English Original
A king had three sons whom he loved equally well, and he did not know which of them to appoint as king following his own death.
When the time came for him to die he called them to his bed and said, "Dear children, I have thought of something that I will reveal to you. The one of you who is the laziest shall become king after me."
The oldest one said, "Father, then the kingdom belongs to me, for I am so lazy that whenever I lie down to sleep, and a drop falls into my eyes, I will not even close them so that I can fall asleep."
The second one said, "Father, the kingdom belongs to me, for I am so lazy that when I am sitting by the fire warming myself, I would rather let my heels burn up than to pull my legs back."
The third one said, "Father, the kingdom is mine, for I am so lazy that if I were going to be hanged and already had the rope around my neck, and someone put into my hand a sharp knife with which to cut the rope, I would let myself be hanged rather than to lift my hand up to the rope."
When the father heard this he said, "You have taken it the farthest and shall be king."
中文翻译
一位国王有三个儿子，他对每个儿子都同样疼爱，因此不知道自己死后该任命谁为国王。
临终之际，他将儿子们叫到床前说：“亲爱的孩子们，我想到一件事要告诉你们。你们之中最懒的那个，将在我之后成为国王。”
大儿子说：“父亲，那么王国就是我的了，因为我非常懒惰，每当我躺下睡觉时，若有水滴进眼睛，我甚至懒得合上眼皮，就这样继续睡。”
二儿子说：“父亲，王国应该属于我，因为我非常懒惰，当我坐在火边取暖时，我宁愿让脚跟烧着，也懒得把腿缩回来。”
三儿子说：“父亲，王国是我的，因为我非常懒惰，如果我即将被绞死，绳子已经套在脖子上，这时有人递给我一把锋利的刀让我割断绳子，我宁愿被吊死，也懒得抬手去割绳子。”
父亲听后说道：“你把懒惰发挥到了极致，应当成为国王。”