农夫的金子

郭倩

1. Once upon a time， there was a warlike1 king. He made enemies everywhere. The whole country became so poor at last. 很早以前，有个国王非常好战，到处树敌，弄得国库空虚。

2. So he ordered his soldiers to search the people for gold. 于是，他命令士兵到老百姓家里去搜刮金子。

3. The soldiers came to a farmers home and said， “It is said that you have a pot of gold.” Then they looked for it by force. 他们来到一个农夫家，说：“听说你们家有一罐金子。”说完，便强行搜查。

4. But they found nothing at last. The soldiers were so angry that they put the farmer in prison2. 搜了半天，什么也没捞到，他们气得把农夫抓进了监狱。

5. In spring， the farmer in prison received a letter from his wife. It said， “Its time to plant potatoes， but you are not at home. I have to plow3 by myself.” 春天，农夫在狱中收到妻子的来信，写道：“该种土豆了，但你却不能在家帮忙，我只好自己来翻地。”

6. The farmer wanted to help his wife， but he couldnt go out. Suddenly， he had an idea. 农夫很想去帮妻子，但又出不去。突然，他想到了一个办法。

7. The farmer wrote a letter to his wife and said， “Dont plow the ground. Theres a pot of gold hiding under the ground.” Then he let a guard send the letter to his wife. 农夫马上写了一封信嘱咐妻子，信中写道：“千万别去翻地，因为地里藏着一罐金子。”然后农夫把信交给看守代寄。

8. The guard read the letter secretly. He was so surprised. 看守私自拆信后，惊喜万分。

9. The guard sent it to the king in a hurry. 看守急忙将这封信交给了国王。

10. The next morning， more than ten strangers plowed the farmers ground with spades4 for several times. They even did not drink any water when they left. 第二天，十多个陌生人带着铁锹，把农夫家的地来来回回翻了好几次，连水也不喝一口就走了。

11. A week later， the farmer heard from his wife again. His wife told him what had happened at home. 过了一个星期，农夫又收到妻子的信，把家里发生的事告诉他了。

12. The farmer laughed from bottom after reading it. He wrote another letter to his wife， “Since so many people helped us plow the ground， you can plant potatoes now！ The potatoes are gold for our poor people！” 农夫看后哈哈大笑，又写了一封回信，告诉妻子：“既然那么多人帮我们翻了地，那么快种土豆吧！土豆可是咱穷人的金子啊！”

Notes：

1. warlike [] adj. 战争的；好战的

2. prison [] n. 监狱

3. plow [] v. 犁；耕地

4. spade [] n. 铁锹，铲子