提 要
俗語說「害人之心不可有，防人之心不可無」，對於文中的店主來說，不應該存著害人的心，有時會「害人害己」；對於商人來說，則應該保持謹慎小心的態度，因為你不了解其他人，所以要提防別人會出怪招。
One day in Japan, a small merchant was returning to his home after buying some goods from another town. He got late. It was getting dark and night was about to come.
"It is not safe to travel at night", thought the merchant. "I should stay somewhere at night and should go to home tomorrow." He dropped in a village and went to an inn to spend the night.
He asked the inn-keeper to make dinner for him.
The inn-keeper's wife was a greedy woman. When she saw the goods that the merchant had brought with him, she thought "How good for us if we take all his merchandise and money." She told his husband what she was thinking about. "It's not so easy to take his stuff ." said the husband.
"You are such an intelligent man can't you think of something to make this happen?", said the woman.The inn-keeper got moved by the sweet talks of his wife, he thought for a while and told his wife "It is possible to take his merchandise if you put the magical herb"Mega" in the merchant's supper. He will surely forget a thing or two after consuming this herb."
"Are you sure about that? What if he doesn't forget his stuff?" , asked the greedy lady.
He has got nothing to forget, except for his merchandise, I am sure he will forget to take it with him.
The innkeeper's wife cooked a delicious meal for the merchant and put the magical herb"Mega"in it.
The merchant ate all the food and went to sleep.
Next morning when the innkeeper's wife woke up, she saw that the merchant had left their place. She checked the room in which the merchant stayed at night thinking that he must have forgot his merchandise but found nothing. She searched again but there was nothing.
She called out to her husband and said, ''You told me that the merchant will forget his stuff but he has taken all his goods with him and there is nothing left behind. "
"That is not possible, he must have forgot something , the herb is very effective."
The woman thought for a moment and cried.....
"Yes! He forgot something, he forgot to pay us for the food and the stay."
"Oh no! The man said holding his head, ''What a big fool I am!"
解 說
某一天在日本，一個小商人從另一個城市採買物品後回家。他耽誤了行程，眼看天漸漸變黑、夜即將到來。
「晚上趕路不安全的。」商人想著，「我應該找地方住一宿，明天再回家。」於是他造訪一個村莊，找到一家旅店過夜。
商人並要求旅店老闆幫他準備晚餐。
旅店老闆的妻子是個貪婪的人，當看到商人帶來琳琅滿目的商品時，她想：「這是我們的好機會，我們得想辦法拿走他所有的商品與金錢。」她把這想法告訴老闆，「拿他的東西可沒那麼容易！」她丈夫說。
「你是這樣一個聰明的人，你不能想點辦法嗎？」妻子的甜言蜜語動搖了店老闆，他想了一會兒對妻子說，「這是有可能的，如果把神奇的『超級』草藥加進商人的晚餐，吃了這種藥物後，他一定會忘記一兩件事情的。」
「你能肯定嗎？如果他沒有忘記東西怎麼辦？」貪婪的女人問。
除了他的商品，他沒什麼可以忘記的東西了，我相信他會忘記這些商品 ，把它們留在原地等我們去拿的。
店主的妻子煮了美味的一餐給商人，裡面加了神奇的「超級」草藥。
商人將食物吃光後，睡覺去了。
第二天早晨，店主的妻子醒來時發現 ，商人已經離開了房間，她檢查商人過夜的那間房，以為一定可以找到他忘記帶走的商品，卻一無所獲。她再次搜查，但什麼也沒有。
她把丈夫叫來：「你跟我說，商人會忘記帶走他的東西，但他已經走了，什麼也沒有留下。」
「那是不可能的，他一定是忘了點什麼，那草藥是非常有效的。」
那女子想了一會兒，哭了……
「是啦！他忘了點什麼，他吃了食物再加上住宿，卻忘了付錢給我們。」
「哦，不！」店主抱著頭說：「我真是一個大笨蛋！」
WOW!原來如此
dropped in
「drop」是水「滴漏」，例如：「The rain was leaking in large drops through the roof.」（從屋頂漏下大雨滴。）
「drop」也是「丟下；投入」，例如：「She dropped the letter into the mail-box. 」（她將信投入信箱。）
當坐車上學時，可以對司機說：「Please drop me at the school gate.」（請讓我在校門口下車。）
文中的「He dropped in a village.....」，則是商人「偶然造訪」小村莊。
家中來了不速之客，可能會想說：「I wish they wouldn't drop in on me so often. 」（我希望他們不要常常來拜訪。）
sweet talk
「sweet」是甜蜜。「sweet talk」是用甜言蜜語勸誘、哄騙。例如：「She sweet-talked her husband into giving her a new dress. 」（她甜言蜜語地哄丈夫送她一件新衣服。）
萬一不幸遭遇歹徒時，也可以考慮用「sweet talk」來智取、脫離險境。例如：「They'll try to lie and sweet talk their way out of it.」（他們會嘗試用謊言與甜言蜜語脫困。）