Things Brought to Heaven

There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved¹(1) because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray(2) that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.

An angel hears his plea² and appears to him.(3) "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you." The man begs the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.(4) The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him.

The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided³ to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.(5)Soon afterward⁴ the man dies and shows up(6) at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter(7).

Seeing the suitcase, St. Peter says, "Hold on(8), you can't bring that in here!"But, the man explains to St. Peter that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord.(9)Sure enough(10), St. Peter checks it out and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through.(11)"St. Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "Oh, you brought pavement?!!!"(12)notes：

1. grieved: 伤心的。

2. pray: 祈祷。

3. 一位天使听到了他的恳求，出现在他面前。plea: 恳求，请求。

4. 他请求天使找上帝说说，看他老人家能不能通融一下。He: 指God，上帝；bend: <俚>使违法，这里指破例。

5. 他大喜过望，挑出自己最大的一只箱子，装满金条，然后把它摆在了床边。overjoyed: 万分高兴的；gather: 挑选。

6. show up: <口>来到，露面。

7. St. Peter: 圣彼得，即Peter，原名Simon, 基督教《圣经》故事人物，耶酥十二使徒之一，耶稣死后，为众使徒之首，在罗马殉教。文中他已进入天堂做了天使。

8. hold on: <口>停住，等一下。

9. 但这个男人向圣彼得解释说他已得到了许可，请他和上帝核实一下情况。Lord: 指上帝；verify: 核实，查对。

10. sure enough: 毫无疑问。

11. 你可以随身携带一个包，但在放行之前我有必要检查一下里面的东西。suppose: ［常用被动语态］认为必须，认为应该；carry-on: 可随身携带的。

12. 圣彼得打开箱子，检查了那个男人宝贝得难以舍弃的人间俗物，吃惊地说：“天哪，你把铺路的东西都带来了！”worldly: 尘世的，人世间的； leave behind: 留下，放弃；pavement: 路面，铺路材料。