07 The Big Oven 大火炉
Once upon a time a man had a big house, and in the house there was a big Oven; but this man's family was small——only himself and his wife.
从前，有个人拥有一幢大房子，内里有个大火炉。可他家生齿很少——只有他和他的老婆。
When winter came, the man tried to keep his Oven going all day, so that the entire stock of his firewood was consumed in a month. Now, with nothing to feed the fire, it was cold in the house.
冬天来了，这个人想尽办法不让炉子灭掉，一个月就把柴禾全烧光了。没什么可以烧的了，屋子里很冷。
Then the man began to break up his fences, and use the boards for fuel. When he had burnt up all of his fences, the house, now without any protection against the wind, was colder than ever, and still they had no firewood.
然后，他开始拆除篱笆，把木板当柴烧。烧了篱笆，房子没有了挡风的屏蔽，比从前更冷了。可他们又没有柴烧了。
Then the man began to tear down the ceiling of his house, and burn that in the Oven.
接下来，这个人开始拆除天花板，放进炉子里烧。
A neighbour noticed that he was tearing down his ceiling, and said to him:
邻人看到后，以为他在颤动的，对他说：
"Why, neighbour, have you lost your mind----pulling down your ceiling in winter? Your and your wife will freeze to death!'
“哎呀，邻人，你疯了吗？大冬天拆天花板，你和你老婆会冻死的。”
But the man said:"No, brother, you see I am pulling down my ceiling so as to have something to heat my Oven with. We have such a curious one; the more I heat it up, the colder we are!"
但是，这个人说：“不，兄弟，我拆天花板是为了烧炉子。我们的炉子真是怪，越烧越冷。”
The neighbour laughed, and said: "Well, then, after you have burnt up your ceiling, then you will be tearing down your house. You won't have anywhere to live; only the Oven will be left, and even that will be cold!"
邻人笑道;"哦，那么，你烧完天花板就会拆房子了。当时你就没地方住了，只剩下那只火炉，可连它也是酷寒的。
"Well, that is my misfortune," said the man." All my neighbours have firewood enough for all winter; but I have already burnt up my fences and the ceiling of my house, and have nothing left."
“哎，这是我的不幸，”这个人说，“全部的邻人都有充足的柴火过冬，而我已经烧掉了篱笆和天花板，什么也不剩了。”
The neighbour replied:" All you need is to have your Oven rebuilt."
邻人答复道：“你只要重弄个炉子就行了。”
But the man said :" I know well that you are jealous of my house and my Oven because they are larger than yours, and so you advise me to rebuild it."
但是，这个人说：“我很清晰，你是妒忌我的房子和炉子，它们比你家的大，以是你劝我重弄个炉子。”
So he turned a deaf ear to his neighbour's advice, and burnt up his ceiling, then his whole house, and in the end had to go and live with strangers.
效果，他把邻人的劝告看成耳边风，烧掉天花板后，又把房子也给烧掉了。末了，他只得背井离乡，漂泊异地。
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发表于 2018-10-6 16:04:12