大家好，我是Fiona老師。
今天我們英語閱讀系列要一起閱讀的文章是The Lazy Dreamer 一個懶惰的夢想家
這個夢想家到底有多麼的懶惰呢？快讓我們一起來看看吧。
Once, in a small village, there lived a poor Brahmin. He was very learned, but did nothing all day. He lived on the alms the villagers gave him every day.
One day, as usual, the Brahmin got up in the morning, performed his morning rituals and set out to beg for alms. As he went from door to door, people gave him several things. Some gave dal. Others gave him rice and yet others gave him vegetables. But one generous lady gave the Brahmin a large measure of flour.
「Ah! What good luck. I will not have to beg for alms for a long time," thought the Brahmin to himself.
He went home and cooked his lunch. After he had eaten, the Brahmin put the flour into a large mud pot and hung it near his bed. 「Now, it will be safe from rats," he said to himself as he lay down in his cot for an afternoon nap.
He began to think, 「I will save this flour until there is a famine. Then I will sell it at a very good price. With that, I will buy a pair of goats. Very soon, I will have a large flock of goats. With their milk, I will make more money. Then I will buy a cow and a bull. Very soon I will also have a large herd of cows. Their milk will fetch me a lot of money. I will become very wealthy. I will build for myself, a huge palace and get married to a beautiful woman... Then we will have a little son. I will be a proud father. In a few months my son will start crawling. He will be mischievous and I will be very worried that he may come to some harm. 1 will call out to my wife to take care of him. But she will be busy with house work and will ignore my call. I will get so angry. I will kick her to teach her a lesson like this..."
The Brahmin threw out his leg up. His foot hit the pot of flour hanging overhead and it came down with a resounding crash, spilling the flour all over the dirty floor. The lazy Brahmin realised that his foolishness and vanity had cost him a precious measure of flour. The laziness and foolishness taught him a lesson. Thereafter he lived an active life which took to heights.
很久以前，在一個小村莊裡住著一個可憐的婆羅門。他很有學問，但整天無所事事。他靠村民每天給他的施捨來維持生活。
有一天，像往常一樣，婆羅門在早晨起床，履行他的早晨儀式，並開始乞討施捨。他挨家挨戶地乞討，村民給了他幾件東西。有些人給了木豆。其他人給了他米飯，其他人給了他蔬菜。但是一位慷慨的女士給婆羅門一大堆麵粉。
「啊！祝你好運。「我不必乞求施捨很久了，」婆羅門對自己說。
他回家吃午飯。他吃完後，婆羅門把麵粉放進一個大泥鍋裡，把它掛在床上。「現在，它將是安全的，不必擔心老鼠偷吃，」他對自己說，他躺在他的床上午睡。
他開始想：「我要把這面麵粉保存起來，直到有饑荒出現。」然後我會以很好的價格出售。這樣，我就買一雙山羊。很快，我會有一大群山羊。有了他們的奶，我會賺更多的錢。然後我會買一頭奶牛和一頭公牛。很快我也會有一大群奶牛。他們的牛奶會給我帶來很多錢。我會變得非常富有。我會為自己建造一座巨大的宮殿，和一位美麗的女人結婚……然後我們會有一個小兒子。我會是一個驕傲的父親。幾個月後，我兒子就會開始爬行了。他會調皮搗蛋的，我很擔心他會受到一些傷害。我會叫我妻子來照顧他。但她會忙於家務，會忽略我的召喚。我會生氣的。我會踢她教她這樣的教訓……」
婆羅門把腿甩了起來。他的腳碰到了懸掛在頭頂上的麵粉罐，它發出一聲響亮的撞擊聲，把麵粉灑在骯髒的地板上。懶惰的婆羅門意識到他的愚蠢和虛榮心使他損失了寶貴的麵粉。懶惰和愚笨給了他一個教訓。此後，他過著積極的生活。