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从前有个很自私的家庭主妇。只有那些没用的东西她才会施舍出去，希望能因此得到一点回报。一天一个山里人来敲她的门。 "好心的妈妈，能借给我一口锅用一用吗？”他说，山里面有个婚礼，所有的锅都用上了。" "啊，没问题。”家庭主妇说，'‘我们是邻居嘛。" 但是当女佣从架子上拿锅的时候，家庭主妇严厉地低声说：“不是那个，你这个没用的东西！从柜子里给他拿那个旧的。那个漏。山里人都很灵巧。他们一定会把它补好再还回来的。这样我们就能省六便士的补锅钱。" 这样女佣就把那口旧锅给了山里人。 山里人按时把锅还了回来。就像家庭主妇预料得那样，锅补得很好，又可以用了。 晚饭的时候，女佣把牛奶倒进锅里，放在火上。但没几分钟牛奶就被烧糊了。糊得连猪都不愿意喝。 "啊，没用的东西！"家庭主妇边骂边重新倒了些牛奶在锅里，"浪费了整整一夸脱好牛奶！" “这是两便士！”一个声音似乎从烟囱里传了出来。 家庭主妇离幵还没两分钟，牛奶就溢了出来，而且变得像先前一样糊。 "一定是锅脏了。”家庭主妇懊恼地嘟囔着，“两夸脱牛奶了！” "这就四便士了！"烟囪里的声音补充道。 把锅彻底清洗了之后，家庭主妇又倒了些牛奶在里面，放在火上。但是这次也没有成功。牛奶又溢了出来，并且糊得根本没法喝。家庭主妇看着浪费的牛奶，气得眼泪都出来了，说道：”一顿饭煮糊了三夸脱的好牛奶。" “这就六便士了！"烟囱里的声音又说道：“你一点也没省下补锅的钱，妈妈!” 说完这些，山里人就从烟囱里滑了出来，笑着走出门去。 但是从那以后，那口锅又像以前一样好用了。 The Hillman and the Housewife There once lived a housewife who had a sharp eye to her own interests, and gave alms of what she had no use for, hoping to get some reward in return. One day a Hillman knocked at her door. “Can you lend us a saucepan, good mother?" said he. "There1 s a wedding in the hill, and all the pots are in use." "Aye, to be sure,” answered the housewife, "one must be neighborly.” But when the maid was taking a saucepan from the shelf, the housewife whispered sharply：“Not that, you good-for-nothing! Get the old one out of the cupboard. It leaks, and the Hillmen are such nimble workers，that they are sure to mend it before they send it home. That saves sixpence in tinkering!” Thus the maid fetched the old saucepan and gave it to the Hillman. In due time the saucepan was returned，and，as the housewife had foreseen, it was neatly mended and ready for use. At suppertime the maid filled the pan with milk, and set it on the fire. But in a few minutes the milk was so burnt and smoked that even the pigs refused to drink it. “Ah, good-for-nothing!” cried the housewife, as she refilled the pan herself. "There，s a whole quart of good milk wasted at once! “AND THAT’S TWOPENCE!" cried a voice that seemed to come from the chimney. The housewife had not left the saucepan for two minutes, when the milk boiled over, and it was all burnt and smoked as before. "The pan must be dirty,” muttered the housewife in vexation, "and there are two full quarts of milk!" “AND THAT，S FOURPENCE!” added the voice in the chimney. After a thorough cleaning the saucepan was once more filled and set on the fire, but with no better success. The milk boiled over again, and was hopelessly spoiled. The housewife shed tears of anger at the waste and cried，" Three quarts of good milk burnt for one meal." "AND THAT1 S SIXPENCE!" cried the voice in the chimney. " You didn51 save the tinkering after all, mother!" With that the Hillman himself came tumbling down from the chimney, and went off laughing through the door. But from then on the saucepan was as good as any other. |
