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从前，大草原上住着一对老夫妇。他们在一个破旧的牛革帐篷里住了四十年。老太婆撕毛捻线，老头儿出去打猎。一天，老头儿打到一只野鸡，竟是只金母鸡。 老头儿把金鸡带回家，老太婆非常高兴，就把金鸡收养起来。金鸡每天下一个金蛋。老太婆把金蛋卖掉，修了一座豪宅，买了绫罗绸缎、珍珠玛瑙和各种各样的珍贵皮毛，还买几千只羊，雇了几个放羊人。 老太婆一下子有了这么多财产，连觉都睡不着了，她日夜在想：“金鸡每天才下一个金蛋，要是一天下两个该有多好。”第二天，让她惊喜的是，金鸡果然下了两个金蛋。 老太婆自言自语：“一天才两个，要是一天下三个金蛋该多好。”第三天，金鸡果然下了三个金蛋。不久，老太婆积攒了一皮箱金蛋。 她更睡不着了，想道：“啊！金鸡肚子里一定有很多金蛋。”于是，老太婆把金鸡杀了，剖开肚子一看，不用说金蛋，就连普通的鸡蛋都没有。既然金鸡已死，老太婆决定把它卖掉。忽然，金鸡消失了。老太婆赶紧去看箱子里的金蛋。打开皮箱一看，只是满满一箱羊粪；老太婆马上去看别的箱子里的绫罗绸锻、珍珠玛瑙和各种各样的珍贵皮毛，只剩下满箱的野鸡粪；去看羊圈里的羊，看到满圈都是野草；再看自己的豪宅，依然是那个破旧的牛革帐篷。 The Old Women and the Gold Hen Long ago there lived in the Great Plain an old man and his wife. They had lived in a worn old cow leather tent for forty years. The old woman tore the wool and twisted it into thread，while the old man went hunting. One day，the old man got a pheasant，but it turned out to be a gold hen. The old man took the gold hen home. The old woman was very happy ； she kept it and fed it. The gold hen laid one gold egg a day. The old woman sold the gold eggs and built a mansion and bought silks and satins and pearls and agates and different kinds of precious wool and leather. Also ,she bought thousands of sheep and hired some shepherds to look after them. The old woman had so much wealth that she became sleepless. She thought day and night, “Gold hen lays only one egg a day. It would be better if it laid two a day. ” To her happy surprise, the gold hen laid two gold eggs the next day as she had wished. The old woman said again, “It lays only two a day. It would be better if it laid three a day. ” The third day，it laid three gold eggs. Soon, the old woman accumulated a leather box of gold eggs. But she was all the more sleep- less and still thought day and night，“Well，the gold hen must have countless gold eggs in her belly. ” Then she killed the gold hen. But she found no gold eggs，nor even ordinary eggs. Now that she had killed the gold hen，she decided to sell it. Thus thinking，the gold hen suddenly disappeared 9 and she hurried to the gold eggs in the leather box. Opening the box, she found it filled with sheep dung； and she hurried to open the other box with silk and satins, and pearls and agates and precious wool and leather, only to find it filled with pheasant droppings； she hurried to see the sheep in the pen, and it turned out to be full of wild grass; looking up at the mansion, it turned out to be the old worn cow leather tent. |
