幸运女神与乞丐 江铭辉 五梦网
图1：幸运女神把金元，一直往乞丐的钱包丢下。
本文原著是克雷洛夫(Kriloff)原文及翻译如下：
原文：
题目：Fortune and the Beggar
(幸运女神与乞丐)
内容：
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.
(一个可怜的乞丐，带着破旧的钱包，正在挨家挨户地爬着乞讨。他一面抱怨自己命苦，一面嘀咕为什么那些住在高楼大厦的富人，虽然金钱可以从地上堆到喉咙那么多，每天在街上，尽情玩乐，从不满足。当他们获得财富时，虽然金钱已经把口袋装得满满的，但仍然贪得无厌，想赚取更多财富，而把老本也亏掉。)
"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."
「这一家就是个例子，」他说，「这座房子从前的主人由于生意兴隆，生财有道，让他赚了许多钱。但他并未适可而止，没有把生意交托给别人，自己安享晚福，相反竟去配置船队，在春季扬帆出海。他原以为可以获得如金山的财富，可是船只遇难撞沉了，财物全被巨浪吞没。如今一切都沉在海底，大笔财富像做梦一样化为乌有了。另外有一个人他原本是农民，因承包酒税，获利百万。他还嫌少，还想加倍。于是使出浑身解数去投机，但最终却彻底破产。总之，这种例子不胜枚举。但应该也是正确的:为人须谨慎。」
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."
就在这时，幸运女神突然出现在乞丐面前，对他说:「听着!我早就想帮助你。这是我找到的大批金元。打拿出你的钱包吧，让我给你装满金元。但有一个条件:凡是装在钱包中的都是黄金，掉到地上的，就要变为尘土了，成为垃圾。好好地想一想，我预先警告过你。我将严守我的约定。你的钱包是旧的，不要装得太多，超过它的负荷。」
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，高兴得喘不过气来。他实在觉得飘飘然，他打开钱包，女神大方抓起金元，只见金元像流水般倒入，钱包一下子就装得沉甸甸的。
"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." '
「够了吗?」
「还不够。」
「钱包不会裂开吧?」
「绝不用担心。」
「想想看，你已经富有得像克利萨斯王那样富有了。」
「再添一点儿，就再添这么一把。」
「看啊，己经满满的了。小心;钱包就要撑破了。」
「再添一丁点儿吧。」
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，就在这一剎那，钱包裂开了;金元从钱包泄漏下去；全部化为尘土。幸运女神也不见了。乞丐一无所有，手裹只剩一个空钱包，他依然像往常那样穷。
译者评论：
这个寓言告诉我们人不可太贪心，否则什么都会化为乌有，寓言前面也提到二个例子说：二个富翁想要钱滚钱，最又连老本都败光了，乞丐原先也想到，并以为耻辱，但是轮到乞丐自己时，竟也贪得无厌，最后自己什么也没有得到。贪心是大家都有的，但应考虑自己能力，适可而止，古人说：「人心不足，蛇吞象。」
一般认为，“人心不足蛇吞象”是从成语“巴蛇吞象”演变而来的。“巴蛇吞象”源自《山海经·海内南经》，其原文是这样描述的：“巴蛇食象，三岁而出其骨。君子服之，无心腹之疾。”这句话是说，四川有一种蛇，牠大到能吞象，三年后把骨头吐出，人吃了后，就可以治心复病。与“人心不足蛇吞象”有关或相近的谚语还有：“人心不足，得陇望蜀”；“人心不足，有了五谷想六谷”；“人心高过天，想做皇帝想成仙”；“人心难满，欲壑难填”；“人心节节高于天，越是钱多越爱钱”；“人心不足蛇吞象，贪心不足吃月亮”等等。这些谚语讲的都是人心不足，或人的贪心不足，欲望无限，没有止境。作为谚语的使用者，一般都是从其消极的意义，其实人如果没有志愿，不想往上爬，每天只得过且过，那么这个人怎样会成大功，立大业，世界，哪里会有进步，所以这种过一天算一天，没有长远打算，对工作敷衍了事，不负责任，也不是人所尊敬的。所以人也要有伟大的志向，勇往直前，但是努力也要有方法和计划，且不要用诈欺，巧取豪夺，卑鄙手段，达到目的。寓言中的二位富豪和乞丐，他们最后会失败，是没有考虑到自己的实力，只知往前冲，最后当然头破血流，譬如乞丐，不想想看，自己的钱包破旧，只知将金元往袋之装，最后钱包当然负荷不了，而破裂。所以人还是要考虑自己的实力，订出高标准的志愿，一步一步的往前走，才是正当的手法。