Schwartz and Hans, the two elder brothers, were very ugly men, with heavy eyebrows and small, dull eyes, which were always half shut, 施瓦兹和汉斯是两个丑陋的男子，他们是老大和老二，有着浓郁的小眉毛，有一双总是半闭的迟钝眼睛，

so that you could not see into them, yet you always thought they saw very far into you. 所有你无法看清他们，但你总认为他们把你看得很清楚。

They lived by farming the Treasure Valley, and very good farmers they were. They killed everything that did not earn its food. 他们靠在宝藏谷务农为生，他们是非常好的农民，他们杀害所有无法赚取食物的东西。

They shot the blackbirds because they pecked the fruit; they poisoned the crickets for eating the crumbs in the kitchen; 他们射杀了黑鹂，因为他们啄食水果；他们毒害了蟋蟀，因为它们食用厨房的碎屑，

and killed the locusts, which used to sing all summer in the trees. 并杀害了曾经在整个夏天歌唱的蝗虫。

They worked their servants without any wages till they would not work any more, 他们不给佣人工钱，直到他们不再干活，

and then quarreled with them and turned them out-of-doors without paying them. 之后与他们争吵，在没有给薪水的情况下将他们赶出门。

They generally managed to keep their corn till it was very dear, and then sell it for twice its value; 他们通常会一直耕种玉米，知道它们的价格非常昂贵，并以两倍的价格出卖；

they had heaps of gold lying about on their floors, yet it was never known that they had given so much as a penny or a crust of bread to the poor. 地面上满是一堆堆金子，但他们却从来没有给穷人一分钱或是面包皮。

They never went to church, and were of so cruel and selfish a temper as to receive from everyone who knew them the nickname of the Black Brothers. 他们从不做礼拜，而且很无情很自私，所有知道他们的人给他们起了个名字，叫做黑兄弟。

The youngest brother, Gluck, was completely opposite in both appearance and character to his brothers. 最年轻的兄弟格拉克在性格和面貌上与二人完全不同。

He was not above twelve years old, fair, blue-eyed, and kind to every living thing. 他们还不到12岁，皮肤白皙，蓝色的眼睛，对所有活物都非常友好。

He did not, of course, agree very well with his brothers, or rather, they did not agree with him. 当然，他不太同意哥哥们的观点，或者是说他不同意。

When there was any meat to roast, Gluck was usually given the task of watching it. 如果有肉需要烘烤，他总要来这里盯着。

And it was not often they had meat, for the brothers were just about as stingy with themselves as they were with other people. 他们拥有肉的机会不多，兄弟们对他人和对自己一样扣。

At other times he cleaned the shoes, the floors, and sometimes the plates. 有时他清洗鞋子，地板，有时是盘子。

Things went on in this manner for a long time. At last came a very wet summer, and everything went wrong in the country around. 这样的日子持续了很久，最后是一个非常潮湿的夏天，周围的任何事情都变得非常不对劲。

The hay had hardly been got in, when the haystacks were floated bodily down to the sea by a flood; 几乎没有得到多少干草，干草堆全部被洪水冲到海中；

the vines were cut to pieces with the hail; and the corn was all rotted. Only in the Treasure Valley all was safe. 冰雹打碎葡萄树，玉米全烂了，只有宝藏谷是安全的。

As it had rain when there was rain nowhere else, so it had sun when there was sun nowhere else. 当其他地方无雨时，这里会下雨，没有太阳时这里有太阳。

Everybody came to buy corn at the farm, and went away pouring curses on the Black Brothers, who made them pay a terrible price. 所有人到农场去买玉米，走时谩骂黑兄弟，他们让他们支付了巨额费用。

Some of the poor people, who could only beg, starved at their very door. 一些穷人只能到他们家门口乞讨。