The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean

A bean and a hot coal met each other on the highroad, and as they were both rolling along in the same direction they soon struck up a friendship.

一颗豆子和一块烧红的炭在大路上相遇，两人正巧朝同一个方向滚去，于是很快就结成了朋友。

Presently they were joined by a straw, and the three began talking together. They were all going out in the world to seek their fortunes.

不久之后，一根稻草也加入了他们，三人一起谈了起来。他们都是要出去闯荡世界，寻找自己的运气。

“It is just a bit of luck that I can travel about in this way,” said the bean. “If I had not been a stout active fellow I would have been boiled into soup by now. The mistress was about to throw me into the pot with a lot of other beans, but I managed to slip through her fingers and rolled out through the doorway and down the steps without her even noticing I was gone.”

“我能这样出来走走，实在算是一种运气，”豆子说。“要不是我这个身手矫健的家伙，我现在早就被煮成汤了。女主人正要把我和一大堆其他豆子一起扔进锅里，可我从她的指缝间溜了出来，滚出了门口，一路滚下台阶，她连我不见了都没发觉。”

“That was a clever trick,” said the hot coal. “I, too, am a lively chap. I and my brothers were set to heat a kettle, but I jumped out of the fire, and I was so hot the cook did not dare to touch me. She pushed me out of doors with her foot, and now I am free to go about the world as I choose, and seek my fortune.”

“这可真是个聪明的把戏，”烧红的炭说。“我呢，也是个机灵的家伙。我和我的兄弟们本来是被用来烧水壶的，可我从炉火里跳了出来，我烫得厉害，厨娘都不敢碰我。她用脚把我踢出了门外，如今我自由自在，可以随心所欲地闯荡世界，寻找我的运气了。”

The straw sighed. “I was never as active as that,” she said. “Always wherever the wind blew me I went. The farmer had picked up a whole armful of straws to make a bed for the cow; but the wind caught me up and carried me off—and here I am.”

稻草叹了口气。“我可从来没有那么机灵过，”她说。“不管风把我吹到哪儿，我就去哪儿。农夫本来捡了满满一捆稻草，要给母牛铺床；可是一阵风把我卷了起来，带着我飘走了——于是我就到了这儿。”

While they were talking in this way the comrades came to a brook, and this stopped their journey, for they did not know how to get across. The straw could easily have sailed over on the first puff of wind, but that way would not do for the other two.

正说着话，三个伙伴来到了一条小溪边，行程就此被拦住了，因为他们不知道该怎么过去。稻草本可以轻轻松松地随着一阵风飘过去，可这个办法对另外两个可不管用。

“Listen!” said the straw. “I am long enough to reach from one side of the stream to the other. I will lay myself across it like a bridge, and then you can both walk on over me without getting wet.”

“听我说！”稻草说道。“我够长，能从溪流的这一边搭到那一边。我就把自己横铺在溪上，当作一座桥，这样你们俩就都能从我身上走过去，而不会弄湿了。”

To this plan the other two were glad to agree, so the straw laid herself across the stream.

对这个主意，另外两个都欣然同意，于是稻草就把自己横铺在了溪流上。

“You go first,” said the bean, for he was a cautious fellow, and wanted to see whether the bridge was safe before he tried it.

“你先走，”豆子说，他是个谨慎的家伙，想先看看这座桥安不安全，再自己试着走过去。

The coal, however, was quick and fiery. He ran out on the straw, but half-way over he grew dizzy and had to stop.

那块炭却是又急又躁。他跑到稻草上，可走到一半的时候突然头晕起来，只好停住了脚步。

“Quick! quick!” cried the straw. “I am burning”; for the coal was still very hot.

“快点！快点！”稻草喊道。“我快烧起来了”；因为那块炭仍然滚烫无比。

“Wait,” said the coal, balancing himself. “Just a minute!”

“等一下，”炭一边说，一边努力保持平衡。“就一分钟！”

But the straw could not wait even for a minute. The coal had burned through it, and down they both went into the water, the coal hissing as it fell.

可稻草连一分钟也等不了了。炭已经把她烧穿了，于是他们俩双双掉进了水里，那块炭落水时发出了咝咝的声响。

That seemed so comical to the bean that it began to laugh. It laughed and laughed; it laughed so hard that at last it split its skin, and that would have been the end of it if a tailor had not chanced to come by just then.

这一幕在豆子看来实在滑稽，于是它笑了起来。它笑啊笑，笑得那么厉害，最后竟笑裂了自己的皮，要不是正巧有个裁缝路过，那恐怕就是它的末日了。

“Help! help!” cried the bean.

“救命啊！救命啊！”豆子喊道。

The tailor looked all about him, and then he saw the bean lying on the ground. He picked it up, and it did not take him long to see what was the matter with it. “This slit can be easily mended,” said he, and he whipped out his needle and thread and sewed up the bean in a trice. Unluckily he had only black thread, and the stitches made a line of black down the side of the bean. And ever since then, if you look, you will see that every bean of that kind has a black line down one side of it.

裁缝四下张望，随后看见了躺在地上的豆子。他把它捡了起来，没花多长时间就看出了它的毛病所在。“这道裂口很容易补好，”他说道，说着便抽出针线，三下两下就把豆子缝好了。可惜他手头只有黑线，那些针脚便在豆子的一侧留下了一道黑线。从那以后，你若仔细看，就会发现这一类的每一颗豆子，一侧都有一道黑线。