English Original
Once upon a time, there was a hard-working student who lived in an attic and owned nothing. On the first floor lived a hard-working grocer who owned the whole house. A Goblin belonged to the grocer, for every Christmas Eve he received a dish of jam with a large lump of butter in the middle. The grocer could afford this, so the Goblin stayed.
One evening, the student came to buy a candle and cheese. After paying, he noticed the paper wrapping his cheese was a page torn from an old poetry book. The grocer offered him the rest of the book for twopence.
"Yes," said the student, "give me the book instead of the cheese. It would be a shame to leave it to be torn up. You are a clever and practical man, but about poetry you understand as much as that old tub over there!"
The grocer laughed, but the Goblin was angry that anyone would insult the grocer who owned the house and sold the best butter.
That night, while everyone slept, the Goblin took the grocer's wife's tongue. He placed it on the tub of old newspapers. "Is it true you know nothing about poetry?" he asked.
"Certainly not!" answered the tub. "Poetry is in the papers and is frequently cut out. I have more in me than the student, yet I am only a small tub."
The Goblin put the tongue on the coffee-mill, the butter-cask, and the till. All agreed with the tub. "One must believe the majority," thought the Goblin. "Now I will tell the student!"
He crept to the student's attic and peered through the keyhole. The student was reading the torn book. A streak of light shot from it, growing into a large tree above him. Every leaf was alive, every flower a beautiful girl's head, every fruit a glittering star, and marvelous music filled the room.
The Goblin had never dreamt of such a sight. He stood listening until the student blew out the candle and went to bed, the music now a soft lullaby.
"I have never seen anything like this!" said the Goblin. "I must stay with the student." He thought it over, then sighed, "But the student has no jam!" So he returned downstairs.
It was good he did, for the tub had nearly worn out the tongue. From that night, the whole shop looked up to the tub, believing it was the source of the art critiques the grocer read.
But the Goblin could no longer sit listening to the wisdom downstairs. When the attic light shone each evening, its beams felt like ropes dragging him up to peek through the keyhole. There, he felt as one does looking at a stormy sea and burst into tears, yet felt happy. How beautiful to sit under that tree with the student! But he had to content himself with the keyhole.
He stood on the cold landing, the autumn wind blowing through the floor cracks. It was very cold, but he only felt it when the attic light went out and the music died. Then he crept back to his warm, cosy corner.
When Christmas came with its jam and butter, the grocer was first with him again.
But one night, the Goblin awoke to great noise—a fire had broken out in the town! The grocer's wife saved her gold earrings, the grocer his account books, the maid her silk dress. Everyone sought their most valuable possession.
The Goblin leapt upstairs to the student's room. The student stood by the window, watching the fire opposite. The Goblin seized the book from the table, put it in his red cap, and clasped it tightly. He climbed onto the roof, sitting on the chimney, lit by the flames, holding his cap with the treasure. Now he knew what his heart valued most.
When the fire was put out, the Goblin thought it over. "I will divide myself between the two," he said. "I cannot quite give up the grocer, because of the jam!"
And it is just the same with us. We also cannot quite give up the grocer—because of the jam.
中文翻译
从前，有一个勤奋的学生住在阁楼里，一无所有。一楼住着一个勤奋的杂货商，拥有整栋房子。一个地精属于杂货商，因为每个平安夜他都能得到一盘中间有一大块黄油的果酱。杂货商供得起这个，所以地精就留了下来。
一天晚上，学生来买蜡烛和奶酪。付钱后，他发现包奶酪的纸是从一本旧诗集上撕下来的。杂货商提出，两便士就可以把剩下的书给他。
“好的，”学生说，“把书给我，不要奶酪了。让这本书被撕毁太可惜了。你是个聪明务实的人，但对诗歌的理解，就和那边那个旧桶差不多！”
杂货商笑了，但地精很生气，竟然有人敢侮辱这位拥有房子、卖着最好黄油的杂货商。
那天晚上，趁大家都睡了，地精拿走了杂货商妻子的舌头。他把它放在装旧报纸的桶上。“你真的对诗歌一无所知吗？”他问。
“当然不是！”桶回答道。“诗歌就在报纸上，经常被剪下来。我肚子里装的东西比那学生多多了，虽然我只是杂货店里的一个小桶。”
地精又把舌头放在咖啡磨、黄油桶和钱柜上。它们都同意桶的看法。“必须相信大多数，”地精想。“现在我要去告诉那个学生！”
他爬到学生的阁楼，从钥匙孔偷看。学生正在读那本撕破的书。一道光射出书本，长成一棵大树笼罩着他。每片叶子都生机勃勃，每朵花都是一个美丽女孩的头像，有的眼睛乌黑闪亮，有的则是迷人的蓝色。每个果实都是一颗闪亮的星星，美妙的音乐充满了房间。
地精从未梦想过这样的景象。他站着聆听，直到学生吹灭蜡烛上床，音乐变成了柔和的摇篮曲。
“我从未见过这样的景象！”地精说。“我必须和这个学生在一起。”他仔细想了想，然后叹了口气，“可是学生没有果酱啊！”于是他又回到了楼下。
他回来得正是时候，因为桶几乎把舌头用坏了。从那天晚上起，整个店铺，从钱柜到刨花，都改变了对桶的看法，尊敬它，相信杂货商晚上读的艺术和戏剧评论都来自这个桶。
但地精再也无法安坐聆听楼下的智慧了。每当傍晚阁楼的灯光亮起，光线就像结实的绳索把他拉上去，他必须去钥匙孔那里偷看。在那里，他感受到如同我们凝视暴风雨中汹涌大海时的心情，不禁流下泪来。他说不出为什么哭，但尽管流泪，却感到十分快乐。和学生一起坐在那棵树下该多美啊！但他做不到；他只能满足于钥匙孔，并在那里感到快乐！
他站在寒冷的楼梯平台上，秋风从地板缝隙吹进来。很冷——非常冷，但直到阁楼的灯光熄灭，木头里的音乐消逝，他才真正感觉到。啊！那时他冻坏了，便爬回自己温暖舒适的角落。
圣诞节来了，带来了果酱和大块黄油，啊！那时杂货商又成了他的首选。
但一天半夜，地精被巨大的声响惊醒——有人在敲打百叶窗，镇子起大火了！杂货商的妻子取下金耳环放进口袋，杂货商抓起账本，女仆拿起她的黑绸裙。每个人都想救自己最宝贵的东西。
地精也一样，他几下就跳上楼梯进了学生的房间。学生静静地站在打开的窗边，看着对面房子的大火。地精抓起桌上的书，放进他的红帽子里，用双手紧紧抱住。房子里最宝贵的财富得救了，他带着它爬上屋顶——爬到烟囱上。他坐在那里，被对面燃烧房屋的火焰照亮，双手紧紧抓住藏着宝藏的红帽子。现在他知道自己的心真正最珍视什么——他真正属于谁。
大火扑灭后，地精仔细想了想。“我要把自己分给两边，”他说。“我不能完全放弃杂货商，因为果酱！”
我们也是如此。我们也不能完全放弃杂货商——因为果酱。