大家好，我是Fiona老師。
今天我們要閱讀的文章是 The Merchant and The Foolish Barber 商人和愚蠢的理髮師
他們之間到底發生了什麼樣的故事呢？我們快點一起來看看吧！
The Merchant and The Foolish Barber :
In a small town there lived a merchant named Manibhadra. He and his wife were very generous and kind. Everyone in the town knew them and visited their house and enjoyed their hospitality.
One day. Manibhadra lost all his ships in a storm at sea. They were loaded with valuable cargo. All the people who had lent him money for trading demanded immediate repayment. Manibhadra had to sell all his possessions and pay them. In the end he was left with nothing.
Along with his wealth, all his friends also left him. Manibhadra was very discouraged. “Even my friends have deserted me. They just liked my wealth," he thought bitterly.
“I have nothing to give my wife and children except pain and suffering. Maybe it is better to end my life. I can’t bear to see them suffer." With such disturbed thoughts, Manibhadra went to sleep.
That night he had a strange dream. A monk appeared in his dream and said, “If you touch me on my head with a stick I will change into enough gold to last many lifetimes." In the dream Manibhadra saw himself touching the monk with a stick and the monk turning into a huge pile of gold coins.
The next morning Manibhadra woke to the sound of someone knocking at the door. “Can my dream be true? Will I ever become rich again?" thought Manibhadra to himself.
“The barber is here for you," called out his wife from the door.
“How foolish of me to believe in a dream. It will never come true," said Manibhadra to himself as he sat down for his shave. Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Manibhadra got up and opened the door. To his surprise, there stood a monk looking at him silently and meaningfully.
Manibhadra picked up a stick and in a daze, touched the monk on his head with it. And there in front of him was a huge pile of gold coins. Manibhadra was overjoyed. He sent the barber away with a generous measure of gold coins, advising him to keep things to himself.
The barber was a greedy man. He was also very foolish. “So when you hit these monks on the head, they change into gold. Now I know how to become rich. I am tired of shaving and cutting people s hair and earning a rupee or two, he thought."
He went to a monastery and invited a few monks to his house for a feast As soon as the monks entered his house, the barber took a stick and started to beat them on their heads. The poor monks were terrified. One of them managed to escape from the barber’s house and called the soldiers for help. The soldiers arrested the barber and took him to the Judge.
“Why did you beat the monks with a stick?" asked the judge. “When Manibhadra hit a monk on his head, he turned into a heap of gold," answered the barber.
The judge called Manibhadra and asked him if that was true. Manibhadra explained the whole story to the judge in detail. On hearing the story, the judge realised that the barber had acted due to greed and dishonesty and punished the foolish barber.
在一個小鎮上住著一個叫曼尼巴德拉的商人。他和他的妻子非常慷慨和藹。鎮上的每個人都認識他們，參觀他們的房子，享受他們的款待。
有一天。曼尼巴德拉在海上的風暴中失去了所有的船隻。他們裝載著貴重貨物。所有借錢給他交易的人都要求立即還款。曼尼巴德拉不得不賣掉他的所有財產，付錢給他們。最後他什麼也沒留下。
連同他的財富，所有的朋友也離開了他。曼尼巴德拉非常氣餒。“連我的朋友都拋棄了我。他們只是喜歡我的財富，“他痛苦地想。
“除了痛苦和痛苦，我什麼也不能給我的妻子和孩子們。也許結束我的生活更好。“我受不了他們的痛苦。”曼尼巴德拉帶著這種不安的想法睡著了。
那天晚上，他做了一個奇怪的夢。一個僧侶出現在他的夢中，說：“如果你用棍子碰我的頭，我會變成足夠的黃金，持續許多輩子。”在夢中，曼尼巴德拉看見自己用棍子碰著和尚，僧侶變成了一大堆金幣。
第二天早晨，曼尼巴德拉聽到有人敲門聲。“我的夢想能成真嗎？”我會再次變得富有嗎？”馬尼巴德拉自言自語。
“理髮師在這兒等你，”他的妻子從門口喊道。
“我多麼愚蠢地相信一個夢想。“它永遠不會成真，”曼尼巴德拉坐下來剃鬍子時自言自語。就在這時，有人敲門。
曼尼巴德拉站起來把門打開。令他吃驚的是，一個和尚站在那裡默默地、有意義地看著他。
曼尼巴德拉拿起一根棍子，發呆，用它碰了一下僧侶的頭。在他面前有一大堆金幣。M曼尼巴德拉喜出望外。他送了理髮師一大筆金幣，建議他自己保管。
理髮師是個貪婪的人。他也很愚蠢。“當你擊中這些僧侶的頭，他們變成黃金。現在我知道如何致富。我討厭刮鬍子，剪頭髮，掙一兩盧比，他想。
他去修道院，並邀請一些僧侶到他家裡吃一頓筵席，僧侶走進他的房子，理髮師拿起一根棍子，開始打他們的頭。可憐的僧侶們嚇壞了。他們中的一個設法從理髮師的房子裡逃出來，叫士兵們幫忙。士兵們逮捕了理髮師並把他帶到法官面前。
“你為什麼用棍子打倒僧侶？”法官問道。理髮師回答說：“當曼尼巴德拉敲一個和尚的頭的時候，他變成了一堆金子。”
法官打電話給曼尼巴德拉，問他這是不是真的。曼尼巴德拉詳細地向法官解釋了整個故事。聽到這個故事，法官意識到理髮師因為貪婪和不誠實而採取行動，懲罰了愚蠢的理髮師。
閱讀更多 Fiona咖啡英文 的文章
