The Ndele tribesmen of Africa were'a poor but proud people. Living as they did in the savannah regions south of the Sahara, they had only grass with which to build their houses, but these were nonetheless beautifully designed and spacious¹.

非洲的恩德拉部落是个贫穷但骄傲的民族，由于位在撒哈拉沙漠南部的大草原地区，他们只能用草来造房子，但他们的房屋仍然设计美观，内部宽敞。

In fact, the king's palace was all of three stories tall until the tragic² events which I will now relate.

实际上，在我所要叙及的不幸事件之前，国王的皇宫都是三层楼的建筑。事情是这样的.

The Ndele had always believed that as long as the king sat on the traditional golden throne, no harm could come to the tribe. In recent times, however, the kings had taken to sending their heirs to Europe to be educated.

恩德拉族人自古以来都相信，只要国王坐在那张传统黄金打造的王座上，老天就不会降灾害于他们。可是最近非洲国王们都热衷于把他们的继承人送到欧洲深造。

One particular crown prince came back from Oxford³ with nothing but contempt for the ancient beliefs of his people. No sooner had he been crowned king than he had the golden throne removed to the palace attic⁴ and replaced with a comfortable steel-framed easy-chair.

其中一位王储由牛津大学归国，他除了鄙视该族人的古老迷信外，什么也没学回来。他一登上王位就立刻把那张宝座搬到皇宫阁楼收藏，并换上一张钢框的舒适安乐椅。

Sure enough, as soon as the young king settled his posterior into the new royal seat, an earthquake struck the entire territory of the Ndele, hundreds of homes were destroyed, and the old golden throne came crashing through the two intervening floors directly onto the foolish monarch,squashing him like a bug⁵.

果然，那位年轻的国王刚坐下不久，地震就袭击了恩德拉族境内，好几百栋的房子损毁，而原来那张黄金宝座也一路撞穿两个夹层楼正中那名愚蠢的统治者，他就像一只小虫般被压得扁扁的。

And the moral of the story is: Those who live in grass houses should not stow thrones.

这则故事的真义就是： “住在茅草房子的人们不可把国王的御座收藏起来！”