“I will soon show you the difference，” said the hard man， “if you will eat， you must work， and if you do anything wrong， you shall be quite sufficiently(sufficiently adv.十分地， 充分地) taught by blows.” The next day he set him a hard task. He was to chop two bundles(bundle n.捆， 束， 包) of hay(hay n.干草) for food for the horses， and then the man threatened， in five hours， said he， “I shall be back again， and if the hay is not chopped by that time， I will beat you until you can not move a limb.” The farmer went with his wife， the manservant and the girl， to the yearly fair， and left nothing behind for the boy but a small bit of bread. The boy seated himself on the bench， and began to work with all his might. As he got warm over it he put his little coat off and threw it on the hay. In his terror lest he should not get done in time he kept constantly cutting， and in his haste， without noticing it， he chopped his little coat as well as the hay. He became aware of the misfortune too late. There was no repairing it. “Ah， ”cried he， “now all is over with me. The wicked man did not threaten me for nothing. If he comes back and sees what I have done， he will kill me. Rather than that I will take my own life.”
“我这就叫你瞧瞧对与不对的差别，”狠心的富人说，“你想吃饭，就得干活，你要做错了事，就得狠狠挨揍，受管教！”第二天，他给了孩子一件苦差事，让他把几捆喂马的草铡碎，并且威胁说：“五小时后我就回来，如果到那时草还没铡碎，我就揍你，一直揍到你手脚全动不了。”富农说完，就带着妻子和男仆女佣到年市上去了。他只给男孩留了一小块面包。孩子走到马棚边，用尽全身力气开始干活。他干热了，就脱下外套，放在干草上。他害怕完不成任务，便不停地铡啊，铡啊。就在这么拼命干着的时候，他一不留神，把衣服连同稻草一起铡碎了。他发觉时已无法挽回。“唉，”他大声说：“这下我完了，那个狠心的男人不会骗我，要是回来看见我干的事，一定会打死我的。我不如自己结束自己的生命吧！”
The boy had once heard the farmer"s wife say， “I have a pot with poison in it under my bed.” She， however， had only said that to keep away greedy people， for there was honey in it. The boy crept under the bed， brought out the pot， and ate all that was in it. “I do not know， ”said he， “folks say death is bitter， but it tastes very sweet to me.” It is no wonder that the farmer"s wife has so often longed for death. He seated himself in a little chair， and was prepared to die. But instead of becoming weaker he felt himself strengthened by the nourishing(nourishing adj.有营养的， 滋养多的) food. It cannot have been poison， thought he， but the farmer once said there was a small bottle of poison for flies in the closet in which he keeps his clothes. “That， no doubt， will be the true poison， and bring death to me.” It was， however， no poison for flies， but hungarian(hungarian adj.匈牙利的) wine. The boy got out the bottle， and emptied it. “This death tastes sweet too. ”said he， but shortly after when the wine began to mount into his brain and stupefy(stupefy v.麻木) him， he thought his end was drawing near. “I feel that I must die， ”said he， “I will go away to the churchyard(churchyard n.墓地， 境内)， and seek a grave.” He staggered out， reached the churchyard， and laid himself in a newly dug grave. He lost his senses more and more. In the neighborhood was an inn where a wedding was being held. When he heard the music， he fancied he was already in paradise((paradise n.天堂)， until at length he lost all consciousness. The poor boy never awoke again. The heat of the strong wine and the cold nightdew deprived(deprive vt.剥夺， 使丧失) him of life， and he remained in the grave in which he had laid himself.
有一次，男孩听见富农的妻子说：“床下我放了一罐毒药。”其实她这样讲，只是为了吓唬嘴馋的人，因为那里面装的是蜂蜜。这时男孩爬到床下，拖出罐子，把里面的蜂蜜吃了个精光。“我不明白，”他说，“人们讲死很苦，我却觉得非常甜。难怪太太那么盼望死吗？”他坐到一张小椅子等死。哪知道他不但没有慢慢变得虚弱，反而因为吃了这有营养的东西而变得有力气了。这一定不是毒药，他想 ，不过东家有次说过，他衣柜里藏有一小瓶毒苍蝇的药水，那准是真正的毒药，会让我死掉的。但那也不是什么毒苍蝇的药，而是匈牙利葡萄酒。男孩取出酒瓶，一饮而尽。“这么死我也觉得挺甜，”他说。可不一会儿，酒性发作了，他感到晕头转向，便以为自己的末日快到了。“我觉得，我肯定快死了，”他说，“我要到外面的墓地里去找一座坟墓。”他踉踉跄跄地朝前走，来到墓地上，躺到一个新挖的墓坑里，神志越来越不清了。墓地旁有一家小酒店，那儿正举行婚礼，他听见传来音乐声，以为自己已经进了天堂，他这样直到完全失去知觉。可怜的孩子再没有醒来，烈性的葡萄酒和冰凉的夜露水夺去了他的生命，他永远留在了躺进去的坟墓里。
When the farmer heard the news of the boy"s death he was terrified， and afraid of being brought to justice indeed， his distress took such a powerful hold of him that he fell fainting(fainting n.昏晕， 不省人事) to the ground. His wife， who was standing by the hearth with a pan of hot fat， ran to him to help him. But the flames enveloped the pan， the whole house caught fire， in a few hours it lay in ashes， and the rest of the years they had to live they passed in poverty and misery， tormented by the pangs of conscienceconscience n.良心， 道德心.
富农听到男孩的死讯大吃一惊，生怕被法院传讯，他吓得倒在地上失去了知觉。妻子当时正站在火炉边熬满满一锅猪油，于是急忙跑过来扶他。不料火苗窜进锅里，引燃了整座房子，几小时后就把它烧成了灰烬。他们受着良心的谴责，在贫困潦倒中度过了余生。