公鸡和宝石

湖北省宜昌市 吴小雅供稿

A cock was scratching in the farmyard for food for the hens.公鸡在农家的庭院里用爪子搔呀刨呀，为母鸡觅食。

He turned up a precious stone that shone and sparked in the sun.他从地里翻出了一颗宝石，那颗宝石在阳光下闪闪发光。

“Well,” said the Cock, “I don’t know what you are doing here.You are a very beautiful thing,and no doubt if your owner found you he would be delighted,but you do no good to me.”“喂！”公鸡说，“我不知道你在这儿干嘛。你是一个挺美丽的玩意儿。如果你被主人发现，毫无疑问，他一定会喜出望外，可是，你对我却没有丝毫用处。”

“I would rather have one grain of delicious barley than all the precious stones all over the world!”“我情愿要一棵美味的大麦，而不要天下所有的宝石。”

判断事物得看它的价值。

给我一粒大麦，就给了我整个世界。假如有了整个世界，宝石又算得了什么呢？

为了理想，我愿抛弃一切。