文本内容:
The Money-Pig钱猪There were so manytoys in the nursery.On thetop of the cabinetstood thepenny bank,madeof clayintheshape ofa littlepig.Of course,he had a slitin hisback,which had been enlargedwith a knifeso thatsilver dollars also couldbe putin;and twosuch dollarshadbeenslippedinto thebox,along witha greatnumber ofpennies.The Money Pig wasstuffed sofull hecouldno longerrattle,which isthe highesthonor aMoney Pigcan attain.There hestood,high upon the shelf,looking downon everythingelse inthe room.He knewvery wellthat withwhat hehadin hisstomach hecould buyall theother toys,and thatswhat wecall havingself-confidence.The othersthought thesame,but they didn,t speakof it,because thereweresomany otherthingsto talkabout.The cabinetdrawer washalf open,and alarge dollappeared;she wassomewhatold,and herneck hadbeen riveted.She peepedout andsaid,〃Now letsplay humanbeings;thatsalways something!Now there was agreat commotion,and even the pictureson thewalls turnedaround toshow theyalsohadabackside;but thatdidn,t meanthey objected.It wasthe middleof thenight;the moonshone inthrough thewindows andgave freelighting.They wereready to begin the game now,and allof them,eventhechildren,s Gocart,which certainlybelongedto thecoarser,out-of-door-toys,were invitedto jointhe fun.“Everyone hashis ownparticular value,〃said theGocart.〃We cantall benoblemen.Theremust besome to do thework,as theysay.〃The Money Pig wasthe onlyone toreceive awritten invitation;he theyall thoughtstood sohighthat hecould nothear averbal message.He didn,t ifhe wouldcome ornot;but answerto saytoif hewas totake partthey wouldhave sothat hecould enjoythegamefrom hisarrange ittoown home;they wouldhave plansaccordingly,and thistheydid.make theirThelittle toytheatre was at onceset upin sucha waythat the Money Pigcouldlook straightinto it.They plannedto startwithacomedy,and afterwardhave teaand adiscussionfor mentalexercise,and theybegan withthis latterpart immediately.The RockingHorse talkedabouttraining andthoroughbreds,and theGocart spokeabout railwaysand steampower;all ofwhichwere subjectsbelonging totheir ownprofessions,so itwas properthey shouldspeak onthem.The Clocktalked aboutpolitics-tick,tock!-and knewthe timeof day,though itwas saidthatit didn,t runvery well.The BambooCane juststood there,for hewas veryproud ofhisbrass feruleand hissilver top,for hewas mountedabove andbelow.And onthe sofalay twoembroideredcushions,very prettyand verystupid.And nowthe playbegan.Everybody satand watched,and the audience hadbeen askedto applaud,crack,and stampas theywerepleased.But theRiding Whipsaid henever crackedfor oldfolks,only foryoung oneswhoweren,t yetmarried.〃I crackfor everybody,〃said theCracker.“One must,of course,be inthe properplace!,z thoughtthe Spittoon.And suchwere theirthoughtsas theplay wenton.The playwas worthless,but itwas wellperformed.All ofthe charactersturned theirpaintedsides totheaudience,for theywere madetobelooked atonly fromthat side,not theother.All ofthem actedsplendidly,coming outfar beyondthe footlights,because thewires weretoolong,but thismade themall theeasier tosee.The mendedDoll wasquite overcomewith excitement,so deeplymoved thatthe rivetsin herneck gotloose.And inhis ownway,theMoneyPig wassoenchanted thathe resolvedtodosomething forone ofthe actors,to rememberhim inhis willasthe onewho shouldbe publiclyburied withhim whenthe propertime came.It wassuch enjoymentfor themthat theygave uphaving teaand wenton withtheir mentalexercises.Thats what they calledplaying menand women,and therewas noharm inthat,because theywereonly playing.Each onethought ofhimself andwhattheMoneyPigmight thinkabout him,but theMoneyPigs thoughtswent farthest,for hewas thinkingabout hiswill andhis burial.And whenwouldit betime forthisCertainly farsooner thanyou expect.Crash!He felldown fromthe cabinet,and therehe layonthe floor,smashed intobits andpieces,while thepennies hoppedand dancedabout.The smallestspunlike tops,and thebigger onesrolled away,particularly onebig silverdollar whowantedto goout andsee theworld.And sohe did,and sodid allthe rest.The piecesoftheMoneyPigwere sweptinto thedustbin,but thenext daytherewasa newMoneyPig standingonthecabinet.It didn,t yethave apenny init,so itcouldn,t rattle,and inthatmuch atleast itwas justlike theold one.But thatwasabeginning-and it,sagood placefor usto cometo anend.。