There was a rich couple who was throwing a big new year party at their house. So they went shopping at a market where everything was of high cost and had a fixed price. They wanted to maintain their high living standards so didn't mind paying a lot for the things they needed.
有一對富有的夫婦要在家里舉辦一場盛大的新年派對。于是，他們來到一家價格昂貴且不打折的市場，采購派對所需的物品。他們希望保持較高生活水平，所以并不介意為自己需要的東西多花些錢。
After purchasing everything they wanted, they called a porter to carry everything and drop it off at their home. The porter who came was of an old age, not very healthy looking. His clothes were torn, and he looked as if he wasn't even able to meet his daily needs.
采購完畢，他們叫來一名搬運工幫他們把買到的所有東西送回家。這名搬運工年齡很大，看起來病病殃殃的，且衣衫襤褸，似乎與乞丐沒什么兩樣。
They asked the porter about the charge for delivering the goods at their home. The old porter quoted a mere $20, a price well below the market rate for delivering goods with his cart at the couple's home.
他們向這名搬運工詢問了送貨到家的費用。這位老搬運工僅給出了20美元的報價，這個價格遠遠低于將這一車貨物送至這對夫婦家中的市場價格。
Yet, the couple argued and bargained with the porter, and finally, he settled for $15. The porter was struggling to make money for every single meal, so he needed anything he could earn.
然而，這對夫婦還是與這名搬運工討價還價起來，并最終將價格確定為15美元。這名搬運工為了生存要拼命賺錢，所以不會拒絕任何能夠賺到錢的機會。

The couple was very happy thinking about how well they had bargained with the poor porter, paid him $15 in advance and left after giving the porter their address for delivery. They reached their home and an hour passed, two hours passed, but the porter still hadn't delivered their stuff.
這對夫婦非常開心地回味著剛剛他們在與這名可憐的搬運工討價還價時的精彩表現，預付了搬運工15美元，提供了交貨地址，然后離開了。他們回到家后，一小時過去了，兩個小時過去了，但還是不見搬運工的蹤影。
The wife started to get angry at her husband, "I always tell you to not to trust such a person but still, you never listen to me. Such a person is not even able to earn enough money to feed himself once a day, and you gave him everything we purchased for our big party. I am sure that, instead of delivering it at our home, he must have disappeared with everything. We must immediately go back to the market to find out more about the porter and then go to the police station to file a complaint against him".
妻子開始對丈夫發起火來，“我告訴過你多少遍了不要相信這種人，你就是不聽。這種人每天賺到的錢都不夠吃一頓飽飯，你居然把我們為派對買的所有東西全部交給了他。我確信，他肯定帶著咱們的東西跑路了，不可能送來了。我們得馬上回市場弄清楚那名搬運工的底細，然后去警察局報警。”
They both left towards the market. On their way, near the market, they saw another porter. They stopped him to inquire about the old porter but then noticed that he was carrying their stuff in his cart! The angry wife asked him, "Where is that old thief? This is our stuff and he was supposed to deliver it. It seems you thieves are stealing our stuff and are going to sell it".
夫婦二人離開家前往市場。在途中，就在距離市場不遠的地方，他們看到另一名搬運工。他們攔住他詢問那名老搬運工的情況，但不久他們就注意到這名搬運工的手推車里放的正是他們買到的東西！妻子憤怒地問他：“那個老賊在哪里？這是我們的東西，他本應該把這些東西送到我家的。看來你們這些賊想要偷走我們的東西，然后轉手賣掉”。
The porter replied, "Madam, please calm down. That poor old man was sick since last month. He wasn't even able to earn enough money to have one single meal a day. He was on his way to deliver your stuff, but he was hungry, sick, and couldn't gather the strength to go any further in this heat of the noon". He fell down and he handed me $15. His last words were: "I have accepted an advance payment for this delivery, take this money and please deliver it to this address".
搬運工回答說：“女士，請冷靜一點。那個可憐的老人上個月就生病了。他每天都賺不到一頓飯錢。他本來在為你們送貨的路上，但他饑餓難耐，病痛難忍，在這個炎熱的中午，實在沒有力氣繼續了。他倒下了，遞給我15美元。他對我說的最后一句話是：‘我已經收了人家的送貨預付款，請拿著這些錢，幫我把貨送到這個地址'”。
"Madam, He was hungry, he was poor, but he was an honest man. I was just on my way to complete the old man's last delivery at your home", the porter said. Upon hearing this, the husband had tears in his eyes, but his wife felt so ashamed, she did not even have the courage to look her husband in the eye.
“女士，他饑腸轆轆，貧困潦倒，但他是一個誠實的人。我正在完成老人的最后一次送貨，就是送往您家的貨。”搬運工說。聽到這些話，丈夫眼睛里轉起了淚花，而他的妻子感到非常羞愧，甚至沒有勇氣去看她的丈夫一眼。
Moral: Honesty has no class. Respect everyone regardless of their financial and social status. It's always a good deed to give something to the one who deserves.
寓意：誠信與階層無關。我們要尊重每一個人，不管他們是不是有錢人，不管他們具有怎樣的社會地位。讓每個人都能得到他們應得的，永遠一件值得稱道的事情。