第4章 Do not Meddle 莫管闲事

About twenty years ago there lived a singular gentleman in the Old Hall among the elm trees. He was about three-score years of age, very rich, and somewhat odd in many of his habits, but for generosity and benevolence he had no equal.

No poor cottager stood in need of comforts, which he was not ready to supply;no sick man or woman languished for want of his assistance; and not even a beggar, unless a known impostor, went empty-handed from the Hall. Like the village pastor described in Goldsmith's poem of "The Deserted Village,"

"His house was known to all the vagrant train;

He chid their wand'rings, but relieved their pain;

The long-remembered beggar was his guest,

Whose beard descending swept his aged breast."

Now it happened that the old gentleman wanted a boy to wait upon him at table, and to attend him in different ways, for he was very fond of young people. But much as he liked the society of the young, he had a great aversion to that curiosity in which many young people are apt to indulge. He used to say, "The boy who will peep into a drawer will be tempted to take something out of it; and he who will steal a penny in his youth will steal a pound in his manhood."

No sooner was it known that the old gentleman was in want of a boy than twenty applications were made for the situation; but he determined not to engage anyone until he had in some way ascertained that he did not possess a curious, prying disposition.

On Monday morning seven lads, dressed in their Sunday clothes, with bright and happy faces, made their appearance at the Hall, each of them desiring to obtain the situation. Now the old gentleman, being of a singular disposition, had prepared a room in such a way that he might easily know if any of the young people who applied were given to meddle unnecessarily with things around them, or to peep into cupboards and drawers. He took care that the lads who were then at Elm Tree Hall should be shown into this room one after another.

And first, Charles Brown was sent into the room, and told that he would have to wait a little. So Charles sat down on a chair near the door. For some time he was very quiet, and looked about him; but there seemed to be so many curious things in the room that at last he got up to peep at them.

On the table was placed a dish cover, and Charles wanted sadly to know what was under it, but he felt afraid of lifting it up. Bad habits are strong things; and, as Charles was of a curious disposition, he could not withstand the temptation of taking one peep. So he lifted up the cover.

This turned out to be a sad affair; for under the dish cover was a heap of very light feathers; part of the feathers, drawn up by a current of air, flew about the room, and Charles, in his fright, putting the cover down hastily, puffed the rest of them off the table.

What was to be done? Charles began to pick up the feathers one by one; but the old gentleman, who was in an adjoining room, hearing a scuffle, and guessing the cause of it, entered the room, to the consternation of Charles Brown, who was very soon dismissed as a boy who had not principle enough to resist even a slight temptation.

When the room was once more arranged, Henry Wilkins was placed there until such time as he should be sent for. No sooner was he left to himself than his attention was attracted by a plate of fine, ripe cherries. Now Henry was uncommonly fond of cherries, and he thought it would be impossible to miss one cherry among so many. He looked and longed, and longed and looked, for some time, and just as he had got off his seat to take one, he heard, as he thought, a foot coming to the door; but no, it was a false alarm.

Taking fresh courage, he went cautiously and took a very fine cherry, for he was determined to take but one, and put it into his mouth. It was excellent; and then he persuaded himself that he ran no risk in taking another; this he did, and hastily popped it into his mouth.

Now, the old gentleman had placed a few artificial cherries at the top of the others, filled with Cayenne pepper; one of these Henry had unfortunately taken, and it made his month smart and burn most intolerably. The old gentleman heard him coughing, and knew very well what was the matter. The boy that would take what did not belong to him, if no more than a cherry, was not the boy for him. Henry Wilkins was sent about his business without delay, with his mouth almost as hot as if he had put a burning coal in to it.

Rufus Wilson was next introduced into the room and left to himself; but he had not been there ten minutes before he began to move from one place to another. He was of a bold, resolute temper, but not overburdened with principle; for if he could have opened every cupboard, closet, and drawer in the house, without being found out, he would have done it directly.

Having looked around the room, he noticed a drawer to the table, and made up his mind to peep therein. But no sooner did he lay hold of the drawer knob than he set a large bell ringing, which was concealed under the table. The old gentleman immediately answered the summons, and entered the room.

Rufus was so startled by the sudden ringing of the bell, that all his impudence could not support him. He looked as though anyone might knock him down with a feather. The old gentleman asked him if he had rung the bell because he wanted anything. Rufus was much confused, and stammered, and tried to excuse himself, but all to no purpose, for it did not prevent him from being ordered off the premises.

George Jones was then shown into the room by an old steward; and being of a cautious disposition, he touched nothing, but only looked at the things about him. At last he saw that a closet door was a little open, and, thinking it would be impossible for anyone to know that he had opened it a little more, he very cautiously opened it an inch farther, looking down at the bottom of the door, that it might not catch against anything and make a noise.

