有两个贫苦的樵夫靠上山捡柴糊口，有一天，他们在山里发现两大包棉花，两人喜出望外。棉花轻且贵，当下俩人各背了一包棉花赶路回家。
     There once were two poor woodsmen who made a living by collecting woods in the mountain. One day, they happened to discover two large bag of cotton in the mountain and felt surprisingly happy. The cotton was light but valuable, so they carried it on their back and went back home.

　　走着走着，其中一名樵夫眼尖，看到山路上扔着一大捆布，他就和同伴商量。扔下棉花，背布回家。他的同伴却有不同的看法，认为自己背着棉花已走了一大段，到了这里丢下棉花，岂不枉费了先前的辛苦，坚持不愿换布。发现布的樵夫则尽其所能背起布走。又走了一段路，背布的樵夫望见不远处的地上散落着数坛黄金。心想这下真的发财了，赶忙用挑柴的扁担挑黄金。他的同伴仍是不愿丢下棉花，并怀疑黄金不是真的。发现黄金的樵夫只好自己挑了两坛黄金，和背棉花的伙伴赶紧回家。
     When they were walking home, one of the woodsmen spotted a large bundle of cloth beside the road. So he discussed with his partner whether to discard the cotton and take the cloth instead. But his partner held a different view that since he had carried the cotton for such a long way, he would not change it with cloth because all his previous effort would turn out to be in vain. Therefore, the other woodsman abandoned the cotton and carried the cloth on his back. After walking for a while, the woodsman who carried the cloth spotted several jars of gold disseminated on the ground not far away. He felt so thrilled that he was going to be a wealthy man. So he gave up the cloth and used his carrying pole to carry two jars of gold, while his partner was still reluctant to abandon the cotton and wondering whether the gold was real or not. 

• valuable [´væljuəbəl, -jubəl]   a.有价值的，贵重的   (初中英语单词)
• bundle [´bʌndl]   n.包，捆；包袱(裹)   (初中英语单词)
• partner [´pɑ:tnə]   n.伙伴 v.同....合作   (初中英语单词)
• previous [´pri:viəs]   a.先，前，以前的   (初中英语单词)
• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:]   ad.&conj.因此；所以   (初中英语单词)
• wealthy [´welθi]   a.富有的；丰富的   (初中英语单词)
• abandon [ə´bændən]   vt.抛弃，放弃，离弃   (初中英语单词)
• discard [dis´kɑ:d]   vt.丢弃，抛弃；解雇   (高中英语单词)
• reluctant [ri´lʌktənt]   a.勉强的；难得到的   (英语四级单词)
• surprisingly [sə´praiziŋli]   ad.惊人地；意外地   (英语六级单词)
• abandoned [ə´bændənd]   a.被抛弃的；无约束的   (英语六级单词)