English Original
Dolly the Milkmaid, having been a good and careful worker, was given a pail of fresh milk by her mistress. With the pail balanced on her head, she walked gaily to town to sell it.
"For this milk," Dolly thought, "I shall get a shilling. With that, I will buy twenty eggs from our neighbor's fine fowls. My mistress will surely lend me a hen, and, allowing for mishaps, I shall raise a dozen chicks. They will be grown by the next fair, when chickens fetch the highest price. I shall sell them for a guinea. Then I will buy that sweater, hat, and ribbons I saw in the village. How smart I shall be at the fair! Robin will be there and offer to be friends again. But I won't come round too easily. When he asks me to dance, I shall just toss up my head and—"
At that moment, Dolly gave her head the slightest toss. Down came the pail, and all the milk spilled onto the ground. Poor Dolly! It was goodbye to eggs, chickens, sweater, hat, ribbons, and all.
Moral: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
中文翻译
挤奶女工多莉是个认真工作的好姑娘，女主人因此奖励了她一桶新鲜牛奶。她把奶桶顶在头上，欢快地朝镇上走去，打算卖掉牛奶。
"卖了这桶牛奶，"多莉盘算着，"我能得到一个先令。用这钱，我要从邻居家的好母鸡那儿买二十个蛋。女主人肯定会借我只母鸡来孵蛋，就算有点小意外，我也能孵出十几只小鸡。到下个集市时，小鸡就长大了，那时鸡价最高。我能把它们卖一个几尼。然后我就能买下之前在村里看中的那件毛衣、帽子和丝带。到了集市上，我该多漂亮啊！罗宾肯定也在，他会过来求和的。但我可不能轻易答应。等他请我跳舞时，我就把头一扬——"
想到这里，多莉微微扬了一下头。奶桶应声落地，牛奶全洒在了地上。可怜的多莉！她的鸡蛋、小鸡、毛衣、帽子、丝带，所有美梦都随之破灭了。
寓意： 鸡蛋还未孵，先别数小鸡。（勿过早打如意算盘。）