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What the Old Man Does Is Always Right ATXul0 cf0 I will tell you a story that was told me when I was a little boy. Every time I thought of this story, it seemed to me more and more charming; for it is with stories as it is with many people...they become better as they grow older . I have no doubt that you have been in the country, and seen a very old farmhouse, with a thatched roof, with mosses and small plants growing wild upon it, There is a stork's nest on the ridge of the gable, for we cannot do without the stork. The walls of the house are sloping, and the windows are low, and only one of them is made to open, The baking-oven sticks out of the wall like a great knob. An elder-tree hangs over the p alings; and beneath it is a pool of water, in which a few ducks are disporting themselves. There is a yard-dog too, who barks at all comers. Just such a farmhouse as this stood in a country lane; and in it dwelt an o ld couple, a peasant and his wife. Small as their possessions were, there was one they could not do without, and that was a horse, which contrived to live on the grass which it found by the side of the high road. The old peasant rode into the town upon this horse, and his neighbours often borrowed it, and paid for the loan by rendering some service to the old couple. After a time they thought it would be as well to sell the horse, or exchange it f or something which might be more useful to them. But what could that something be? | 老人所做的永远是对的。 我将述说一则我年轻时期所听到的故事给你们听。 每当我回想起这一则故事，就更觉得有趣。因为很多人的情形和故事的情节非常雷同......随着年龄的增长变得更好。 我相信你们一定曾经在农村，看过一些屋顶是用茅草铺成，房子四周长满青苔杂草的老旧农舍吧！那是因为没有旧农舍就不像是农村。山形墙的梁木上有个鹳鸟的巢窝。 农舍的墙壁倾颓着，窗户矮窄，仅有一个窗户是开着的，烤炉由墙上突出来，好象是一个巨大的硬块。 一棵接骨木垂在棚架上，它的底下是一潭水池，池里有几只鸭子在玩耍。 还有一只看门狗，遇到有人来就吠叫。 如此的一个农舍刚好建在一个农村小径上。在这幢屋内住着一对老夫妇，也就是农夫和他的妻子。 虽然他拥有的财产很少，却有一个不可或缺的东西，那就是马匹。这匹马吃着小径两旁的杂草，才得以勉强生存。 老农夫就骑这匹马进城，而他的邻居们也经常向他借马，然后帮老夫妇做一些事当作是借马的酬劳。 过了一些时日，老夫妇考虑是要卖掉这匹马好呢？还是去交换某个更有益于他们的东西？ 而那「某个东西」究竟是什么。 |
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