伊索寓言——守財奴

原文：

A Miser, to make sure of his property, sold all that he had had converted it into a great lump of gold, which he hid in a hole in the ground, and went continually to visit and inspect it. This roused the curiosity of one of his workmen, who, suspecting that there was a treasure, when his master's back was turned went to the spot and stole it away. When the Miser returned and found the place empty, he wept and tore his hair. But a neighbor who saw him in this extravagant grief, and learned the cause of it, said: "Fret thyself no longer, but take a stone and put it in the same place, and think that it is your lump of gold; for, as you never meant to use it, the one will do you as much gold as the other."

The worth of money is not in its possession, but in its use.

譯文：

一個守財奴，爲了確保他的財產，賣掉所有家當換成了一大塊金子，埋在一個地洞裏，並且不時地去查看，這引起了手下一個僱工的好奇。僱工猜測那裏肯定有寶貝，趁主人離開之際，他來到埋藏地點，把金子偷走了。當守財奴回來發現金子不翼而飛，便痛哭流涕，亂撮頭髮。一個鄰人見狀問明原由後說“你也別太痛苦了，拿一塊石頭再埋在原地，就當是那塊金子好了，因爲既然你永遠不想用它，那麼兩者不是一回事嗎”。
金錢的價值不在於擁有，而在於使用。

詞彙：

extravagant 過分的

thyself = yourself