The Old Grandfather and His Grandson

　　Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once upon a time there was a very, very old man. His eyes had grown dim, his ears deaf, and his knees shook. When he sat at the table, he could scarcely hold a spoon. He spilled soup on the tablecloth1, and, beside that, some of his soup would run back out of his mouth.

　　His son and his son's wife were disgusted with this, so finally they made the old grandfather sit in the corner behind the stove, where they gave him his food in an earthenware2 bowl, and not enough at that. He sat there looking sadly at the table, and his eyes grew moist. One day his shaking hands could not hold the bowl, and it fell to the ground and broke. The young woman scolded, but he said not a word. He only sobbed3. Then for a few hellers they bought him a wooden bowl and made him eat from it.

　　Once when they were all sitting there, the little grandson of four years pushed some pieces of wood together on the floor.

　　"What are you making?" asked his father.

　　"Oh, I'm making a little trough for you and mother to eat from when I'm big."

　　The man and the woman looked at one another and then began to cry. They immediately brought the old grandfather to the table, and always let him eat there from then on. And if he spilled a little, they did not say a thing.

　　從前有個很老很老的老人，眼睛花，耳朵也背，雙膝還不住地發(fā)抖。每當(dāng)他坐在餐桌前吃飯時，湯匙也握不穩(wěn)，常常把菜湯撒在桌布上，湯還會從嘴邊流出來。兒子和媳婦都嫌棄他，老人只好躲到灶后的角落里吃飯。他們給他一只瓦盆，把飯菜盛到里面給他吃，而且每頓飯都不給老人吃飽。老人很傷心，常常眼淚汪汪地看著桌子。

　　有一天，老人的手顫抖得連那只瓦盆都端不穩(wěn)了，瓦盆掉到地上打碎了。兒媳婦沒完沒了地訓(xùn)斥他，老人一聲不吭，只是不住地歎氣。他們於是花了幾分錢買來一只木碗給老人吃飯用。

　　后來有一天，老人的兒子和媳婦正坐在那兒吃飯，四歲的小孫子在把地上的碎木片拾掇到一起。

　　「你這是干甚么呢？」父親問。

　　「我要做一只木碗，等我長大了，讓爸爸媽媽用它吃飯。」

　　聽到這話，兒子和媳婦對視了一會兒，最后哭了起來。他們立刻將老人請到桌邊，讓他從此和他們一起吃飯，即使老人潑了點甚么，他們也不再說甚么了。