶坐在炉火边，其他什么事也不用做，就跟个女王一样。或者说，把它埋在花园的角落里，只放一点点金币在壁炉台上那个破瓷壶里。再或者——真不敢相信呀！太不可思议了！我都不知道自己要富贵成什么样了！”
By this time she was a bit tired of dragging such a heavy weight, and, stopping to rest a while, turned to look at her treasure.
这会儿，因为拖着那么重的东西，她有点乏了。于是，她停了下来想休息一会儿，顺便转过头去看看她的财富。
And lo! it wasn't a pot of gold at all! It was nothing but a lump of silver.
啊，瞧！那根本不是一罐金子呀！分明就是一锭银子。
She stared at it and rubbed her eyes and stared at it again. "Well! I never," she said at last. "And me thinking it was a pot of gold! I must have been dreaming. But this is luck! Silver is far less trouble—easier to mind, and not so easy stolen. Them gold pieces would have been the death o' me, and with this great lump of silver—"
她盯着罐子看，揉了揉眼睛，再盯着看。“哎呀！真是怪了！”她终于开口说道，“我还以为这是一罐金子！我刚才肯定是在做梦。但这也是运气啊！银子可比金子简单多了——省心哪！而且没那么容易被偷。金子可能给我招来杀身之祸，这一大锭银子就不同了——”
So she went off again planning what she would do, and feeling as rich as rich, until becoming a bit tired again she stopped to rest and gave a look round to see if her treasure was safe; and she saw nothing but a great lump of iron!
于是她又继续往前走了，一边盘算着做点什么事，一边勾画着富足的生活。一会儿，她又累了，就又停下来休息，回过头去看看她的财富是否安全。结果她看到的就只有一大块铁！
"Well! I never!" says she again. "And I mistaking it for silver! I must have been dreaming. But this is luck! It's real convenient. I can get penny pieces for old iron, and penny pieces are a deal handier for me than your gold and silver. Why! I should never have slept a wink for fear of being robbed. But a penny piece comes in useful, and I shall sell that iron for a lot and be real rich—rolling rich."
“啊，真是怪了！”她又说道，“我居然把它看成银子了！我刚才肯定是在做梦。但这也是运气啊！铁最叫人省心了。我可以拿废铁换一些铜币回来。铜币可比金币和银币好携带多了。啊哈！我也不用整晚没敢合眼，生怕它被偷了！铜币好就好在这里。我要用那块铁换很多很多的铜币，要多富有就有多富有！”
So on she trotted full of plans as to how she would spend her penny pieces, till once more she stopped to rest and looked round to see if her treasure was safe. And this time she saw nothing but a big stone.
于是她又开始前行了，满门子心思都在花铜币上。途中，她又停下来休息了，又回过头去看她的财富是否安全。这次，她就只看到一块石头！
"Well! I never!" she cried, full of smiles. "And to think I mistook it for iron. I must have been dreaming. But here's luck indeed, and me wanting a stone terrible bad to stick open the gate. Eh my! but it's a change for the better! It's a fine thing to have good luck."
“哎呀！真是怪了！”她叫道，笑容满面，“想想我居然把它看成了铁。我刚才肯定是在做梦。但这真的是运气啊！我刚好就需要一块石头挡住大门，让门一直敞开着。这真是太神奇了！事情变得更好了！走好运真叫人开心啊！”
So, all in a hurry to see how the stone would keep the gate open she trotted off down the hill till she came to her own cottage. She unlatched the gate and then turned to unfasten her shawl from the stone which lay on the path behind her. Aye! it was a stone sure enough. There was plenty light to see it lying there, sweet and peaceable as a stone should.
急着想看看这块石头是不是好用，老妇人一口气把它拖下了山，回到了自己的小屋。她拔掉门闩，然后转过头来，看着身后小路上的石头，想把它上面的披肩解下来。嗬！这回千真万确是块石头！光线很充足，可以明明白白地看到它就躺在那里，安静而美好，跟一块普通的石头没两样。
So she bent over it to unfasten the shawl end, when—
于是她俯下身把披肩的一头解开。就在这时——
"Oh my!"
“天哪！”
All of a sudden it gave a jump, a squeal, and in one moment was as big as a haystack. Then it let down four great lanky legs and threw out two long ears, flourished a great long tail and romped off, kicking and squealing and whinnying and laughing like a naughty mischievous boy!
那石头冷不丁地蹦了起来，长啸一声，一眨眼的工夫就变得跟一个草垛一般大了。紧跟着，它底下伸出了四条瘦长的腿，两边各探出了一只耳朵，甩着一条长长的尾巴，乐不可支地跑开了。它一路踢踏踢踏，一会儿长啸，一会儿嘶鸣，一会儿大笑，活像个淘气的爱搞怪的小男孩！
The old woman stared after it till it was fairly out of sight, then she burst out laughing too.
老妇人目送着它，直到再也看不到，然后她禁不住笑出声来。
"Well!" she chuckled, "I am in luck! Quite the luckiest body hereabouts. Fancy my seeing the Bogey-Beast all to myself; and making myself so free with it too! My goodness! I do feel that uplifted—that GRAND!"—
“嘿！”她抿着嘴笑道，“我真幸运呢！我是这方圆几里最幸运的人了！真想不到啊，我居然亲眼看到了捣蛋兽！还跟它这么自在地相处！天啊！这种感觉真是太棒——太妙啦！”
So she went into her cottage and spent the evening chuckling over her good luck.
于是，老妇人就走进了自己的小屋，一整个晚上都在乐呵着自己交的好运。