幸運女神與乞丐 江銘輝 五夢網
圖1：幸運女神把金元，一直往乞丐的錢包丟下。
本文原著是克雷洛夫 (Kriloff)原文及翻譯如下：
原文：
題目： Fortune and the Beggar
(幸運女神與乞丐)
內容：
A wretched beggar, carrying a ragged old wallet, was creeping along from house to house; and, as he grumbled at his lot, he kept wondering that folks who lived in rich apartments, and were up to their throats in money and in the sweets of indulgence, should be always unsatisfied, however full their pockets might be, and that they should go so far as often to lose all they have, while unreasonably craving for, and laying their hands on, new riches.
(一個可憐的乞丐，帶著破舊的錢包，正在挨家挨戶地爬著乞討。他一面抱怨自己命苦，一面嘀咕為什麼那些住在高樓大廈的富人，雖然金錢可以從地上堆到喉嚨那麼多，每天在街上，盡情玩樂，從不滿足。當他們獲得財富時，雖然金錢已經把口袋裝得滿滿的，但仍然貪得無厭，想賺取更多財富，而把老本也虧掉。)
"Here, for instance," he says, "the former master of this house succeeded in trading prosperously, and made himself enormously rich by commerce. But then, instead of stopping, and handing over his business to another, 'and spending the rest of his years in peace, he took to' equipping ships for the sea in the spring. He expected to get mountains of gold; but the ships were smashed, and his treasures were swallowed up by the waves. Now they all he at the bottom of the sea, and he has found his riches melt away like those in dreams.
Another man became one of the farmers of the spirit-tax, and so gained a million. That was a trifle: he wanted to double it. So he plunged up to his ears in speculations, and was utterly ruined. In short, instances of this are countless. And quite right too: a man should use discretion."
「這一家就是個例子，」他說，「這座房子從前的主人由於生意興隆，生財有道，讓他賺了許多錢。但他並未適可而止，沒有把生意交托給別人，自己安享晚福，相反竟去配置船隊，在春季揚帆出海。他原以為可以獲得如金山的財富，可是船隻遇難撞沉了，財物全被巨浪吞沒。如今一切都沉在海底，大筆財富像做夢一樣化為烏有了。另外有一個人他原本是農民，因承包酒稅，獲利百萬。他還嫌少，還想加倍。於是使出渾身解數去投機，但最終卻徹底破產。總之，這種例子不勝枚舉。但應該也是正確的:為人須謹慎。」
At this moment Fortune suddenly appeared to the beggar, and said: "Listen I have long wished to help you. Here is a lot of ducats I have found. Hold out your wallet, and I will fill it with them; but only on this condition: All shall be gold that falls into the wallet; but if any of it falls out of the wallet to the ground, it shall all become dust. Consider this well. I have warned you beforehand. I shall keep strictly to my compact. Your wallet is old; don't overload it beyond its powers."
就在這時，幸運女神突然出現在乞丐面前，對他說:「聽著!我早就想幫助你。這是我找到的大批金元。打拿出你的錢包吧，讓我給你裝滿金元。但有一個條件:凡是裝在錢包中的都是黃金，掉到地上的，就要變為塵土了，成為垃圾。好好地想一想，我預先警告過你。我將嚴守我的約定。你的錢包是舊的，不要裝得太多，超過它的負荷。」
Our beggar is almost too overjoyed to breathe He scarcely feels the ground beneath his feet. He opens his wallet, and with generous hand a golden stream of ducats is poured into it. The wallet soon becomes rather heavy.
乞丐真是喜出望外，高興得喘不過氣來。他實在覺得飄飄然，他打開錢包，女神大方抓起金元，只見金元像流水般倒入，錢包一下子就裝得沉甸甸的。
"Is that enough?"
"Not yet."
"Isn't it cracking?"
"Never fear."
"Consider, you're quite a Croesus."
"Just a little more;just add a handful."
"There, it's full. Take care: the wallet is going to burst.
"Just a little bit more." '
「夠了嗎?」
「還不夠。」
「錢包不會裂開吧?」
「絕不用擔心。」
「想想看，你已經富有得像克利薩斯王那樣富有了。」
「再添一點兒，就再添這麼一把。」
「看啊，己經滿滿的了。小心;錢包就要撐破了。」
「再添一丁點兒吧。」
But at that moment the wallet split; the treasure fell through and turned to dust; and Fortune disappeared. The beggar had nothing but his empty wallet, and remained as poor as before.
但是，就在這一剎那，錢包裂開了;金元從錢包洩漏下去；全部化為塵土。幸運女神也不見了。乞丐一無所有，手裹只剩一個空錢包，他依然像往常那樣窮。
譯者評論：
這個寓言告訴我們人不可太貪心，否則什麼都會化為烏有，寓言前面也提到二個例子說：二個富翁想要錢滾錢，最又連老本都敗光了，乞丐原先也想到，並以為恥辱，但是輪到乞丐自己時，竟也貪得無厭，最後自己什麼也沒有得到。貪心是大家都有的，但應考量自己能力，適可而止，古人說：「人心不足，蛇吞象。」
一般認爲，“人心不足蛇吞象”是從成語“巴蛇吞象”演變而來的。“巴蛇吞象”源自《山海經·海內南經》，其原文是這樣描述的：“巴蛇食象，三歲而出其骨。君子服之，無心腹之疾。”這句話是說，四川有一種蛇，牠大到能吞象，三年後把骨頭吐出，人吃了後，就可以治心復病。與“人心不足蛇吞象”有關或相近的諺語還有：“人心不足，得隴望蜀”；“人心不足，有了五穀想六穀”；“人心高過天，想做皇帝想成仙”；“人心難滿，欲壑難填”；“人心節節高於天，越是錢多越愛錢”；“人心不足蛇吞象，貪心不足吃月亮”等等。這些諺語講的都是人心不足，或人的貪心不足，欲望無限，沒有止境。作爲諺語的使用者，一般都是從其消極的意義，其實人如果沒有志願，不想往上爬，每天只得過且過，那麼這個人怎樣會成大功，立大業，世界，哪裡會有進步，所以這種過一天算一天，沒有長遠打算，對工作敷衍了事，不負責任，也不是人所尊敬的。所以人也要有偉大的志向，勇往直前，但是努力也要有方法和計劃，且不要用詐欺，巧取豪奪，卑鄙手段，達到目的。寓言中的二位富豪和乞丐，他們最後會失敗，是沒有考慮到自己的實力，只知往前衝，最後當然頭破血流，譬如乞丐，不想想看，自己的錢包破舊，只知將金元往袋之裝，最後錢包當然負荷不了，而破裂。所以人還是要考量自己的實力，訂出高標準的志願，一步一步的往前走，才是正當的手法。