提要

黃金是稀有金屬，一般觀念中，擁有黃金就等同富貴榮華；但黃金不能吃、不能解渴，一旦乘船不幸落水，還是優先該拋棄的累贅。以下兩則小故事足以證明，相較於親情、健康，黃金不但不是最重要的，簡直完全不重要。

The Miser And

His Gold

An old miser lived in a house with a garden. The miser hid his gold coins in a pit under some stones in the garden. Every day, before going to bed, the miser went to the stones where he hid the gold and counted the coins. He continued this routine every day, but not once did he spend the gold he saved.

One day, a thief who knew the old miser's routine, waited for the old man to go back into his house. After it was dark, the thief went to the hiding place and took away all the gold coins. The next day, the old miser found that his treasure was missing and started crying miserably loud.

His neighbor heard the miser's cries and inquired about what happened. On learning what happened, the neighbor asked, "Why didn't you save the money inside the house? It would've been easier to access the money when you had to buy something!"

"Buy?", said the miser. "I never used gold to buy anything. I was never going to spend it."

On hearing this, the neighbor threw a stone into the pit and said, "If that is the case, save the stone. It is as worthless as the gold you have lost".

-Written by Sagari Gongala

守財奴的黃金

一個年邁的守財奴住在一個有花園的房子裡，他把金幣藏在花園裡的石頭下面。每天上床睡覺前，這守財奴都會去搬開石頭，找到他藏在那裡的金幣，把它們數一遍。他每天都執行這例行公事，但從不花用這藏起來的黃金。

一天，一個熟知守財奴日常活動的小偷，等著老人回到屋裡、四周一片漆黑後，搬開石頭、取走了藏在下面金子。第二天，老守財奴發現他的財寶不翼而飛，悲傷地大聲哭泣。

鄰居聽到守財奴的哭聲，問他發生了什麼事。了解事情的始末之後，鄰居問：「你為什麼不把錢放進屋子裡保管？當需要買東西的時候，這不是就容易多了？」

「買？」守財奴說：「我從來沒有用過黃金買任何東西，我也不打算花掉它。」

聽到這裡，鄰居就把一塊石頭扔進了原本藏金的坑裡，對守財奴說：「如果是這麼回事，那就把石頭藏著吧，它和失去的金子一樣，對你來說毫無用處。」

The Midas Touch

In ancient Greek, there was a king named Midas. He had a lot of gold and everything more than he ever needed. He also had a beautiful daughter. Midas loved his gold very much, but he loved his daughter more than his riches.

One day, a satyr named Silenus got drunk and passed out in Midas'rose garden. Believing that Satyrs always bring good luck, Midas lets Silenus rest in his palace until he is sober, against the wishes of his wife and daughter. Silenus is a friend of Dionysus, the god of wine and celebration. Upon learning Midas' kindness towards his friend, Dionysus decides to reward the king.

When asked to wish for something, Midas says "I wish everything I touch turns to gold". Although Dionysus knew it was not a great idea, he granted Midas his wish.

Happy that his wish was granted, Midas went around touching random things in the garden and his palace and turned them all into gold. He touched an apple, and it turned into a shiny gold apple. His subjects were astonished but happy to see so much gold in the palace.

In his happiness, Midas went and hugged his daughter, and before he realized, he turned her into a lifeless, golden statue! Aghast, Midas ran back to the garden and called for Dionysus. He begged the god to take away his power and save his daughter. Dionysus gives Midas a solution to change everything back to how it was before the wish. Midas learned his lesson and lived the rest of his life contented with what he had.

-Written by Sagari Gongala

麥達斯點石成金

古希臘有一位叫麥達斯的國王，他有很多金子和多到用不完的物資。他還有一個漂亮的女兒，雖然麥達斯非常愛他的金子，但是他愛自己的女兒多過財富。

一天，一個叫西流諾士的半人半獸森林之神，在麥達斯的玫瑰園裡醉倒。由於麥達斯相信半獸神會帶來好運，所以即使妻子和女兒反對，他還是讓西流諾士在他的宮殿中休息醒。西流諾士是酒神和慶典之神狄歐尼蘇斯的朋友。在得知麥達斯對他的朋友的款待之後，狄歐尼蘇斯決定給國王一點獎勵。

當被問到想要什麼願望時，麥達斯說：「我希望我碰觸的一切都變成金子。」儘管狄歐尼蘇斯知道這不是好主意，但還是答應了麥達斯的願望。

麥達斯很高興他的願望實現，走到花園和宮殿裡隨意東摸西摸，然後它們全部變成了金子。他碰了一個蘋果，就變成了一個閃亮的金蘋果。在宮裡看到這麼多黃金，他的臣子又驚又喜。

麥達斯快樂無比地抱了抱他的女兒，在他察覺之前，他已經把她變成了毫無生氣的金色雕像。嚇呆了的麥達斯跑回花園，呼喊狄歐尼蘇斯，他求神拿走他的能力，拯救他的女兒，狄歐尼蘇斯的解決方法，是讓一切都恢復成麥達斯許願之前的樣子。麥達斯學到了教訓，並珍惜自己所擁有的、滿足地過日子。