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About twenty years ago there lived a singular gentleman in the Old Hall among the elm trees.
大约20年前，一处榆树簇拥的古老庄园里，住着一位超凡脱俗的乡间绅士。
He was about three-score years of age, very rich, and somewhat odd in many of his habits, but for generosity and benevolence he had no equal.
他约莫60来岁，非常富有，行为举止有点乖张，但他为人慷慨，处事宽宏大方，而且宅心仁厚，无人堪比。
No poor cottager stood in need of comforts, which he was not ready to supply;
无论遇见贫苦潦倒的佃农雇工，或者憔悴羸弱的乡邻妇孺
no sick man or woman languished for want of his assistance; and not even a beggar, unless a known impostor, went empty-handed from the Hall.
甚至衣衫褴褛的乞丐，他总是不吝钱财，鼎力相助。只有那些恶名昭彰的诈骗之徒，才会两手空空地离开。
Like the village pastor described in Goldsmith's poem of "The Deserted Village,"
正如戈德史密斯诗歌《被抛弃的村庄》中曾经描述的那样，
His house was known to all the vagrant train;
他的门口，流浪汉排成了长队，
He chid their wand'rings, but relieved their pain;
他呵斥那些人的原罪，却倾心减除他们痛苦，
The long-remembered beggar was his guest, Whose beard descending swept his aged breast.
甚至有位记忆苍老的乞丐，简直成为他的座上客，那老人髯须灰白，垂到皱纹如縠的胸间。
Now it happened that the old gentleman wanted a boy to wait upon him at table, and to attend him in different ways, for he was very fond of young people.
当时，那位年迈绅士正需要一名伺童照料他的生活起居，他很喜爱年轻人。
But much as he liked the society of the young, he had a great aversion to that curiosity in which many young people are apt to indulge.
然而，他愈喜欢年轻人的社会，就愈憎恶不少年轻人深陷五花八门的走火入魔。
He used to say, The boy who will peep into a drawer will be tempted to take something out of it;
他总是说，喜欢窥探他人抽屉的孩子，不由自主总想拿走点东西。
and he who will steal a penny in his youth will steal a pound in his manhood.
俗语说得好：“少时偷针，大时偷金。”
No sooner was it known that the old gentleman was in want of a boy than twenty applications were made for the situation;
那位乡绅要找伺童的消息一经传开，二十来位想要为自己孩子谋就职位的乡邻纷纷挤上门来。
but he determined not to engage anyone until he had in some way ascertained that he did not possess a curious, prying disposition.
老人执意不愿雇用，他心里明白，唯有通过某种程序以验证雇佣孩子是否具有良好的品格，那些孩子应该既不好奇心太盛，亦不爱多管闲事，他才能彻底放心。
