A king had three sons whom he loved equally1 well， and he did not know which of them to appoint2 as king following his own death.
When the time came for him to die he called them to his bed and said， Dear children， I have thought of something that I will reveal3 to you. The one of you is the laziest shall become king after me.
The oldest one said， Father， then the kingdom belongs to me， for I am so lazy that whenever I lie down to sleep， and a drop falls into my eyes， I will not even close them so that I can fall asleep.
The second one said， Father， the kingdom belongs to me， for I am so lazy that when I am sitting by the fire warming myself， I would rather let my heels4 burn up than to pull my legs back.
The third one said， Father， the kingdom is mine， for I am so lazy that if I were going to be hanged and already had the rope around my neck， and someone put into my hand a sharp knife with which to cut the rope， I would let myself be hanged rather than to lift my hand up to the rope.
When the father heard this he said， You have taken it the farthest and shall be king.
在一个遥远的地方，有一个国王，他有三个儿子，对每个儿子他都很喜欢，他不了解自己死后应该把王位传给他们三个中的哪一个。所以，当他快要死的时候，就把他们叫到身边说：亲爱的孩子们，在我死后，你们三个中哪个最懒，哪个就继承我的王位。老大说：既然如此，这王位就是我的，由于我是最懒的儿子，当我躺下睡觉时，有任何东西落到我的双眼里，我也懒得去擦掉，即便不可以把双眼闭上，我仍然会继续睡觉。二儿子说：父亲，王位应该传给我，由于我是最懒的儿子。当我坐在火边取暖的时候，就是火燃到我的脚趾，我也懒得把腿收回来。第三个儿子说：父亲，这王位是我的，由于我是你最懒的儿子，假如我就要被吊起来，绳子已经套在了脖子上，有人把一把锋利的小刀塞在我手里，要我切断绳子，我宁可被吊起来也懒得抬起手把绳子割断。爸爸听到这里说道：你是比较合适的人选，你应该继承王位。
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