The whole village soon learnt that a large sum of money had been lost.
整个村子很快知道 有一大笔钱丢失了
Sam Benton, the local butcher,
当地的屠户 萨姆.本顿
had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the post office.
在把存款送往邮局的途中把钱包丢了
Sam was sure that the wallet must have been found by one of the villagers,
萨姆确信那钱包 一定是被某个村民捡到了
but it was not returned to him.
可是却不见有人来送还给他
Three months passed, and then one morning,
3个月过去了 后来在一天早晨
Sam found his wallet outside his front door.
萨姆在自己的大门外发现了他的钱包
It had been wrapped up in newspaper
钱包是用报纸包着的
and it contained half the money he had lost,
里面有他丢失的钱的一半
together with a note which said:
而且还附着一张纸条 上面写着
'A thief, yes, but only 50 per cent a thief!'
一个小偷 是的 但只是一个50%的小偷
Two months later,
又过了两个月
some more money was sent to Sam with another note:
又有一些钱送还给了萨姆 又附了一张字条
'Only 25 per cent a thief now!'
这回只是25%的小偷了
In time, all Sam's money was paid back in this way.
很快 萨姆全部的钱都用同样的方式还了回来
The last note said:
最后的那张字条上写道
'I am 100 per cent honest now!'
我现在是一个100%的诚实人了