English Original
A merchant, having sold all his wares at the fair and filled his moneybags with gold and silver, was eager to return home before nightfall. He packed his trunk with the money, loaded it onto his horse, and set off.
At noon, he stopped to rest in a town. When he prepared to continue his journey, the stable-boy brought out his horse and said, "Sir, a nail is missing from the shoe on the horse's left hind foot."
"Let it be," replied the merchant. "The shoe will surely hold for the six miles I have left. I am in a hurry."
In the afternoon, when he stopped again to feed his horse, the stable-boy came to him and said, "Sir, a shoe is missing from your horse's left hind foot. Shall I take him to the blacksmith?"
"Let it still be missing," the man answered. "The horse can manage the remaining couple of miles. I am in haste."
He rode on, but soon the horse began to limp. Not long after limping, it began to stumble, and shortly after stumbling, it fell down and broke its leg. The merchant was forced to leave the horse where it fell, unbuckle the trunk, carry it on his back, and walk home on foot. He did not arrive until very late at night.
"And all this disaster," he said to himself, "was caused by that unlucky nail."
中文翻译
一位商人在集市上卖光了所有货物，钱袋里装满了金银，急于在天黑前赶回家。他把钱装进箱子，放到马背上，便出发了。
中午，他在一个镇上停下来休息。当他准备继续赶路时，马童牵出他的马说道：“先生，马左后蹄的马蹄铁上掉了一枚钉子。”
“随它去吧，”商人回答。“剩下的六英里路，蹄铁肯定能撑住。我赶时间。”
下午，他再次停下喂马时，马童过来对他说：“先生，您的马左后蹄掉了一只蹄铁。要我带它去找铁匠吗？”
“还是让它缺着吧，”这人答道。“剩下的几英里路，马能坚持。我很急。”
他继续骑行，但不久马就开始跛行。跛行没多久，马便开始踉跄，踉跄不久后，它就摔倒并摔断了腿。商人被迫将马留在原地，解下箱子背在背上，徒步走回家。他直到深夜才到家。
“所有这一切灾祸，”他自言自语道，“都是那枚倒霉的钉子造成的。”