Now had he looked at the top, instead of the bottom, it might have been better for him; for to the top of the door was fastened a plug, which filled up the hole of a small barrel of shot. He ventured to open the door another inch, and then another, till, the plug being pulled out of the barrel, the leaden shot began to pour out at a strange rate. At the bottom of the closet was placed a tin pan, and the shot falling upon this pan made such a clatter that George was frightened half out of his senses.

The old gentleman soon came into the room to inquire what was the matter, and there he found George nearly as pale as a sheet. George was soon dismissed.

It now came the turn of Albert Jenkins to be put into the room. The other boys had been sent to their homes by different ways, and no one knew what the experience of the other had been in the room of trial.

On the table stood a small round box, with a screw top to it, and Albert, thinking it contained something curious, could not be easy without unscrewing the top; but no sooner did he do this than out bounced an artificial snake, full a yard long, and fell upon his arm. He started back, and uttered a scream which brought the old gentleman to his elbow. There stood Albert, with the bottom of the box in one hand, the top in the other, and the snake on the floor.

"Come, come," said the old gentleman, "one snake is quite enough to have in the house at a time; therefore, the sooner you are gone the better." With that he dismissed him, without waiting a moment for his reply.

William Smith next entered the room, and being left alone soon began to amuse himself in looking at the curiosities around him. William was not only curious and prying, but dishonest, too, and observing that the key was left in the drawer of a bookcase, he stepped on tiptoe in that direction. The key had a wire fastened to it, which communicated with an electrical machine, and William received such a shock as he was not likely to forget. No sooner did he sufficiently recover himself to walk, than he was told to leave the house, and let other people lock and unlock their own drawers.

The other boy was Harry Gordon, and though he was left in the room full twenty minutes, he never during that time stirred from his chair. Harry had eyes in his head as well as the others, but he had more integrity in his heart; neither the dish cover, the cherries, the drawer knob, the closet door, the round box, nor the key tempted him to rise from his feet; and the consequence was that, in half an hour after, he was engaged in the service of the old gentleman at Elm Tree Hall. He followed his good old master to his grave, and received a large legacy for his upright conduct in his service.

20多年前，有一位脾气古怪的老绅士住在有很多榆树环绕的老礼堂里。他大约60多岁，是个富翁，性格孤僻古怪，但他的慷慨和仁爱却无人能及。

对于需要安慰的穷苦佃农，对于需要他帮助的病人，甚至对乞丐，当然不包括那些冒名顶替的人，他总是慷慨解囊，没有人空着手离开他的大厅，就像村里的牧师在一首名为《被遗弃的村庄》里描述的：

所有流浪的队伍都知道他的住处，

他斥责他们的流浪，却排解他们的痛苦；

他总是记得他招待过的那位乞丐，

乞丐的胡须飘扬在他苍老的胸前。

现在，这位老绅士想要找一个男孩服侍他的饮食起居，帮助他做些事情，因为他非常喜欢年轻人。虽然他对年轻人的世界很感兴趣，可是他非常厌恶很多年轻人的好奇心。他经常说：“向抽屉里偷看的孩子会试图从里面取出点东西，而在年轻时就偷窃过一分钱的人，长大后总有一天会偷窃一元钱。”

人们得知老绅士要找男孩的消息后，都想得到这个职位，很快老绅士就收到20多封求职信。但是老绅士决心一定要找到一位没有好奇心、不爱管闲事儿的人。

星期一早晨，七个身着盛装、打扮光亮的小伙子出现在大厅，每个人都暗暗决心得到这份工作。因为老绅士的脾气古怪，他准备了一个房间，这样就可以轻易发现哪个年轻人喜欢管闲事，或喜欢往壁橱或抽屉里偷看。他做了安排，要榆树大厅里的这些小伙子逐个进入这个房间。

首先，查尔斯·布朗被叫到房间里，老绅士请他在这里等一等。于是查尔斯在门旁的一个椅子上坐下。开始的一段时间他非常安静，坐在椅子上向四周看着。但是他发现房间里有很多非常稀罕的东西，他终于站了起来，偷偷窥探。

桌子上摆放着一个罩子，查尔斯非常想知道下面是什么，但是他又不敢掀起罩子。坏习惯对人的影响是非常大的，而查尔斯的性格又是非常好奇的，他怎么也忍不住想看个究竟，于是他掀起了罩子。

结果真是令人沮丧，罩子下面是一堆非常轻的羽毛。有些羽毛被流动的空气带起来，飞到房间里。查尔斯非常害怕，匆匆把罩子放下，可这下桌子上其余的羽毛也被吹到了地上。

这可怎么办？查尔斯一根一根地把羽毛捡起来。老绅士一直待在隔壁的房间，他听到这里的动静，猜到发生了什么事情，就走进房间，正好看到查尔斯·布朗慌乱的样子。他很快就把查尔斯打发走了，因为他确定查尔斯连最小的诱惑都抵制不了。

