你将觉得接下来发生的事很难置信。
‘Sir，’I said，‘I’d like to give you something to thank you for your kindness to me since I arrived at the palace．Three or four hundred years ago，we Europeans discovered how to make a special powder．When you set fire to it，it burns and ex-plodes immediately，with a noise louder than thunder．You can use it to shoot heavy balls of metal from large guns．It can destroy the largest ships，it can kill a whole army，it can cut men's bodies in half，it can destroy the strongest walls．It's called gunpowder，and it's easy and cheap to make．To show you how grateful I am to you，I'm offering to explain how to make it-then you will be able to destroy all your enemies！’
“先生，”我说，“我想送给你一样东西以表示感谢自我从来到宫里后你对我的厚爱。三四百年前，我们欧洲人发明了怎样制造一种特别的粉末。当你点燃它时，它立即燃烧爆炸，声音比打雷还响，你可以用它来把很沉的金属弹丸从很大的枪中射出，它可以摧毁最大的轮船，消灭整个军队，把人的身躯切成两半，摧毁最坚固的墙壁。它叫火药，制作起来简单廉价。为了表达我是多么的感激你，我自愿给你解释怎么制造它——然后你就有能力消灭你的所有敌人！”
I was very surprised by the King's reply．
我对国王的回答感到非常吃惊。
‘No！’he cried in horror．‘Don't tell me！I don't want to know how to murder people like that．I would rather give half my country away than know the secret of this powder．How can a tiny creature like you have such inhuman，cruel ideas？Never speak to me of this again！’
“不！”他惊恐地叫道，“不要告诉我！我不想知道怎样去谋杀人。我宁愿割出一半国土也不想知道这种粉末的秘密。你们这样渺小的生物怎么可以有如此不人道、残酷的想法？决不要再跟我提这事！”
How strange that such an excellent king should not take the chance I was offering him！No European king would hesitate for a moment But he had other strange ideas．He believed，very simply，that every problem can be solved by honest，sen-sible people，and that the political life of a country must have no secrets and must be open for all to see and understand．Of course，we know that this is impossible，so perhaps his opinion of us is not worth considering．
多么奇怪！如此优秀的国王，竟然不抓住我提供给他的机会！任何一个欧洲国王绝不会有一丝犹豫。可是他还有其他怪念头。他相信，每个问题都可以被诚实、通情理的人解决，一个国家的政治生活必须没有秘密，必须公开给世人看和理解。当然，我们知道这是不可能的，所以他的看法也许对我们来说不值得考虑。

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