Once upon a time, there was an unfortunatepoor man. His home was also very poor – a small and empty house, where micemade their nests and spiders made their webs. People tried to avoid coming intohis house – why should they stick their noses into those poor ruins? And thepoor man thought that poverty is the reason of his misfortunes – his eternaldestiny.

很久很久以前,有一位可怜虫,贫穷而且倒霉。他的住所一样破烂不堪,空空的屋子,到处都是老鼠窝与蜘蛛网。人们对他家真是避之不及。他们可不喜欢把自己往这里靠。这位贫穷且倒霉的主儿把这一切归因于自己的贫穷,并且认定这是他命运。

So once, the poor man met a wizard andcomplained to him about his poverty and miserable life.

却说这哥们巧遇一位巫师,便一股脑的吐露了自己的心声,对于自己的潦倒与苦痛深表不满。

The wizard felt sorry for the poor man andgave him an unprecedented vase. And said:

- This is a magical vase that will save youfrom poverty.

巫师听完深表同情,并且给了这男人一个他从未见过的花瓶。然后告诉他:这个魔力瓶可以让你远离贫穷。

The poor man took the vase and wanted tosell it at first and then spend the money on alcohol, as usual, besides, whywould he need such a beautiful thing? But then he started admiring the vase andcouldn’t take it to the market. He brought the vase home, put it on the tableand started admiring it.

话说这倒霉蛋拿着瓶子就想去卖了换酒喝,像以前一样。拿这么漂亮的一个花瓶有什么用呢?他常常这样想。不过,他还是改变了主意,决定不卖了,转而要好好把玩一下。他把花瓶带回家,放在桌子上,开始把玩。

- It’s not right for such a beautiful thingto be empty, - the poor man thought. So he picked some wildflowers and put theminto the vase.

这么漂亮的花瓶空着着实可惜,男人这么想着,便抓了一些野花插进了花瓶里。

It became even more beautiful.

野花一下子变的更漂亮了。

- Not good, - the poor man though again, -that such a beautiful thing stands next to a spider web.

这个不行,这么漂亮的花怎么能盛开在脏了吧唧的蜘蛛网旁边呢?

So the poor man started cleaning his housefrom spider webs, sweeping out cockroaches and mice, cleaning the dust, washingthe floor and the walls, whitening the ceiling.

于是,男人开始清扫他的屋子里的蜘蛛网,灭掉四处逍遥的蟑螂和老鼠,洗尽尘土,清洗底板和墙壁,并且刷白了天花板。

And it became clear that his house wasn’tpoor, but rather warm and cosy. And the poor man wasn’t a poor man anymore, buta hard working host, who had no time for thoughts about misfortune.

清扫之后的屋子一下子变的温暖而舒适起来。这倒霉男人仿佛也一下子变了个样。变成了一位勤劳的主人,没有时间再去抱怨他的不幸的幸福的主人。