Lesson 45

The whole village soon learnt that a large sum of money had been lost.
整个村庄很快得知，有一大笔钱丢了。
Sam Benton, the local butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the post office.
当地屠夫萨姆·本顿在把积蓄送往邮局的途中丢了他的钱包。
Sam was sure that the wallet must have been found by one of the villagers, but it was not returned to him.
萨姆确信那个钱包一定已经被其中一个村民发现了，但并没有归还给他。
Three months passed, and then one morning, Sam found his wallet outside his front door.
三个月过去了，然后在一个早晨，山姆在他的前门外发现了他的钱包。
It had been wrapped up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had lost, together with a note which said: 'A thief, yes, but only 50 per cent a thief!'
它被报纸包裹着，里面装有他丢失的一半钱，还有一张便条，上面写着：“我是个小偷，没错，但只是个50%的小偷！”
Two months later, some more money was sent to Sam with another note: 'Only 25 per cent a thief now!'
两个月后，又有一些钱连同另一张便条一起寄给了萨姆：“现在只是百分之25的贼了！”
In time, all Sam's money was paid back in this way.
最后，萨姆所有的钱都以这种方式被偿还了。
The last note said: 'I am 100 per cent honest now!'
最后的笔记写道：“我现在百分之百诚实了！”