Three short years went by,and a day came when the man sat shivering in a mean garret;and he was gaunt and wan and hollow-eyed,and clothed in rags;and he was gnawing a dry crust and mumbling:"Curse all the world's gifts for mockeries and gilded lies!And miscalled,every one,They are not gifts,but merely lendings.Pleasure.Love,Fame.Riches:they are but temporary disguises for lasting realities Pain,Grief,Shame,Poverty.The fairy said true;in all her store there was but one gift which was precious,only one that was not valueless,How poor and cheap and mean i know those others now to be,Bring it!I am weary.I would rest."
短短的三年又过去了。到了这么一天,这个人蜷缩在一个简陋的小阁楼里,古瘦如柴,苍白无力,双眼深陷,身上裹着碎布衣衫,浑身颤抖不停。他一边啃着一块干面包皮,一边咕哝着:“该死的礼物,都是为了让我受人嘲笑和欺诈!每一样都叫错了!它们都不是礼物,根本只是租借品!快乐,爱情,名声还有财富-都只不过是长久现实的暂时伪装-它们其实是永远的痛苦,悲哀,耻辱和贫穷!那个仙女说的没错啊,她所有的东西里只有一样是珍贵的,只有那么一样不是毫无价值的。我现在才明白,其它礼物是多么低贱与卑劣!把它带来吧-那真正宝贵的礼物!我累了,我想休息了。”
The fairy came,bringing again four of the gifts,but Death was wanting.She said:"I gave it to a mother's pet, a little child.It was ignorant,but trusted me,asking me to choose for it.You did not ask me to choose."
仙女出现了,带着以前的那四件礼物,但惟独没有最后那一件——死亡。她说道:“我把它给了一位母亲的宠儿子:一个小孩子。他什么也不懂,但他相信我,让我来帮他挑选。而你并没有这么做。”
"Oh,miserable me!What is left for me ?"
“啊,我多可悲啊!那还剩下什么给我呢?”
"What not even you have deserved: the wantoninsult of Old Age."
“一件你也不配得到的东西:接受年老体衰的折磨。”