第11章 A Kind Brother 善良的哥哥

A boy was once sent from home to take a basket of things to his grandmother.

The basket was so full that it was very heavy. So his little brother went with him, to help carry the load.

They put a pole under the handle of the basket, and each then took hold of an end of the pole. In this way, they could carry the basket very nicely.

Now the older boy thought, "My brother Tom does not know about this pole.

"If I slip the basket near him, his side will be heavy, and mine light; but if the basket is in the middle of the pole, it will be as heavy for me as it is for him.

"Tom does not know this as I do. But I will not do it. It would be wrong, and I will not do what is wrong."

Then he slipped the basket quite near his own end of the pole. His load was now heavier than that of his little brother.

Yet he was happy; for he felt that he had done right. Had he deceived his brother, he would not have felt at all happy.

从前有个男孩，他要从家里送一篮子东西去给他的奶奶。

篮子装得太满了，以至于特别重。所以他的小弟弟跟他一起去，帮他抬篮子。

他们在篮子的提手下面放了一根棍子，然后他们每人各抓住棍子的一端。这样，他们就能很好地抬起篮子。

现在，哥哥想：“我弟弟汤姆并不了解这根棍子。如果我把篮子向他那边滑一点，他那端就会比较重，我这边就会轻点；但是如果篮子在棍子的中间，两端就会一样重。”

“汤姆不会像我一样了解这点。但是我不会那样做的。那是错的，错的事情我是不会做的。”

于是，他把篮子尽可能地移到自己这端。现在，他承受的重量比弟弟重。

然而，他很开心。因为他知道自己做对了。倘若他欺骗了自己的弟弟，他就不会感到任何快乐了。