In a village dwelt a poor old woman, who had gathered together a dish of beans and wanted to cook them. —
在一个村庄里住着一个贫穷的老妇人，她拿了一碗豆子并想煮它们。 —

So she made a fire on her hearth, and that it might burn the quicker, she lighted it with a handful of straw. —
她在壁炉上生了一堆火，并且为了让火烧得更快，她用一把稻草点燃了它。 —

When she was emptying the beans into the pan, one dropped without her observing it, and lay on the ground beside a straw, and soon afterwards a burning coal from the fire leapt down to the two. —
当她将豆子倒进平底锅时，一颗豆子在她没有注意到的情况下掉在了地上，就躺在了一根稻草旁边，不久之后从火中跳出来的一颗燃烧的炭朝它们俩飞落下来。 —

Then the straw began and said: ‘Dear friends, from whence do you come here? —
然后，稻草开口说：“亲爱的朋友们，你们从哪里来？ —

’ The coal replied: —
”那颗炭回答道： —

‘I fortunately sprang out of the fire, and if I had not escaped by sheer force, my death would have been certain, –I should have been burnt to ashes. —
“我幸运地从火中跳出来，如果不是凭着纯粹的力量逃脱，我的死就注定了——我将会被烧成灰烬。” —

’ The bean said: ‘I too have escaped with a whole skin, but if the old woman had got me into the pan, I should have been made into broth without any mercy, like my comrades. —
豆子说：“我也成功地保住了一身皮，但如果老妇人把我放进锅里，我就会像我的伙伴们一样被无情地煮成汤。” —

’ ‘And would a better fate have fallen to my lot? —
“我会有更好的命运吗？ —

’ said the straw. —
”稻草问道。 —

‘The old woman has destroyed all my brethren in fire and smoke; —
“老妇人已经把我的兄弟们都烧成了火和烟。” —

she seized sixty of them at once, and took their lives. —
她一次抓住了六十个，夺取了他们的生命。 —

I luckily slipped through her fingers.’
我幸运地从她的手指间溜走了。

‘But what are we to do now?’ said the coal.
‘但是现在我们该怎么办呢？’ 煤问道。

‘I think,’ answered the bean, ‘that as we have so fortunately escaped death, we should keep together like good companions, and lest a new mischance should overtake us here, we should go away together, and repair to a foreign country.’
‘我认为，’豆子回答道，‘由于我们幸运地避过了死亡，我们应该像好朋友一样团结在一起，以防再次遭受不幸，我们应该一起去外国修行。’

The proposition pleased the two others, and they set out on their way together. —
这个提议让其他两个都很满意，他们一起出发了。 —

Soon, however, they came to a little brook, and as there was no bridge or foot-plank, they did not know how they were to get over it. —
然而，他们很快来到了一条小溪，由于没有桥或木板，他们不知道该怎么过去。 —

The straw hit on a good idea, and said: —
稻草想到了一个好办法，说： —

‘I will lay myself straight across, and then you can walk over on me as on a bridge. —
‘我会躺在这里，然后你们可以像在桥上一样踩着我过去。’ —

’ The straw therefore stretched itself from one bank to the other, and the coal, who was of an impetuous disposition, tripped quite boldly on to the newly-built bridge. —
稻草于是从一边伸展到另一边，而性格冲动的煤斗胆地踩在新建的桥上过去。 —

But when she had reached the middle, and heard the water rushing beneath her, she was after all, afraid, and stood still, and ventured no farther. —
然而，当她走到中间，听见水声时，她终究还是害怕了，停下脚步，再也不敢前进了。 —

The straw, however, began to burn, broke in two pieces, and fell into the stream. —
然而，稻草开始燃烧，断成两段，掉入水中。 —

The coal slipped after her, hissed when she got into the water, and breathed her last. —
炭也跟着她滑了下去，一落水就嘶嘶作响，然后永远沉默了。 —

The bean, who had prudently stayed behind on the shore, could not but laugh at the event, was unable to stop, and laughed so heartily that she burst. —
而留在岸上谨慎地一直没有动的豆子，忍不住对这一幕笑个不停，无法停下来，笑得连自己都炸开了。 —

It would have been all over with her, likewise, if, by good fortune, a tailor who was travelling in search of work, had not sat down to rest by the brook. —
要不是侥幸间一个正在找工作的裁缝在溪流边歇息，她一定就完蛋了。 —

As he had a compassionate heart he pulled out his needle and thread, and sewed her together. —
由于他有一颗有爱心的心，他拿出了针线，把她缝好了。 —

The bean thanked him most prettily, but as the tailor used black thread, all beans since then have a black seam.
豆子非常感谢他，但由于裁缝用的是黑线，自那以后，所有的豆子都有了黑色的缝线。