Once upon a time there was a rich village. The wealthiest of the villagers decided¹ to hide a huge lump（块状） of gold to protect it from bandits（土匪，盗贼） and robbers. So he buried it in a nearby rice field.

从前有一个富裕的村庄。村民中最有钱的人决定将一大块金子藏起来以免土匪和强盗来打劫。于是他将那块金子埋在附近的稻田地里。

Many years later, the village was no longer rich, and the rice field was abandoned and unused. A poor farmer decided to plow² the field. After some time plowing（耕地） , it just so happened that his plow struck the long forgotten buried treasure.

许多年后，村子不再像以前那样富裕，稻田地被荒废，没有人再去耕种，一个贫穷的农民决定去犁地。犁了一些地后，犁头恰巧碰到了那块早被人们遗忘的金子。

At first he thought it must be a very hard tree root. But when he uncovered it, he saw that it was beautiful shining gold. Since it was daytime he was afraid to try and take it with him. So he covered it up again and waited for nightfall.

起先，农民以为犁头一定是翻到了坚硬的树根，但他扒开土时，才看到那是一块闪光的金子。在白天他不敢将金子拿回家，于是他又将金子埋起来并等待夜幕的降临。

The poor farmer returned in the middle of the night. Again he uncovered the golden treasure. He tried to lift it, but it was far too heavy. He tied ropes around it and tried to drag it. But it was so huge he couldn’t budge³（移动） it an inch. He became frustrated⁴, thinking he was lucky to find a treasure, and unlucky to not be able to take it with him. He even tried kicking the huge lump of gold. But again it wouldn’t budge an inch!

半夜时，农民回来了。他将金子挖出来，想抬走金子，但是金子是在太重了，他用绳子将金块捆住，想将金子拽回去。但是金块太大了以致于他根本无法挪动。农民开始心烦，心想他能够幸运地找到金子，却无法抬走真是太倒霉了。他甚至去踢金块，但是金块仍然纹丝不动。

Then he sat down and began to consider the situation. He decided the only thing to do was to break the lump of gold into four smaller lumps. Then he could carry home one piece at a time.

农民坐下来开始想办法。他决定唯一可行的办法就是将金块分成4个小块。那样他每次可以抬一块回家。

He thought, "One lump I will use for ordinary day-to-day living. The second lump I will save for a rainy day. The third lump I will invest in my farming business. And I will gain merit（优点，价值） with the fourth lump by giving it to the poor and needy⁵ and for other good works."

他这样盘算着：“一块金子用来支付日常的花销。第二块金子我会储存起来度过雨季。第三块金子我会用来投资农场生意。第四块金子施舍给穷人和需要帮助的人，和交换其它的好东西，这样我就可以获得很多好处。”

With a calm mind he divided the huge lump of gold into these four smaller lumps. Then it was easy to carry them home on four separate trips.

于是他平静地将那块金子分成4个小块。然后分4次将金块带回家。

Afterwards he lived happily.

从那以后他幸福地生活着。

The moral is: "Don’t bite off more than you can chew."

智慧点睛:凡事要量力而为。