老绅士又重新布置了房间，然后叫进亨利·威尔金斯。老绅士刚刚离开房间，他的目光就被一盘诱人的、熟透的樱桃吸引了。其实，亨利特别爱吃樱桃，而且他想，这里有这么多樱桃，就是吃掉一个，老绅士也不会发觉。他看看想想，想想看看，就在他从椅子上站起来想拿一个的时候，他似乎听到门口有脚步声。不过还好，是他听错了。

亨利又重新鼓足勇气，他小心翼翼地站起来，拿起一个特别好的樱桃放进嘴里，他当时下定决心就只拿一个。太好吃了！他想，再吃一个也没关系。于是他就又拿起了了一个，匆匆塞进嘴里。其实，老绅士在樱桃中间放了几个假樱桃，假樱桃里全是辣椒。不幸的是，亨利凑巧拿了一个假樱桃，他的嘴立刻刺痛起来，想着了火一样。老绅士听到他在咳嗽，明白了怎么回事。这个孩子不仅会拿樱桃，还会拿别的不属于他的东西，这个孩子老绅士不喜欢。亨利·威尔金斯也被打发走了，他的嘴热辣辣的，就好像他刚刚向里面投进一颗煤炭。

接下来，鲁弗斯·威尔森被叫了进来，自己待在房间里。但是他在里面待了不到10分钟，就开始摸摸这、碰碰那。他的脾气鲁莽、倔强，不受原则的制约，如果他能够打开房间里的每个壁橱、储藏室和抽屉，而不被人发现的话，他会毫不犹豫地这么去做。

他看了看四周，发现桌子上的一个抽屉，决心往里面窥探一下。但是他刚刚把手放在抽屉把手上，一阵响亮的铃声就响起。原来桌子下面藏着一个电铃。老绅士听到铃声，赶忙走进房间。

鲁弗斯被突然的铃声吓了一跳，虽然他的脸皮很厚，可是这时也开始觉得羞愧，他看上去脆弱不堪。老绅士问他，他打铃是不是因为他想要什么东西，鲁弗斯非常困惑，结结巴巴地试图道歉，但是这一点用也没有，他被从候选名单上剔除了出去。

然后，乔治·琼斯被一名老管家领到房间里。他的性格比较谨慎，什么也没有碰，只是向四下里看着。最后，他发现一扇壁橱的门有些虚掩着。他想，如果他再把门打开一些，肯定不会有人发现。于是他看着门的下方，以免碰到什么东西引起响动，小心地把门打开了一英寸。如果他看上面，而不是看下面，那就好了。因为门上系着一个小塞子，塞子堵住了一个小桶，小桶里盛满小铅球。他冒险又将门打开了一英寸，又一英寸，直到塞子被拽了出来，小铅球蹦了出来。壁橱的底部放着一个锡盘，小铅球落在锡盘上，发出很大的响声，乔治吓得魂飞魄散。

老绅士很快出现，看看是怎么回事。他看到乔治的脸像纸一样苍白，就把他打发走了。

现在轮到阿尔伯特·杨金斯了。其他的男孩被各自送回家，没人知道这些人在房间中的经历。

桌子上有一个小圆盒子，盒子有个旋盖。阿尔伯特断定里面的东西很奇怪，他坐立不安，非常想拧开盒盖。但是他刚刚打开，盒子里就跳出一条假蛇，它足有一码长，缠绕在他的胳膊上。他往后退去，尖叫了一声。叫声引来了老绅士，他看到阿尔伯特一手拿着盒子，一手拿着盖子，蛇掉在地板上。

“起来，起来，”老绅士说，“屋里有一条蛇就够了，你还是快出去吧。”他就这样打发了这个男孩，连任何解释都没有听。

接下来，威廉·史密斯走进了房间，老绅士离开房间以后，他就开始好奇地左看右看。威廉不仅好奇、爱管闲事，还不诚实。他发现书柜的抽屉上还挂着钥匙，就掂着脚尖走过去。钥匙上系着一段电线，电线与一台电机相连，威廉被狠狠地击中，这下可够他受的。他刚刚恢复神志可以行走，老绅士就告诉他，以后最好还是让抽屉的主人亲自开锁或上锁，并让他离开了房间。

另一个男孩叫哈里·戈登。他独自在房间里待了足足有20分钟，但都没有在椅子上动一动。哈里的头上也有眼睛，但是他的心灵正直。罩子、樱桃、抽屉把手、壁橱门、圆盒子或钥匙都没能引诱他离开座位。结果，半个小时后，他被许可在榆树大厅为老绅土服务。他一直服侍老绅士，直到他离开人世，并因为他正直的服务从老绅士那里得到一大笔遗产。