His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the child from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scottish farmer's terrible surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
“I want to repay you,” said the nobleman. “You saved my son's life.”
“No, I can't accept payment for what I did,” the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
“Is that your son?” the nobleman asked. “Yes,” the farmer replied proudly.
“I'll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the child is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of.”
And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia.
What saved him? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.
His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.
【日积月累】
-bog n. 沼泽
-mire vt. 使……困境
-muck n. 淤泥
-fancy adj. 高档的
-elegantly adv. 优雅地
-hovel n. 茅舍
-pneumonia n.肺炎
【参考译文】
他叫弗莱明，是一个贫穷的苏格兰农民。一天，当他正为家人的生计忙碌时，他听到附近沼泽传来求救声。他丢下工具就向那个沼泽跑去。在沼泽里，一个吓坏的了男孩陷入了齐腰深的黑色淤泥中，男孩尖叫着，并不断挣扎着试图想要把自己从沼泽中弄出来。农民弗莱明把孩子救了出来，否则沼泽将慢慢地、残忍地把孩子淹死。
第二天，一辆高档马车停在了这个苏格兰农民糟糕的住处。一位穿着十分优雅的贵族从马车上走下来，并自称是农民弗莱明挽救的孩子的父亲。
“我要报答你，”贵族说，“你救了我儿子的性命。”
“不，我不能因为自己做的那点事而接受你的报答。”这个苏格兰农民回答道，他挥挥手拒绝了对方的好意。这时，农民的儿子从一家人居住的茅屋中走了出来。
“那是你的儿子吗？”贵族问道。“是的。”农民骄傲地回答。
“我来和你做笔交易。我把你儿子带走，让他接受良好的教育。如果这个孩子跟他父亲一样，那么他会成长为让你自豪的人。”
于是贵族带走了那个孩子。后来，农民弗莱明的儿子从伦敦圣玛丽医药学院毕业，并成为了世界闻名的亚历山大·弗莱明爵士，他就是盘尼西林（青霉素）的发现者。
又是数年以后，贵族的儿子饱受肺炎的折磨。
是什么救了他？是盘尼西林。
那个贵族是谁？兰朵夫·丘吉尔勋爵。
他的儿子又是谁？温斯顿·丘吉尔勋爵。
【人生启迪】
看起来，真是环环相扣啊，若是农民没有救那个陷入沼泽的孩子，若是孩子的父亲没有想要报答农民，若是农民没有拒绝别人的报答，若是农民没有让那个人把孩子带走并接受良好的教育，那么一切都将是完全不同的结果。虽然我们不能说世事都是定数，但善有善报总是不错的。正因为他们都是正直善良的人，彼此才都有了这么美好的结局。所以，让我们都做个正直而善良的人吧。