“Well，your old woman will give it you well when you get home，”said one of the Englishmen.“Wont there be a noise？”
“是嘛！等你回到家，老婆子该叫你够受的了！”两个英国人说道，“你会挨揍的！”
“What！Give me what？”said the peasant.“Why，she will kiss me，and say，‘what the old man does is always right.’”
“我会得到亲吻，而不是挨揍！”农夫说道，“我那老婆子会说：老爹做的事总是对的！”
“Let us lay a wager on it.”said the Englishmen.“Well wager you a ton of coined gold，a hundred pounds to the hundredweight.”
“打个赌好不好！”他们说道，“满桶的金币！一百镑赌一斗金币。”
“No，a bushel will be enough.”replied the peasant.“I can only set a bushel of apples against it，and Ill throw myself and my old woman into the bargain (bargain n.契约，合同，成交商品，便宜货v.议价)，that will pile up the measure，I fancy.”
“满满一斗不成问题！”农夫说道，“我只拿得出苹果，连我和我家老婆子一起凑上一斗。不过那不仅只是平平的一满斗，而是尖尖的一满斗！”
“Done！taken！”and so the bet was made.
“赌定了，不许反悔！”他们说道。
Then the landlords coach came to the door，and the two Englishmen and the peasant got in，and away they drove，and soon arrived and stopped at the peasants hut.
于是这场赌便算打定了。旅店老板的车子驶出来，英国人上了车，农夫上了车，烂苹果也上了车。于是他们来到了农夫的家里。
“Good evening，old woman.”“Good evening，old man.”
“Ive made the exchange.”
“晚上好，老婆子！”
“晚上好，老头子！”
“换东西的事办完了！”
“Ah，well，you understand what youre about.”said the woman.Then she embraced (embrace vt.拥抱，互相拥抱，包含，收买，信奉vi.拥抱n.拥抱)him，and paid no attention to the strangers，nor did she notice the sack.
“是啊，你真在行的！”妻子说道，搂住了他的腰，忘记了口袋也忘记了生人。
“I got a cow in exchange for the horse.”
“我用马换了一头母牛！”
“Thank Heaven.”said she，“Now we shall have plenty of milk，and butter，and cheese on the table.That was a capital exchange.”
“真是多谢上帝，我们有牛奶了！”妻子说道，“这下子我们有奶品吃了，桌上有黄油、干酪啦。换得太好了！”
“Yes，but I changed the cow for a sheep.”
“是的，不过我又用母牛换了一只羊！”
“Ah，better still！”cried the wife，“You always think of everything.We have just enough pasture (pasture n.牧地，草原，牧场v.放牧，牧(牛、羊)等，吃草)for a sheep.Ewes milk and cheese，woollen jackets and stockings！The cow could not give all these，and her hair only falls off.How you think of everything！”
“这肯定就更加好了！”妻子说道，“你总是考虑得很周到；我们的草足够一头羊吃的。这下子我们可以喝羊奶，有羊奶酪，有羊毛袜子，是啊，还有羊毛睡衣！母牛是拿不出这些来的！它的毛都要脱掉的！你真是一个考虑问题周到的丈夫！”
“But I changed away the sheep for a goose.”
“不过我又拿羊换了一头鹅！”
“Then we shall have roast goose to eat this year.You dear old man，you are always thinking of something to please me.This is delightful.We can let the goose walk about with a string tied to her leg，so she will be fatter still before we roast her.”
“这么说今年我们有马丁节烤鹅吃了；老爹！你总是想着让我高兴！你这个想法真是个好想法！可以把鹅拴起来，到马丁节的时候，就可以把它养得更加肥一点！”
“But I gave away the goose for a fowl.”
“不过我把鹅又换了一只母鸡！”男人说道。
“A fowl！Well，that was a good exchange.”replied the woman，“The fowl will lay eggs and hatch them，and we shall have chickens.We shall soon have a poultryyard.Oh，this is just what I was wishing for.”
“母鸡换得太好了，”妻子说道，“母鸡会下蛋，孵出来我们便有小鸡了，我们有了鸡场！这正是我一心一意盼着的。”
“Yes，but I exchanged the fowl for a sack of shrivelled shrivel v.(使)起皱纹，(使)枯萎，(使)束手无策apples.”
“是的，不过母鸡让我换成一口袋烂苹果了！”
“What！I really must give you a kiss for that！”exclaimed the wife.“My dear，good husband，now Ill tell you something.Do you know，almost as soon as you left me this morning，I began to think of what I could give you nice for supper this evening，and then I thought of fried eggs and bacon，with sweet herbs.I had eggs and bacon，but I wanted the herbs.So I went over to the schoolmasters：I knew they had plenty of herbs，but the schoolmistress is very mean，although she can smile so sweetly.I begged her to lend me a handful of herbs.‘Lend！’she exclaimed，‘I have nothing to lend，nothing at all grows in our garden，not even a shrivelled apple.I could not even lend you a shrivelled apple，my dear woman.But now I can lend her ten，or a whole sackful，which Im very glad of.It makes me laugh to think about it.”and then she gave him a hearty kiss.
“我真要吻你一下了！”妻子说道。“多谢你，我的好男人！现在让我告诉你点事。你走了以后，我就想着给你做一顿好晚餐；葱花鸡蛋糕。鸡蛋我自己有，就是没有葱。于是我便去找学校校长，他们有葱，我知道。可是他老婆小气得要死，那乖婆娘！我求她借点给我——借？她说道，我们园子里什么也没有长，连个烂苹果也没有！连个烂苹果我也无法借给你。现在可好了，我可以借给她十个烂苹果，是啊，借给她满满一口袋！真叫人好笑，老爹！”于是她便正正地在他嘴上亲了一口。
“Well，I like all this，”said both the Englishmen，“always going down the hill，and yet always merry.Its worth the money to see it.”So they paid a hundredweight of gold to the peasant，who，whatever he did，was not scolded scold v.责骂，申斥，斥责but kissed.
“我真喜欢这个！”两位英国人说道。“总是走下坡路，可是总是那么乐观！这是很值钱的！”于是他们付给他，这位得到了一个吻，而不是挨一顿揍的农夫一桶金币。
Yes，it always pays best when the wife sees and maintains that her husband knows best，and whatever he does is right.
是的，一位妻子看出，能说明老爹是最聪明不过的，他做的事总是对的，那么这肯定是会得到好报的。
That is a story which I heard when I was a child，and now you have heard it too，and know that“What the old man does is always right.”
瞧，这是一个故事！我小时候听到的。现在你也听到了，知道了老爹做的事总是对的。
