About twenty years ago there lived a singular gentleman in the Old Hall among the elm trees. He was about three-score years of age, very rich, and somewhat odd in many of his habits, but for generosity and benevolence he had no equal.

No poor cottager stood in need of comforts, which he was not ready to supply;no sick man or woman languished for want of his assistance; and not even a beggar, unless a known impostor, went empty-handed from the Hall. Like the village pastor described in Goldsmith's poem of "The Deserted Village,"

"His house was known to all the vagrant train;

He chid their wand'rings, but relieved their pain;

The long-remembered beggar was his guest,

Whose beard descending swept his aged breast."

Now it happened that the old gentleman wanted a boy to wait upon him at table, and to attend him in different ways, for he was very fond of young people. But much as he liked the society of the young, he had a great aversion to that curiosity in which many young people are apt to indulge. He used to say, "The boy who will peep into a drawer will be tempted to take something out of it; and he who will steal a penny in his youth will steal a pound in his manhood."

No sooner was it known that the old gentleman was in want of a boy than twenty applications were made for the situation; but he determined not to engage anyone until he had in some way ascertained that he did not possess a curious, prying disposition.

On Monday morning seven lads, dressed in their Sunday clothes, with bright and happy faces, made their appearance at the Hall, each of them desiring to obtain the situation. Now the old gentleman, being of a singular disposition, had prepared a room in such a way that he might easily know if any of the young people who applied were given to meddle unnecessarily with things around them, or to peep into cupboards and drawers. He took care that the lads who were then at Elm Tree Hall should be shown into this room one after another.

And first, Charles Brown was sent into the room, and told that he would have to wait a little. So Charles sat down on a chair near the door. For some time he was very quiet, and looked about him; but there seemed to be so many curious things in the room that at last he got up to peep at them.

On the table was placed a dish cover, and Charles wanted sadly to know what was under it, but he felt afraid of lifting it up. Bad habits are strong things; and, as Charles was of a curious disposition, he could not withstand the temptation of taking one peep. So he lifted up the cover.

This turned out to be a sad affair; for under the dish cover was a heap of very light feathers; part of the feathers, drawn up by a current of air, flew about the room, and Charles, in his fright, putting the cover down hastily, puffed the rest of them off the table.

What was to be done? Charles began to pick up the feathers one by one; but the old gentleman, who was in an adjoining room, hearing a scuffle, and guessing the cause of it, entered the room, to the consternation of Charles Brown, who was very soon dismissed as a boy who had not principle enough to resist even a slight temptation.

When the room was once more arranged, Henry Wilkins was placed there until such time as he should be sent for. No sooner was he left to himself than his attention was attracted by a plate of fine, ripe cherries. Now Henry was uncommonly fond of cherries, and he thought it would be impossible to miss one cherry among so many. He looked and longed, and longed and looked, for some time, and just as he had got off his seat to take one, he heard, as he thought, a foot coming to the door; but no, it was a false alarm.

Taking fresh courage, he went cautiously and took a very fine cherry, for he was determined to take but one, and put it into his mouth. It was excellent; and then he persuaded himself that he ran no risk in taking another; this he did, and hastily popped it into his mouth.

Now, the old gentleman had placed a few artificial cherries at the top of the others, filled with Cayenne pepper; one of these Henry had unfortunately taken, and it made his month smart and burn most intolerably. The old gentleman heard him coughing, and knew very well what was the matter. The boy that would take what did not belong to him, if no more than a cherry, was not the boy for him. Henry Wilkins was sent about his business without delay, with his mouth almost as hot as if he had put a burning coal in to it.

Rufus Wilson was next introduced into the room and left to himself; but he had not been there ten minutes before he began to move from one place to another. He was of a bold, resolute temper, but not overburdened with principle; for if he could have opened every cupboard, closet, and drawer in the house, without being found out, he would have done it directly.

Having looked around the room, he noticed a drawer to the table, and made up his mind to peep therein. But no sooner did he lay hold of the drawer knob than he set a large bell ringing, which was concealed under the table. The old gentleman immediately answered the summons, and entered the room.

