寓言故事:一塊大金子 A Huge Lump of Gold
Once upon a time there was a rich village. The wealthiest of the villagers decided to hide a huge lump（塊狀） of gold to protect it from bandits（土匪，盜賊） and robbers. So he buried it in a nearby rice field.
從前有一個富裕的村莊。村民中最有錢的人決定將一大塊金子藏起來以免土匪和強盜來打劫。於是他將那塊金子埋在附近的稻田地裏。
Many years later, the village was no longer rich, and the rice field was abandoned and unused. A poor farmer decided to plow the field. After some time plowing（耕地） , it just so happened that his plow struck the long forgotten buried treasure.
許多年後，村子不再像以前那樣富裕，稻田地被荒廢，沒有人再去耕種，一個貧窮的農民決定去犁地。犁了一些地後，犁頭恰巧碰到了那塊早被人們遺忘的金子。
At first he thought it must be a very hard tree root. But when he uncovered it, he saw that it was beautiful shining gold. Since it was daytime he was afraid to try and take it with him. So he covered it up again and waited for nightfall.
起先，農民以爲犁頭一定是翻到了堅硬的樹根，但他扒開土時，纔看到那是一塊閃光的金子。在白天他不敢將金子拿回家，於是他又將金子埋起來並等待夜幕的降臨。
The poor farmer returned in the middle of the night. Again he uncovered the golden treasure. He tried to lift it, but it was far too heavy. He tied ropes around it and tried to drag it. But it was so huge he couldn’t budge（移動） it an inch. He became frustrated, thinking he was lucky to find a treasure, and unlucky to not be able to take it with him. He even tried kicking the huge lump of gold. But again it wouldn’t budge an inch!
半夜時，農民回來了。他將金子挖出來，想擡走金子，但是金子是在太重了，他用繩子將金塊捆住，想將金子拽回去。但是金塊太大了以致於他根本無法挪動。農民開始心煩，心想他能夠幸運地找到金子，卻無法擡走真是太倒黴了。他甚至去踢金塊，但是金塊仍然紋絲不動。
Then he sat down and began to consider the situation. He decided the only thing to do was to break the lump of gold into four smaller lumps. Then he could carry home one piece at a time.
農民坐下來開始想辦法。他決定唯一可行的辦法就是將金塊分成4個小塊。那樣他每次可以擡一塊回家。
He thought, "One lump I will use for ordinary day-to-day living. The second lump I will save for a rainy day. The third lump I will invest in my farming business. And I will gain merit（優點，價值） with the fourth lump by giving it to the poor and needy and for other good works."
他這樣盤算着：“一塊金子用來支付日常的花銷。第二塊金子我會儲存起來度過雨季。第三塊金子我會用來投資農場生意。第四塊金子施捨給窮人和需要幫助的人，和交換其它的好東西，這樣我就可以獲得很多好處。”
With a calm mind he divided the huge lump of gold into these four smaller lumps. Then it was easy to carry them home on four separate trips.
於是他平靜地將那塊金子分成4個小塊。然後分4次將金塊帶回家。
Afterwards he lived happily.
從那以後他幸福地生活着。
The moral is: "Don’t bite off more than you can chew."
智慧點睛:凡事要量力而爲。
