Once upon a time there was a miser¹. He hid his gold under a tree. Every week he used to dig it up. 
 
One night a robber² stole all the gold. When the miser came again, he found nothing but an empty hole. 
 
He was surprised, and then burst into tears.All the neighbors gathered around him. 
 
He told them how he used to come and visit his gold. 
 
"Did you ever take any of it out?" asked one of them. "No," he said, "I only came to look at it." "Then come again and look at the hole," said the neighbor, "it will be the same as looking at the gold." 
 
从前，有个守财奴将他的金块埋到一棵树下，每周他都去把他挖出来看看。
 
一天晚上，一个小偷挖走了所有的金块。 守财奴再来查看时，发现除了一个空洞什么都没有了。
 
守财奴便捶胸痛哭。哭声引来了邻居
 
他告诉他们这里原来有他的金块。
 
问明了原因后，一个邻居问：“你使用过这些金块吗？” “没用过，” 他说，“我只是时常来看看。”“那么，以后再来看这个洞，”邻居说，“就像以前有金块时一样。”



  

1 miser
n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly)
参考例句：
The miser doesn't like to part with his money.守财奴舍不得花他的钱。 The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。

2 robber
n.抢劫者，强盗，盗贼
参考例句：
The robber told the woman to come across with her purse.拦路抢劫者勒令那个女人把钱包交出来。 The robber tried to run away but a man tackled him.强盗企图逃跑，但一个人把他抓住了。