Rufus was so startled by the sudden ringing of the bell, that all his impudence could not support him. He looked as though anyone might knock him down with a feather. The old gentleman asked him if he had rung the bell because he wanted anything. Rufus was much confused, and stammered, and tried to excuse himself, but all to no purpose, for it did not prevent him from being ordered off the premises.

George Jones was then shown into the room by an old steward; and being of a cautious disposition, he touched nothing, but only looked at the things about him. At last he saw that a closet door was a little open, and, thinking it would be impossible for anyone to know that he had opened it a little more, he very cautiously opened it an inch farther, looking down at the bottom of the door, that it might not catch against anything and make a noise.

Now had he looked at the top, instead of the bottom, it might have been better for him; for to the top of the door was fastened a plug, which filled up the hole of a small barrel of shot. He ventured to open the door another inch, and then another, till, the plug being pulled out of the barrel, the leaden shot began to pour out at a strange rate. At the bottom of the closet was placed a tin pan, and the shot falling upon this pan made such a clatter that George was frightened half out of his senses.

The old gentleman soon came into the room to inquire what was the matter, and there he found George nearly as pale as a sheet. George was soon dismissed.

It now came the turn of Albert Jenkins to be put into the room. The other boys had been sent to their homes by different ways, and no one knew what the experience of the other had been in the room of trial.

On the table stood a small round box, with a screw top to it, and Albert, thinking it contained something curious, could not be easy without unscrewing the top; but no sooner did he do this than out bounced an artificial snake, full a yard long, and fell upon his arm. He started back, and uttered a scream which brought the old gentleman to his elbow. There stood Albert, with the bottom of the box in one hand, the top in the other, and the snake on the floor.

"Come, come," said the old gentleman, "one snake is quite enough to have in the house at a time; therefore, the sooner you are gone the better." With that he dismissed him, without waiting a moment for his reply.

William Smith next entered the room, and being left alone soon began to amuse himself in looking at the curiosities around him. William was not only curious and prying, but dishonest, too, and observing that the key was left in the drawer of a bookcase, he stepped on tiptoe in that direction. The key had a wire fastened to it, which communicated with an electrical machine, and William received such a shock as he was not likely to forget. No sooner did he sufficiently recover himself to walk, than he was told to leave the house, and let other people lock and unlock their own drawers.

The other boy was Harry Gordon, and though he was left in the room full twenty minutes, he never during that time stirred from his chair. Harry had eyes in his head as well as the others, but he had more integrity in his heart; neither the dish cover, the cherries, the drawer knob, the closet door, the round box, nor the key tempted him to rise from his feet; and the consequence was that, in half an hour after, he was engaged in the service of the old gentleman at Elm Tree Hall. He followed his good old master to his grave, and received a large legacy for his upright conduct in his service.

20多年前，有一位脾氣古怪的老紳士住在有很多榆樹環(huán)繞的老禮堂里。他大約60多歲，是個(gè)富翁，性格孤僻古怪，但他的慷慨和仁愛卻無人能及。

對(duì)于需要安慰的窮苦佃農(nóng)，對(duì)于需要他幫助的病人，甚至對(duì)乞丐，當(dāng)然不包括那些冒名頂替的人，他總是慷慨解囊，沒有人空著手離開他的大廳，就像村里的牧師在一首名為《被遺棄的村莊》里描述的：

所有流浪的隊(duì)伍都知道他的住處，

他斥責(zé)他們的流浪，卻排解他們的痛苦；

他總是記得他招待過的那位乞丐，

乞丐的胡須飄揚(yáng)在他蒼老的胸前。

現(xiàn)在，這位老紳士想要找一個(gè)男孩服侍他的飲食起居，幫助他做些事情，因?yàn)樗浅Ｏ矚g年輕人。雖然他對(duì)年輕人的世界很感興趣，可是他非常厭惡很多年輕人的好奇心。他經(jīng)常說：“向抽屜里偷看的孩子會(huì)試圖從里面取出點(diǎn)東西，而在年輕時(shí)就偷竊過一分錢的人，長大后總有一天會(huì)偷竊一元錢。”

