English Original
A father, nearing the end of his life, called his three sons. Having no money, he gave his eldest a rooster, his second son a scythe, and his youngest a cat. "These gifts seem worthless," he said, "but your fortune depends on finding a land where they are unknown."
After the father's death, the eldest son set off with his rooster. Everywhere he went, roosters were common. Finally, he reached an island where people knew nothing of roosters or telling time at night. He described the rooster as a proud creature with a ruby-red crown that crowed at fixed hours. The islanders were delighted and bought it for as much gold as a donkey could carry.
The second son, seeing this success, left with his scythe. He too found his tool commonplace until he chanced upon an island where people harvested grain by shooting it with cannons—a noisy and wasteful method. He demonstrated his scythe, mowing the grain quietly and efficiently. Amazed, the people bought it for a horse-load of gold.
The youngest son faced the same challenge with his cat, as cats were plentiful on the mainland. He sailed to an island overrun by mice, where cats were unknown. The cat quickly proved its worth by catching mice in the king's palace. The king bought it for a mule laden with gold.
In the palace, the cat hunted tirelessly until, growing thirsty, it meowed. The strange sound terrified the king and his court, who fled. They sent a herald to demand the cat leave, but it only meowed again, which was interpreted as a refusal. In panic, they fired cannons at the palace, setting it ablaze. The cat escaped through a window just in time.
中文翻译
一位生命垂危的父亲将三个儿子叫到跟前。他没有钱，于是给了大儿子一只公鸡，二儿子一把镰刀，小儿子一只猫。"这些礼物看似毫无价值，"他说，"但你们的财富取决于能否找到一个它们不为人知的地方。"
父亲去世后，大儿子带着公鸡出发了。他所到之处，公鸡都很常见。最后，他来到一个岛屿，那里的人们对公鸡一无所知，也不知道如何在夜间判断时间。他将公鸡描述为一种头戴红宝石冠、会在固定时间鸣叫的高傲生物。岛民们欣喜若狂，用一头驴能驮动的金子买下了它。
二儿子看到哥哥的成功，带着镰刀离开了。他也发现自己的工具很普通，直到他偶然来到一个岛屿，那里的人们用大炮射击来收割谷物——这是一种嘈杂且浪费的方法。他演示了镰刀的用法，安静而高效地割下了谷物。惊讶的人们用一匹马驮的金子买下了镰刀。
小儿子带着猫也遇到了同样的挑战，因为猫在大陆上很常见。他航行到一个老鼠泛滥的岛屿，那里从未有过猫。猫很快就在国王的宫殿里捕捉老鼠，证明了自己的价值。国王用一头骡子驮的金子买下了它。
在宫殿里，猫不知疲倦地捕猎，直到口渴了，发出"喵喵"的叫声。这奇怪的声音吓坏了国王和他的朝臣，他们纷纷逃跑。他们派出一名传令官要求猫离开，但它只是又"喵"了一声，这被理解为拒绝。恐慌之中，他们向宫殿开炮，宫殿燃起大火。猫及时从窗户跳了出去，逃走了。