Once upon a time, there was a foolish boy who had a bag full of beautiful marbles. Now this boy was quite proud of his marbles. In fact, he thought so much of them that he would neither play with them himself nor would he let anyone else play with them. He only took them out of the bag in order to count and admire them; they were never used for their intended purpose. Yet that boy carried that coveted bag of marbles everywhere he went.
很久以前，有个愚蠢的男孩，他有一包满满的美丽大理石。男孩因为拥有这些大理石感到特别骄傲。事实上他太在意它们了，他既舍不得与大理石玩耍，也不让别人与它们玩耍。他只是将大理石拿出包来，数一数有多少，然后便赞叹地欣赏起来。他从没有有目的地去使用过它们，但是不管去哪儿，他都要背着那包令他垂涎三尺的大理石。
Well, there was also a wise boy who wished he could have such a fine bag of marbles. So this boy worked hard and earned money to purchase a nice bag to hold marbles. Even though he had not yet earned enough with which to purchase any marbles, he had faith and purchased the marble bag. He took special care of the bag and dreamed of the day it would contain marbles with which he could play and share with his friends.
还有一个聪明的男孩，他希望他能拥有这样一包美丽的大理石。因此，男孩努力去挣钱想买一个装大理石的好包。尽管他挣的钱不足以买任何大理石，但他却信念坚定，于是买了一个大理石包。他对这个包特别小心，梦想有一天包里装满大理石，他自己与大理石玩耍，并且跟朋友一起玩耍。
Alas, the foolish boy with all of the marbles didn't take care of the marble bag itself, and one day the bag developed a hole in the bottom seam. Still, he paid no attention and, one by one, the marbles fell out of the bag.
然而，那个拥有大理石的笨男孩对大理石包漠不关心。一天，包底的缝合处开了个口子，但他根本没有注意到，结果大理石一个接一个地从包里掉了出来。
It didn't take long, once the foolish boy's marble bag developed a hole, for the wise boy to begin to find those beautiful marbles, one at a time, lying unnoticed on the ground. And, one by one, he added them to his marble bag. The wise boy thus gained a fine bag full of marbles in no time at all. This boy played with the marbles and shared them with all of his friends. And he always took special care of the bag so he wouldn't lose any.
自从笨小孩的包破了洞后，聪明的男孩开始发现那些漂亮的大理石一个接一个地躺在地上，没人理睬。于是，他就一个接一个地将它们捡起，放到自己的大理石包里。就这样，聪明的男孩很快便有了一包美丽的大理石。从此，他自己玩大理石，并和他的所有朋友一起玩。他总是给予装大理石的包无微不至的关心，以免包破后把大理石丢了。
And what about the foolish boy? Because he was selfish and careless, he lost all of his marbles and was left holding the bag
结果那个愚蠢的男孩怎么样？因为他自私自利，粗心大意，丢失了他所有的大理石，到头来只剩下一个空包。
注释：
1. marble n. 大理石
2. intended adj. 打算中的，有意的
3. covet vt. 垂涎
4. purchase vt. 买，购买
5. faith n. 信心，信念
6. seam n. 缝合处，接合线
7. unnoticed adj. 未被发觉的，不被注意的
8. selfish adj. 自私的，自私自利的 |