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3. The Golden Plate  金盘

—— [Greed and Honesty] 贪婪与诚实

Once upon a time in a place called Seri, there were two salesmen of pots and pans and hand-made trinkets. They agreed to divide the town between them. They also said that after one had gone through his area, it was all right for the other to try and sell where the first had already been.

很久以前，在一个叫赛里的地方，有两个商人，卖一些锅碗瓢盆以及手工制作的廉价小饰品。两人商议将镇子划为两半分别兜售自己的商品；而且另一个人可以去前一个人去过的地方再度尝试。

One day, while one of them was coming down a street, a poor little girl saw him and asked her grandmother to buy her a bracelet. The old grandmother replied, "How can we poor people buy bracelets?" The little girl said, "Since we don't have any money, we can give our black sooty old plate." The old woman agreed to give it a try, so she invited the dealer inside.

 有一天，商人甲正沿街叫卖，有个贫穷的小女孩听见了，就想叫奶奶给自己买个手镯。老奶奶说：“我们穷人怎么可能买得起手镯？”小女孩回答说：“既然咱们没钱，就用那个沾满煤灰的盘子跟他换吧。”奶奶同意试试，于是把商人甲叫进了屋。

The salesman saw that these people were very poor and innocent, so he didn't want to waste his time with them. Even though the old woman pleaded with him, he said he had no bracelet that she could afford to buy. Then she asked, "We have an old plate that is useless to us, can we trade it for a bracelet?" The man took it and, while examining it, happened to scratch the bottom of it. To his surprise, he saw that underneath the black soot, it was a golden plate! But he didn't let on that he had noticed it. Instead he decided to deceive these poor people so he could get the plate for next to nothing. He said "This is not worth even one bracelet, there's no value in this, I don't want it!" He left, thinking he would return later when they would accept even less for the plate.

商人甲觉得这些人又穷又笨，所以不想跟她们浪费时间。无论老奶奶怎么恳求他，他都推说没有她们买得起的手镯。后来，老奶奶问道：“我们有个没用的旧盘子，能跟你换一个手镯吗？”商人甲接过盘子，在检查的过程中无意间刮到了盘底。让他吃惊的是，这个被煤灰盖住的居然是个金盘子！但他并没有表现出惊讶来。他想欺骗这两个穷苦的人，用最低的代价得到那个盘子。他说：“我不需要它，它根本一钱不值，一只手镯也换不起。”接着他就走了，心里盘算着回头再来，用更低的价钱买那个盘子。

Meanwhile the other salesman, after finishing in his part of town, followed after the first as they had agreed. He ended up at the same house. Again the poor little girl begged her grandmother to trade the old plate for a bracelet. The woman saw that this was a nice tender looking merchant and thought, "He's a good man, not like the rough-talking first salesman." So she invited him in and offered to trade the same black sooty old plate for one bracelet. When he examined it, he too saw that it was pure gold under the grime. He said to the old woman, "All my goods and all my money together are not worth as much as this rich golden plate!"   

此时商人乙已经在自己的地段转完一圈了，于是他按照约定来到商人甲的地段叫卖。他也来到了商人甲来过的那个小屋，而那个小女孩又求她奶奶用那个盘子跟他换手镯。老奶奶觉得商人乙很面善，心想：“他是个好人，应该不会像刚才那个人那么粗鲁。”于是把他叫进了屋，又用刚才那个盘子换手镯。当他检查那个盘子时，也发现尘垢下面是个纯金的盘子。他对老奶奶说：“我这里所有的货物和身上所有的钱加在一起都买不起这个金盘！”

Of course the woman was shocked at this discovery, but now she knew that he was indeed a good and honest fellow. So she said she would be glad to accept whatever he could trade for it. The salesman said, "I'11 give you all my pots and pans and trinkets, plus all my money, if you will let me keep just eight coins and my balancing scale, with its cover to put the golden plate in." They made the trade. He went down to the river, where he paid the eight coins to the ferry man to take him across.

当然，老奶奶对他的话感到很震惊。不过她更加确信他是个诚实的好人。所以她回答说不管他用什么交换都行。商人乙说：“这样吧，给我留八个硬币和一个用来放金盘的天平就行了，其余所有的货物和钱都给你们。”交易完后，他直接来到河边，给了船家八个硬币载他过河。

By then the greedy salesman had returned, already adding up huge imaginary profits in his head. When he met the little girl and her grandmother again, he said he had changed his mind and was willing to offer a few cents, but not one of his bracelets, for the useless black sooty old plate. The old woman then calmly told him of the trade she had just made with the honest salesman, and said, "Sir, you lied to us."

这时，贪婪的商人甲回来了，做着暴富的白日梦。当他再次见到那个小女孩和老奶奶时，他说他改变主意了，愿意出几分钱买下那个又黑又脏的旧盘子，但绝不能用手镯换。老奶奶冷冷地把她跟诚实的商人乙做的交易告诉了商人甲，并说：“先生，你欺骗了我们。”

The greedy salesman was not ashamed of his lies, but he was saddened as he thought, "I've lost the golden plate that must be worth a hundred thousand." So he asked the woman, "Which way did he go?." She told him the direction. He left all his things right there at her door and ran down to the river, thinking, "He robbed me! He robbed me! He won't make a fool out of me!"

贪婪的商人甲一点也不为自己的谎言感到羞耻，而是为失去了一个价值十万的金盘感到悲哀。于是他问老奶奶：“他往哪个方向走了？”老奶奶给他指了路，他把自己所有的东西扔在门口，直奔向河边，心想：“他抢了我的生意！他抢了我的生意！我不能让他这样愚弄我！”

From the riverside he saw the honest salesman still crossing over on the ferry boat. He shouted to the ferry man, "Come back!" But the good merchant told him to keep on going to the other side, and that's what he did.

在河边，他看见诚实的商人乙正在渡河。于是他对着船夫嚷嚷：“回来！”但好心的商人乙叫他直接把船划到对岸，船夫照做了。

Seeing that he could do nothing, the greedy salesman exploded with rage. He jumped up and down, beating his chest. He became so filled with hatred towards the honest man, who had won the golden plate, that he made himself cough up blood. He had a heart attack and died on the spot!

贪婪的商人甲无计可施，都快气炸了，站在岸边捶胸顿足。他恨死了得到金盘的商人乙，最终气得吐血，心脏病突发，当场死亡。

The moral is. "Honesty is the best policy."

这个故事告诉我们：“诚实是金！”