人們得知老紳士要找男孩的消息后，都想得到這個(gè)職位，很快老紳士就收到20多封求職信。但是老紳士決心一定要找到一位沒有好奇心、不愛管閑事兒的人。

星期一早晨，七個(gè)身著盛裝、打扮光亮的小伙子出現(xiàn)在大廳，每個(gè)人都暗暗決心得到這份工作。因?yàn)槔霞澥康钠夤殴郑麥?zhǔn)備了一個(gè)房間，這樣就可以輕易發(fā)現(xiàn)哪個(gè)年輕人喜歡管閑事，或喜歡往壁櫥或抽屜里偷看。他做了安排，要榆樹大廳里的這些小伙子逐個(gè)進(jìn)入這個(gè)房間。

首先，查爾斯·布朗被叫到房間里，老紳士請(qǐng)他在這里等一等。于是查爾斯在門旁的一個(gè)椅子上坐下。開始的一段時(shí)間他非常安靜，坐在椅子上向四周看著。但是他發(fā)現(xiàn)房間里有很多非常稀罕的東西，他終于站了起來，偷偷窺探。

桌子上擺放著一個(gè)罩子，查爾斯非常想知道下面是什么，但是他又不敢掀起罩子。壞習(xí)慣對(duì)人的影響是非常大的，而查爾斯的性格又是非常好奇的，他怎么也忍不住想看個(gè)究竟，于是他掀起了罩子。

結(jié)果真是令人沮喪，罩子下面是一堆非常輕的羽毛。有些羽毛被流動(dòng)的空氣帶起來，飛到房間里。查爾斯非常害怕，匆匆把罩子放下，可這下桌子上其余的羽毛也被吹到了地上。

這可怎么辦？查爾斯一根一根地把羽毛撿起來。老紳士一直待在隔壁的房間，他聽到這里的動(dòng)靜，猜到發(fā)生了什么事情，就走進(jìn)房間，正好看到查爾斯·布朗慌亂的樣子。他很快就把查爾斯打發(fā)走了，因?yàn)樗_定查爾斯連最小的誘惑都抵制不了。

老紳士又重新布置了房間，然后叫進(jìn)亨利·威爾金斯。老紳士剛剛離開房間，他的目光就被一盤誘人的、熟透的櫻桃吸引了。其實(shí)，亨利特別愛吃櫻桃，而且他想，這里有這么多櫻桃，就是吃掉一個(gè)，老紳士也不會(huì)發(fā)覺。他看看想想，想想看看，就在他從椅子上站起來想拿一個(gè)的時(shí)候，他似乎聽到門口有腳步聲。不過還好，是他聽錯(cuò)了。

亨利又重新鼓足勇氣，他小心翼翼地站起來，拿起一個(gè)特別好的櫻桃放進(jìn)嘴里，他當(dāng)時(shí)下定決心就只拿一個(gè)。太好吃了！他想，再吃一個(gè)也沒關(guān)系。于是他就又拿起了了一個(gè)，匆匆塞進(jìn)嘴里。其實(shí)，老紳士在櫻桃中間放了幾個(gè)假櫻桃，假櫻桃里全是辣椒。不幸的是，亨利湊巧拿了一個(gè)假櫻桃，他的嘴立刻刺痛起來，想著了火一樣。老紳士聽到他在咳嗽，明白了怎么回事。這個(gè)孩子不僅會(huì)拿櫻桃，還會(huì)拿別的不屬于他的東西，這個(gè)孩子老紳士不喜歡。亨利·威爾金斯也被打發(fā)走了，他的嘴熱辣辣的，就好像他剛剛向里面投進(jìn)一顆煤炭。

接下來，魯弗斯·威爾森被叫了進(jìn)來，自己待在房間里。但是他在里面待了不到10分鐘，就開始摸摸這、碰碰那。他的脾氣魯莽、倔強(qiáng)，不受原則的制約，如果他能夠打開房間里的每個(gè)壁櫥、儲(chǔ)藏室和抽屜，而不被人發(fā)現(xiàn)的話，他會(huì)毫不猶豫地這么去做。

