Three short years went by,and a day came when the man sat shivering in a mean garret;and he was gaunt and wan and hollow-eyed,and clothed in rags;and he was gnawing a dry crust and mumbling:"Curse all the world's gifts for mockeries and gilded lies!And miscalled,every one,They are not gifts,but merely lendings.Pleasure.Love,Fame.Riches:they are but temporary disguises for lasting realities Pain,Grief,Shame,Poverty.The fairy said true;in all her store there was but one gift which was precious,only one that was not valueless,How poor and cheap and mean i know those others now to be,Bring it!I am weary.I would rest."
短短的三年又過去了。到了這么一天，這個人蜷縮在一個簡陋的小閣樓里，古瘦如柴，蒼白無力，雙眼深陷，身上裹著碎布衣衫，渾身顫抖不停。他一邊啃著一塊干面包皮，一邊咕噥著：“該死的禮物，都是為了讓我受人嘲笑和欺詐！每一樣都叫錯了！它們都不是禮物，根本只是租借品！快樂，愛情，名聲還有財富－都只不過是長久現實的暫時偽裝－它們其實是永遠的痛苦，悲哀，恥辱和貧窮！那個仙女說的沒錯啊，她所有的東西里只有一樣是珍貴的，只有那么一樣不是毫無價值的。我現在才明白，其它禮物是多么低賤與卑劣！把它帶來吧－那真正寶貴的禮物！我累了，我想休息了。”

The fairy came,bringing again four of the gifts,but Death was wanting.She said:"I gave it to a mother's pet, a little child.It was ignorant,but trusted me,asking me to choose for it.You did not ask me to choose."
仙女出現了，帶著以前的那四件禮物，但惟獨沒有最后那一件——死亡。她說道：“我把它給了一位母親的寵兒子：一個小孩子。他什么也不懂，但他相信我，讓我來幫他挑選。而你并沒有這么做。”

"Oh,miserable me!What is left for me ?"
“啊，我多可悲啊！那還剩下什么給我呢？”

"What not even you have deserved: the wantoninsult of Old Age."
“一件你也不配得到的東西：接受年老體衰的折磨。”