A Country Fellow and the River

 A stupid Boy, who was sent to market by the good old woman, his Mother, to sell butter and cheese, made a stop by the way at a swift¹ river, and laid himself down on the bank there, until it should run out.

 

About midnight, home he went to his Mother, with all his market trade back again.

 

"Why, how now, my Son?" said she. "What ill fortune have you had, that you have sold nothing all day?"

 

"Why, Mother, yonder is a river that has been running all this day, and I stayed till just now, waiting for it to run out; and there it is, running still."

 

"My Son," said the good woman, "thy head and mine will be laid in the grave² many a day before this river has all run by. You will never sell your butter and cheese if you wait for that."

 

1 swift   

n.雨燕，大滚筒；adj.迅速的，快的，敏捷的，立刻的；adv.迅速地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He is swift to hear,but slow to speak.他听力敏锐，但不善言辞。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery.他康复得相当快。

2 grave   

n.墓穴，坟墓，雕刻工，抑音；adj.庄重的，严肃的，重大的，低沉的；vt.雕刻

参考例句：

• Marriage is the grave of love.婚姻是爱情的坟墓。
• This is a very grave matter indeed.这问题的确非常严重。