一千零一夜英文故事：Greediness can make A Man Blind

Long ago there lived a merchant Abdullah. He was very rich, but he was very greedy. One day he loaded his forty camels with costly² spices to sell in a far away city in Arabia. He sold all the spices there. He halted in an inn to have lunch on the way back. There a Holy man met Abdullah and they became friends then. 

 

The Holy man described about the secret land of enormous wealth. 

 

"I also have heard about it “ Abdullah said with a smile. 

 

The Holy man said, “If you bring your camels there, we will load a lot of precious stones like diamonds, rubies³ and gold." Abdullah nodded his head as a symbol of acceptance. The Holy man further said that half of the load should be given to him. Abdullah thought that it was reasonable. So he agreed the offer. 

 

Both of them travelled and reached the land fully⁴ surrounded by beautiful mountains. The Holy man sprinkled some white powder on the ground, taken from a small box he had. Suddenly clouds of smoke came from the powder. After, all the smoke had settled down, he saw a way there. When both of them went through the path they found a cave with full of gems⁵ and gold coins. 

 

The Holy man asked Abdullah to come in. He moved inside the cave. There he saw the treasure which he never had seen before. He quickly took them and filled his bags and loaded them on the camels. When he completed the loading of all the forty camels, the Holy man told Abdullah that he should take twenty camels, as his share. 

 

On hearing that Abdullah said to the Holy man, “ why are you in need of such a wealth?, you may take only ten. I will take thirty". 

 

The Holy man agreed to that with a smile. Some time later, the greedy Abdullah again said, “Even the ten would be a burden to a Holy man like you, so you may take five only". 

 

Again the Holy man agreed. But Abdullah was not satisfied with that. So he asked him to give the five also to him. The Holy man nodded his head with a smile. 

 

Even then Abdullah was not satisfied. So he again asked him to give the magical powder too as the Holy man needed it no more. Only then the holy man warned Abdullah that the powder might cause danger if it was not used properly. 

 

Further he said that it turned everything to gold when rubbed on the left eye. “But you would be blind if you rubbed it on your right eye’’he said. 

 

As his greed¹ grew more, Abdullah did not care about the danger. He compelled the holy man to give the powder. After a while the holy man gave the magical powder with the box and left the place. 

 

Abdullah could not control his curiosity. He quickly started to rub some powder on his left eye. All of a sudden the entire thing which he saw with his left eye changed into gold. Then he thought that if he rubbed the powder on both the eyes, the whole world would turn as gold. 

 

Ignoring the warning of the Holy man, he rubbed the powder on his right eye also. At the very next movement he became blind. He cried with pain and said,"God…I was too greedy". But it was too late, for he had become totally blind. 

 

1 greed   

n.贪食，贪心，贪婪

参考例句：

• His greed knows no limits.他的贪心永无止境。
• Greed was his only motive for stealing.贪婪是他盗窃的唯一动机。

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 rubies   

红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色

参考例句：

• a necklace of rubies intertwined with pearls 缠着珍珠的红宝石项链
• The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 王冠上镶嵌着稀世珍宝—有钻石、红宝石、绿宝石。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。