他看了看四周，發(fā)現(xiàn)桌子上的一個(gè)抽屜，決心往里面窺探一下。但是他剛剛把手放在抽屜把手上，一陣響亮的鈴聲就響起。原來桌子下面藏著一個(gè)電鈴。老紳士聽到鈴聲，趕忙走進(jìn)房間。

魯弗斯被突然的鈴聲嚇了一跳，雖然他的臉皮很厚，可是這時(shí)也開始覺得羞愧，他看上去脆弱不堪。老紳士問他，他打鈴是不是因?yàn)樗胍裁礀|西，魯弗斯非常困惑，結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地試圖道歉，但是這一點(diǎn)用也沒有，他被從候選名單上剔除了出去。

然后，喬治·瓊斯被一名老管家領(lǐng)到房間里。他的性格比較謹(jǐn)慎，什么也沒有碰，只是向四下里看著。最后，他發(fā)現(xiàn)一扇壁櫥的門有些虛掩著。他想，如果他再把門打開一些，肯定不會(huì)有人發(fā)現(xiàn)。于是他看著門的下方，以免碰到什么東西引起響動(dòng)，小心地把門打開了一英寸。如果他看上面，而不是看下面，那就好了。因?yàn)殚T上系著一個(gè)小塞子，塞子堵住了一個(gè)小桶，小桶里盛滿小鉛球。他冒險(xiǎn)又將門打開了一英寸，又一英寸，直到塞子被拽了出來，小鉛球蹦了出來。壁櫥的底部放著一個(gè)錫盤，小鉛球落在錫盤上，發(fā)出很大的響聲，喬治嚇得魂飛魄散。

老紳士很快出現(xiàn)，看看是怎么回事。他看到喬治的臉像紙一樣蒼白，就把他打發(fā)走了。

現(xiàn)在輪到阿爾伯特·楊金斯了。其他的男孩被各自送回家，沒人知道這些人在房間中的經(jīng)歷。

桌子上有一個(gè)小圓盒子，盒子有個(gè)旋蓋。阿爾伯特?cái)喽ɡ锩娴臇|西很奇怪，他坐立不安，非常想擰開盒蓋。但是他剛剛打開，盒子里就跳出一條假蛇，它足有一碼長，纏繞在他的胳膊上。他往后退去，尖叫了一聲。叫聲引來了老紳士，他看到阿爾伯特一手拿著盒子，一手拿著蓋子，蛇掉在地板上。

“起來，起來，”老紳士說，“屋里有一條蛇就夠了，你還是快出去吧。”他就這樣打發(fā)了這個(gè)男孩，連任何解釋都沒有聽。

接下來，威廉·史密斯走進(jìn)了房間，老紳士離開房間以后，他就開始好奇地左看右看。威廉不僅好奇、愛管閑事，還不誠實(shí)。他發(fā)現(xiàn)書柜的抽屜上還掛著鑰匙，就掂著腳尖走過去。鑰匙上系著一段電線，電線與一臺(tái)電機(jī)相連，威廉被狠狠地?fù)糁校@下可夠他受的。他剛剛恢復(fù)神志可以行走，老紳士就告訴他，以后最好還是讓抽屜的主人親自開鎖或上鎖，并讓他離開了房間。

另一個(gè)男孩叫哈里·戈登。他獨(dú)自在房間里待了足足有20分鐘，但都沒有在椅子上動(dòng)一動(dòng)。哈里的頭上也有眼睛，但是他的心靈正直。罩子、櫻桃、抽屜把手、壁櫥門、圓盒子或鑰匙都沒能引誘他離開座位。結(jié)果，半個(gè)小時(shí)后，他被許可在榆樹大廳為老紳土服務(wù)。他一直服侍老紳士，直到他離開人世，并因?yàn)樗钡姆?wù)從老紳士那里得到一大筆遺產(chǎn)。