CHAPTER XXVII

 Sanātan was telling his beads¹ by the Ganges when a Brahmin in rags came to him and said, “Help me, I am poor!”

 

“My alms-bowl is all that is my own,” said Sanātan, “I have given away everything I had.”

 

“But my lord Shiva came to me in my dreams,” said the Brahmin, “and counselled me to come to you.”

 

Sanātan suddenly remembered he had picked up a stone without price among the pebbles² on the river-bank, and thinking that some one might need it hid it in the sands.

 

He pointed³ out the spot to the Brahmin, who wondering dug up the stone.

 

The Brahmin sat on the earth and mused⁴ alone till the sun went down behind the trees, and cowherds went home with their cattle.

 

Then he rose and came slowly to Sanātan and said, “Master, give me the least fraction of the wealth that disdains⁵ all the wealth of the world.”

 

And he threw the precious stone into the water.

 

1 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

2 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

5 disdains   

鄙视，轻蔑( disdain的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He disdains going to the cinema/to sit with people like us. 他不屑于去看电影[与我们这等人同席而坐]。
• Ideology transcends limits, eschews restraints, and disdains tolerance or conciliation. 意识形态越出界限，避开遏制，蔑视宽容或和解。