Once upon a time there lived twofriends Richard and George. Both werevery close to one another. One dayRichard saw a delicious chocolate bar ina shop.

He wanted it very much. The verythought of it made his mouth water. Ashe was dreaming about the chocolate，came his close friend George. Richard，that day had a new pencil. George sawthat pencil and liked it very much. Heasked Richard the cost of it.

It was only two dollars， but he lied1that it was of very high quality2 and hadcost him five dollars. George liked thepencil so much that he spent all hissavings3 and paid Richard.George got thepencil and Richardspent that money onthe chocolate bar.

從前，有兩個朋友理查德和喬治，兩人的關(guān)系很好。一天，理查德在商店里看到一塊美味的巧克力棒。

他非常想要它。一想到它，他就流口水。當他夢見巧克力棒時，他的好朋友喬治來了。理查德那天得到了一支新鉛筆。喬治看到了那支鉛筆，非常喜歡它。他問理查德鉛筆的價格。

這只鉛筆兩美元，但他謊稱它質(zhì)量很好，花了他五美元。喬治非常喜歡這支鉛筆，于是他花光了自己存的錢，付給了理查德。喬治得到了鉛筆，理查德把錢花在了巧克力棒上。

As days passed by4， George begandoing very well in his studies. He attributed5 this to the pencil， which hisdear friend Richard was kind enough tosell. But Richard’s performance6 atschool started falling7. He could not seehis dear friend in the eye.

Every time George spoke of their friendship8， Richard turned his faceaway as this made him remember thepencil. His health too turned bad and hewas forced9 to stay away from schoolmany days.

He soon found that he could nothold back the truth about the pencilfrom George. It was George’s birthday.He bought a gift for George and gave itto him at the party. Richard stayedaround till the last guest had left. Hewent to George and told him the truth.He begged10 him for forgiveness11.

George said that the pencil hadbrought him a lot of luck though he haspaid three dollars more than its price，and asked him not to feel bad about it.Richard was relieved12.

日子一天天過去，喬治開始在學(xué)習(xí)上取得很好的成績。他把這歸功于親愛的朋友理查德好心賣給他的鉛筆。但是理查德在學(xué)校的表現(xiàn)開始下滑。他無法正視他親愛的朋友了。

每次喬治談到他們的友誼時，理查德都把臉轉(zhuǎn)開，因為這讓他想起了那支鉛筆。他的健康也出了問題，被迫曠課多日。

很快他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己無法向喬治隱瞞鉛筆的真相。那天是喬治的生日，他給喬治買了一份禮物，并在聚會上送給了他。理查德一直逗留到最后一個客人離開。然后他去找喬治，把真相告訴他了，并請求他的原諒。

喬治說那支鉛筆給他帶來了很多好運，盡管他為此多付了3 美元，并讓理查德不要為此而不開心。理查德心里松了一大口氣。

He went home with the return giftgiven to him by George. Now he felthow light and happy he was after hisconfession13. He had a good sleep thatnight. He got up early and it seemedlike the old times when he used to lookforward to meeting George.

At the door， he saw the return giftof Richard and opened it. It was a boxfull of chocolates！ The same chocolatefor which he had lied to his dear friend！He tasted one and it was even betternow！ He carried it to school to share14 itwith George and other friends.

There was a big change inRichard from that day. He starteddoing well in studies and he stayedhealthy. And he could be with Georgeas before， a true friend.

他帶著喬治送他的回禮回家了。在坦白之后，現(xiàn)在他感到自己非常輕松和愉快。那天晚上他睡得很好。他起得很早，仿佛回到了過去，那時他總是盼望著見到喬治。

在門口，他看到了理查德的回禮并打開了它。那是一滿盒的巧克力！和他不惜對親愛的朋友撒謊也要得到的那塊巧克力一樣！他嘗了一個，現(xiàn)在的味道更好了！他把禮物帶到學(xué)校與喬治還有其他朋友分享。

從那天起，理查德發(fā)生了很大的變化。他開始在學(xué)習(xí)上表現(xiàn)很好，并保持身體健康。他可以像以前一樣和喬治在一起，做真正的朋友。

（英語原文選自：pitara.com）