上帝失蹤了
There were two brothers who were always up to somemischief.
有兩兄弟總是搞惡作劇。
If somebody had been locked up in his house,
如果有人被鎖在自己的房子里,
or if somebody's dog had been painted green, one always knew who the culprits were-thebrothers.
或者誰家的狗被漆成了綠色,人們總知道誰是罪魁禍首——兄弟倆。
One day the boys' mother asked a priest to talk to her sons and put the fear of God in them sothat they would mend their ways.
一天,男孩的母親請牧師和她的兒子們談談,讓他們對上帝感到敬畏,以便他們能改善他們的行為。
The priest asked her to send her sons to him one at a time.
牧師叫她把兩兄弟一個一個地送過來。
When the younger boy came, he made him sit and asked him: "Where is God?"
年幼一些的孩子過來了,牧師讓他坐下,問他:“上帝在哪里?”
The boy did not answer.
男孩沒有回答。
The priest asked again, in a louder voice: "Where is God?"
牧師又問,這次聲音更大了:“上帝在哪里?”
The boy remained silent.
男孩仍然保持沉默。
But when the priest asked the same question for a third time, the boy jumped up and ranaway.
當牧師第三次問同樣的問題時,男孩跳起來跑走了。
He went straight to his brother.
他直奔向他的哥哥。
"We are in big trouble!" he gasped.
“我們有大麻煩了!”他喘著氣說。
"What's wrong?" asked the older boy, warily, wondering which of their sins had caught up withthem.
“你怎么了?”年長的男孩謹慎地問,想知道到底因為他們做的哪件壞事人們要逮捕他倆。
"God is missing," said the youngster, "and they think we have something to do with it!"
“上帝不見了,”弟弟說,“他們認為這事和我們有關!”