Once upon a time, there was an unfortunatepoor man. His home was also very poor – a small and empty house, where micemade their nests and spiders made their webs. People tried to avoid coming intohis house – why should they stick their noses into those poor ruins? And thepoor man thought that poverty is the reason of his misfortunes – his eternaldestiny.
很久很久以前，有一位可怜虫，贫穷而且倒霉。他的住所一样破烂不堪，空空的屋子，到处都是老鼠窝与蜘蛛网。人们对他家真是避之不及。他们可不喜欢把自己往这里靠。这位贫穷且倒霉的主儿把这一切归因于自己的贫穷，并且认定这是他命运。
So once, the poor man met a wizard andcomplained to him about his poverty and miserable life.
却说这哥们巧遇一位巫师，便一股脑的吐露了自己的心声，对于自己的潦倒与苦痛深表不满。
The wizard felt sorry for the poor man andgave him an unprecedented vase. And said:
- This is a magical vase that will save youfrom poverty.
巫师听完深表同情，并且给了这男人一个他从未见过的花瓶。然后告诉他：这个魔力瓶可以让你远离贫穷。
The poor man took the vase and wanted tosell it at first and then spend the money on alcohol, as usual, besides, whywould he need such a beautiful thing? But then he started admiring the vase andcouldn’t take it to the market. He brought the vase home, put it on the tableand started admiring it.
话说这倒霉蛋拿着瓶子就想去卖了换酒喝，像以前一样。拿这么漂亮的一个花瓶有什么用呢？他常常这样想。不过，他还是改变了主意，决定不卖了，转而要好好把玩一下。他把花瓶带回家，放在桌子上，开始把玩。
- It’s not right for such a beautiful thingto be empty, - the poor man thought. So he picked some wildflowers and put theminto the vase.
这么漂亮的花瓶空着着实可惜，男人这么想着，便抓了一些野花插进了花瓶里。
It became even more beautiful.
野花一下子变的更漂亮了。
- Not good, - the poor man though again, -that such a beautiful thing stands next to a spider web.
这个不行，这么漂亮的花怎么能盛开在脏了吧唧的蜘蛛网旁边呢？
So the poor man started cleaning his housefrom spider webs, sweeping out cockroaches and mice, cleaning the dust, washingthe floor and the walls, whitening the ceiling.
于是，男人开始清扫他的屋子里的蜘蛛网，灭掉四处逍遥的蟑螂和老鼠，洗尽尘土，清洗底板和墙壁，并且刷白了天花板。
And it became clear that his house wasn’tpoor, but rather warm and cosy. And the poor man wasn’t a poor man anymore, buta hard working host, who had no time for thoughts about misfortune.
清扫之后的屋子一下子变的温暖而舒适起来。这倒霉男人仿佛也一下子变了个样。变成了一位勤劳的主人，没有时间再去抱怨他的不幸的幸福的主人。
本文来源：网易教育频道专稿
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王晓易_NE0011
