机灵的男孩

A boy who was cleaning shes in the street said to ayoung man passing by, "Let me clean your boots."

一个机灵的男孩在大街上擦鞋，他对一个路过的年轻人说：“我给你擦擦靴子吧?”

The young man said, “No.”

年轻人说：“不用了。”

"It will cost you only a penny, sir." said the boy. Butthe young man again refused.

“你只需要付一便士，先生。”男孩说。然而年轻人仍然拒绝了。

Then the boy told him that hr would clean his boots for nothing. The young man agreed to this,and soon one boot was shining brightly. Then he put his other boot on the box, but the boyrefused to clean it unless he was paid two pence for his work. The young man refused to payanything, and went away.

于是男孩对他说，他愿意免费给他擦靴子。年轻人同意了。不一会儿，一只靴子擦得闪闪发亮。接着，他把另一只靴子也放到擦鞋箱上，可是男孩拒绝再擦，除非他付给他两个便士作为报酬。年轻人一分也不愿意给，掉头就走。

But the well-cleaned boot made the dirty one look so bad that he couldn't walk on.

但是一只靴子擦得干干净净，显得另一只特别难看，他实在没有办法在走下去了。

He turned back and gave the boy the two pence. In a very short time his boot shone brightly.

他只好折回来，给了男孩两便士。不一会儿，他的两只靴子都闪闪发亮了。