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At length, a great foreign merchant came, and when he had seen the mill, inquired whether it would grind salt.
终于有一天，一位外国富商来到这里。当他看到磨粉机时，询问它是否能够用来出盐。
Being told that it would, he wanted to buy it;
得到肯定答复后，他想要买下它。
for he traded in salt, and thought that if he owned it he could supply all his customers without taking long and dangerous voyages.
因为他从事的是盐业贸易，想着如果拥有了这台机器，他不用冒着危险远渡涉水就能为顾客供应食盐了。
The man would not sell it, of course.
磨粉机的所有者当然不会卖掉它。
He was so rich now that he did not want to use it for himself;
他现在家境富裕，根本不想为了自己的利益去使用它了，
but every Christmas he ground out food and clothes and coal for the poor, and nice presents for the little children.
而是在每年圣诞节时用它为穷人们磨出衣服和煤火，为小孩子们磨出漂亮的礼物。
So he rejected all the offers of the rich merchant.
因此，他拒绝了富商的一切出价。
The merchant, however, determined to have it;
但富商一心想得到磨粉机，
he bribed one of the man's servants to let him go into the castle at night, and he stole the mill and sailed away with it in triumph.
于是他贿赂了富人身边的一名侍从，在夜间放他进入了城堡。他真的偷到了磨粉机，带着胜利的喜悦乘船离去。
He had scarcely got out to sea, before he determined to set the mill to work.
他坐的船刚到海上，他就打算开始让磨粉机工作了。
"Now, mill, grind salt," said he; "grind salt with all your might!— salt, salt, and nothing but salt!"
“磨粉机，现在出盐，”他说，“开足马力出盐喽！——盐、盐、除了盐还是盐！”
The mill began to grind and the sailors to fill the sacks;
磨粉机开始不停地出盐，水手们则把盐都装进了麻袋；
but these were soon full, and in spite of all that could be done, it began to fill the ship.
这些袋子不一会儿就全装满了，尽管所有能做的都做了，但盐还是把整艘船全装满了。
The dishonest merchant was now very much frightened. What was to be done?
这个不诚实的富商现在开始感觉非常害怕了。还能做些什么呢？
The mill would not stop grinding; and at last the ship was overloaded, and down it went, making a great whirlpool where it sank.
磨粉机不停地出盐，最后船变得极度超重，整个翻了过去，船沉没时掀起了巨大的旋涡。
The ship soon went to pieces; but the mill stands on the bottom of the sea, and keeps grinding out salt, salt, nothing but salt!
不一会儿，船身四分五裂，但磨粉机留在了深深的海底，还在不停地出着盐。盐、盐、除了盐还是盐，
That is the reason, say the peasants of Denmark and Norway, why the sea is salt.
丹麦和挪威的农民常说，海水为什么是咸的，这就是原因所在。
