The Acorn and the Pumpkin

What God does is done well. Without going round the world to seek a proof of that, I can find one in the pumpkin.

凡是上天所做的事，都做得妥妥当当。不必绕着世界去寻找证据，我在南瓜身上就能找到一个例子。

A villager was once struck with the largeness of a pumpkin and the thinness of the stem upon which it grew. "What could the Almighty have been thinking about?" he cried. "He has certainly chosen a bad place for a pumpkin to grow. Eh zounds! Now I would have hung it on one of these oaks. That would have been just as it should be. Like fruit, like tree!

从前有个乡下人，被一个南瓜的巨大和它那细细的藤蔓惊呆了。“万能的主到底是怎么想的？”他叫道。“他给南瓜选的这个生长的地方，肯定是选错了。哎呀真是的！要是我来安排，我就该把它挂在这些橡树上的一棵上头。那才叫恰如其分呢。什么样的果子，配什么样的树嘛！

"What a pity, Hodge," said he, addressing himself, "that you were not on the spot to give advice at the Creation which the parson preaches about. Everything would have been properly done then. For instance; wouldn't this acorn, no bigger than my little finger, be better hanging on this frail stem? The Almighty has blundered there surely! The more I think about these fruits and their situations, the more it seems to me that it is all a mistake."

“真可惜啊，霍奇，”他这样跟自己说道，“你当初没能在场，在牧师讲道时提到的那场创世之初给点建议才好。那样的话，一切都会安排得妥妥当当。就拿这个来说吧：这颗还没我小指头大的橡子，难道不该挂在这根脆弱的细枝上才更合适吗？万能的主在这件事上，肯定是弄错了！我越想这些果实和它们所在的位置，就越觉得这一切简直全是个错误。”

Becoming worried by so much reflection our Hodge cast himself under an oak saying, "A man can't sleep when he has so much brain." Then he at once dropped off into a nap.

我们这位霍奇，越想越是心烦意乱，便一屁股坐倒在一棵橡树下，说道：“一个人脑子里想的事情太多，是睡不着觉的。”话音刚落，他便立刻打起了盹来。

Presently an acorn fell plump upon his nose. Starting from sleep, he put his hand up to see what had happened and found the acorn caught in his beard, whilst his nose began to pain and bleed. "Oh, oh!" he cried, "I am bleeding. How would it have been if a heavier mass than this had fallen from the tree: if this acorn had been a pumpkin? The Almighty did not intend that, I see. Doubtless he was right. I understand the reason why perfectly now."

不一会儿，一颗橡子“啪”地一声正好落在他鼻子上。他猛地从睡梦中惊醒，伸手去摸，想看看发生了什么事，结果发现那颗橡子卡在了他的胡子里，而他的鼻子已经开始又痛又流血了。“哎哟，哎哟！”他叫道，“我在流血呢。要是从树上掉下来的是比这更重的东西，那会是什么样子啊：要是这颗橡子换成了一个南瓜呢？我明白了，万能的主根本没打算让这种事发生。他这样安排，毫无疑问是对的。这下我可算是完全明白其中的道理了。”

So praising God for all things Hodge took his way home.

于是霍奇一路感谢着上天安排的万事万物，踏上了回家的路。