When the Wind Blows

Years ago a farmer owned the land along the Atlantic seacoast. He often advertised for hired hands. However， most people were unwilling to work on farms along the Atlantic. They were afraid of the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic， wreaking havoc （破壞） on buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed people for the job， he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally， a short， thin man， well past middle age， approached the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand？” the farmer asked him.

“Well， I can sleep when the wind blows，” answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer， the farmer， desperate（急切的） for help， hired him. The little man worked well around the farm， busy from dawn to dusk， and the farmer felt satisfied with his work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed， the farmer grabbed a lantern （燈籠） and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled， “Get up！ A storm is coming！ Tie things down before they are blown away！”

The little man rolled over in bed and said calmly， “No， sir. I told you. I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Enraged （激怒） by this response， the farmer was tempted to fire him at once. Instead， he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement， he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins （防水油布）. The cows were in the barn， the chickens were in the coops， and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could be blown away.

The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant， so he returned to his bed to sleep while the wind blew.

多年前，一個農場主在大西洋沿岸擁有一塊土地，他經常貼廣告雇傭人手。可是，很多人都不愿意在大西洋岸邊的農場里干活，他們害怕大西洋上空劇烈的風暴會破壞房屋和莊稼。所以當這個農場主招工面試時，收到的是一連串堅定的拒絕。

最后，有一個個頭不高、略顯瘦弱、已過中年的男人來到農場主面前。“你是個干農活的好手嗎？”農場主問他。

“是的，起風的時候我可以睡覺，”那個矮個男人回答道。

盡管農場主對他的回答有點迷惑，可苦于沒有幫手，于是便雇傭了他。那個矮個男人在農場干活很賣力，從天亮一直忙到天黑，因此農場主對他的工作很滿意。

一天晚上，海面上刮起了咆哮的大風，農場主從床上跳了起來，抓起燈籠就向旁邊雇工住的地方沖去。他晃著那個矮個男人并喊道：“起來！暴風雨就要來了！快把東西系好，別刮跑了！”

那個矮個男人在床上翻了一下身，平靜地說道：“不，先生，我告訴過你，刮風的時候我可以睡覺。”

農場主被他的回答激怒了，氣得真想立即把他解雇。不過，他還是趕緊跑出去準備應付暴風雨。然而，令他驚奇的是，他發現所有的干草垛已經蓋好了防水油布，牛在牲口棚里面，小雞在雞籠里，門閂好了，百葉窗也關緊了，一切都栓牢了，什么東西都刮不走了。

此刻，農場主才明白了雇工那句話的意思，于是，風刮起來的時候，他也回自己的床上睡覺了。