Long ago, there were a mother and a son living in a house. She worked hard everyday, but they were always poor.
很久以前(Long ago)，有一个妈妈和她的儿子住在一座房子里。她每天十分努力地(hard)工作，但他们依然很穷(poor)。
One day, her son stole his friend's bag. "Mom, what do you think of this bag?" His mother praisedher son rather than scolding him. "It looks great!"
有一天(One day)，儿子偷(steal)了他朋友的书包，“妈妈，你觉得这个书包怎么样(think of)？”他的妈妈没有责骂(scold)他，反而表扬(praise)了他，“这个书包看起来不错！”
The next time, he stole an overcoat. She praised him again when he stole it.
第二次，儿子偷了一个外套，妈妈又一次表扬了他。
A few years later, he grew up to be a young man. He stole jewelry and brought them to his mother. "How beautiful!" This time, she did not scold her son again.
几年之后，儿子长大了。他偷了珠宝并把这些带给他的妈妈。“好漂亮啊！”，这一次妈妈又没有责骂她的儿子。
Then, because he was elated by his mother, he started to steal more expensive things. One day, the police caught him. Before putting him in jail(监狱), he begged the police to meet his mother. They took him to his mother.
后来，因为他母亲的鼓励(elated)，他开始偷更贵(expensive)的东西。直到有一天，警察逮捕了他。在被送进监狱之前，他请求(beg)警察让他见见他的母亲，警察同意了。
As soon as he saw his mother, he bit her earlobe. "Ouch! What's the matter with you?" She finally scolded him. Her son answered. "If you had given me a scolding like that when I stole the first bag, I could not have become a thief."
儿子一见到他的妈妈，就咬了他妈妈的耳垂一口。“哎哟！你到底怎么了！”妈妈终于开始责骂他。“如果我第一次偷东西的时候你就这样责骂我，我就不会变成一个小偷(thief)了”。
She collapsed(崩溃) as she looked at her son heading to prison. "If I only could turn back time, I would scold him severely(严厉地)." She regretted that she always praised him, whatever he did.
看着她的儿子走向监狱，这个母亲终于崩溃了。“如果时光能够倒流，我一定严厉地管教”。她十分后悔无论儿子做了什么(whatever)，她总是表扬他。
