LESSON 40

CHARLIE AND ROB

查理和罗伯

1．"Don't you hate splitting wood?" asked Charlie, as he sat down on a log to hinder^〔1〕 Rob for a while.

2．"No, I rather like it. When I get hold of a tough old fellow, I say, 'See here, now, you think you're the stronger, and are going to beat me; so I'll split you up into kindling wood.'”

3．"Pshaw!" said Charlie, laughing; "and it's only a stick of wood."

4．"Yes; but you see I pretend it's a lesson, or a tough job of any kind, and it's nice to conquer^〔2〕 it."

5．"I don't want to conquer such things; I don't care what becomes of them. I wish I were a man, and a rich one."

6．"Well, Charlie, if you live long enough you'll be a man, without wishing for it; and as for the rich part, I mean to be that myself."

7．"You do. How do you expect to get your money? By sawing wood?"

8．"May be—some of it; that's as good a way as any, so long as it lasts. I don't care how I get rich, you know, so that it's in an honest and useful way."

9．"I'd like to sleep over the next ten years, and wake up to find myself a young man with a splendid^〔3〕 education^〔4〕 and plenty of money."

10．"Humph! I am not sleepy—a night at a time is enough for me. I mean to work the next ten years. You see there are things that you've got to work out—you can't sleep them out."

11．"I hate work," said Charlie, "that is, such work as sawing and splitting wood, and doing chores^〔5〕. I'd like to do some big work, like being a clerk in a bank or something of that sort."

12．"Wood has to be sawed and split before it can be burned," said Rob. "I don't know but I'll be a clerk in a bank some time; I'm working towards it. I'm keeping father's accounts for him."

13．How Charlie laughed! "I should think that was a long way from being a bank clerk. I suppose your father sells two tables and six chairs, some days, doesn't he?"

14．"Sometimes more than that, and sometimes not so much," said Rob, in perfect good humor.

15．"I didn't say I was a bank clerk now. I said I was working towards it. Am I not nearer it by keeping a little bit of a book than I should be if I didn't keep any book at all?"

16．"Not a whit—such things happen," said Charlie, as he started to go.

17．Now, which of these boys, do you think, grew up to be a rich and useful man, and which of them joined a party of tramps before he was thirty years old?

【中文阅读】

1．“你不是讨厌劈木头吗？”查理一边说着，一边坐在一根木头上，不让罗伯继续干下去。

2．“不，我其实很喜欢。当我抓住一根难劈的木头时，我会说，‘现在，看这里，你认为自己很强壮，想要打击我，是吗？可是我会把你劈成几半，成为细小的木柴。’”

3．“哼！”查理笑着说，“它不过是一根木头而已。”

4．“是的，但是你看，我把它当成一堂课，或者一份艰苦的工作，这样就很容易战胜它了。”

5．“我并不想征服这样的东西；我不关心这些事情。我只想自己是一个男人，是一个富翁。”

6．“好吧，查理，如果你能活到那时，自然就会成为一个男人，无须多想；至于富翁嘛，我自己也想成为富翁。”

7．“你也想。你怎么挣到钱呀？只靠劈木头？”

8．“也许——有一点吧；只要能够坚持下去，这也是一条不错的路。你知道吗，我并不在乎能够变得多么富有，但是一定要通过正直而有用的途径获得财富。”

9．“我倒希望能好好睡上十年，醒来后发现自己已经成了一个既有教养又有财富的年轻人。”

10．“哼！我不会这样睡过去的——一天只睡一夜，对我来说就足够了。我还要工作十年呢。你看，那里还有很多事情等着你去做呢，睡觉可不能帮你完成它们。”

11．“我讨厌工作，”查理说，“讨厌这些砍柴、劈木头之类的杂活。我想干一番大事业，想当一个银行里的职员，或者类似的工作。”

12．“木头只有被锯掉、被劈碎，才能用来燃烧呀，”罗伯说，“我不知道别的，但是有时候我就像银行里的职员一样，我一直在做这样的工作。我一直在帮爸爸记账呢。”

13．查理大笑起来！“我想，当一个银行职员还早着呢，我猜想，你的父亲这几天卖掉了两张桌子、六把椅子，是吗？”

14．“有时会更多些，有时还卖不到这么多。”罗伯也不失幽默地附和着。

15．“我并不是说自己现在就是一个银行职员。我是说自己正朝着那个目标努力。通过平常记录小账，不就是朝着这个目标更近了嘛，这难道不比什么也不做更好吗？”

16．“这样的事情根本不会发生。”查理说着便起身准备走了。

17．现在，你来想想，这两个男孩子中，谁将来长大后会成为富翁，成为一个有用之才；谁又会成为一个三十岁时还流浪街头的人？

注释

〔1〕Hinder, interrupt, prevent from working.

〔2〕Conquer, overcome, master.

〔3〕Splendid, very fine, complete.

〔4〕Education, acquired knowledge.

〔5〕Chores, the light work about a house or yard.