Once there was a scarecrow who stood all summer long in Farmer Smith's cornfield and waved his arms in the wind to scare away the crows2. He did a good job of it, too. He kept those great, black birds from swooping down out of the sky and eating the corn before it could grow.3

But he was not very comfortable and not at all happy. Since he was tied to a fence post he could never lie down at night, nor go into the house to cool himself in the heat of the day.4 Neither could he look up and watch the white clouds sailing through the sky, for his slouch hat was pulled too far down on his forehead.5
Also he was very lonely standing by himself in the wide outdoors with no one to talk to but the birds that he shooed away and occasionally a cottontail rabbit that took a short-cut through the field.6

Every day he watched the farmer and his hired man working in the fields. He saw them stride to and fro as they pleased, sowing or reaping.7 They did not have to stand still because they were not tied to posts. They laughed and called to each other. They were free to come and go as they pleased.

"How I should like to be a real man instead of a make-believe8 one!" thought the poor scarecrow. "How I should like to be free! Then I should give up this lonely life and go about making friends."

Just then a tramp dressed in tattered clothes came by. He sat down to rest on a stile not far from the scarecrow.9

"Oh, Mr. Vagabond10!" cried the scarecrow. "You're just the one I want to see! I want to ask a question if I may."

"Ask what you like," said the tramp, "but I can't promise to give you the answer."

"I want to know what makes a man," said the scarecrow. "I'm tired of being just an old coat stuffed with straw.11 I want to be real and friendly and feel like the men that work in the field."

"Ah," sighed the tramp, "there is only one thing that can make you a man, and that is money jingling in your pockets.12"

"How do I get money to jingle in my pocket?" asked the scarecrow.

"That is something I can't tell you," signed the tramp. "I don't know how to get it myself, not without working for it."

"You mean you have no money in your own pockets?" asked the scarecrow.

The tramp shook his head.

"But surely you are a man," said the scarecrow in surprise.

"No, I am only half a man." And the tramp walked away hanging his head in shame.13

"How can I get money in my pockets?" wondered the scarecrow. "I have worked hard, but still I have no money."

Just then the farmer's boy came by. The scarecrow tried to speak to him, but the boy was muttering14 so that he did not hear. He was saying over and over to himself, "Where shall I hide it? Where shall I hide it? I have the money for our school picnic. I want to go down to the stream to swim and I want to hide the money where no one could possibly find it."

Then he looked up and seeing the scarecrow, said, "I know. I'll hide it in your pockets, old fellow!" So he thrust a handful of money into the scarecrow's pockets and ran toward the stream where the boys were calling.15

The scarecrow had not heard all the boy said because he had not talked very loud, but the scarecrow thought he was being paid for his many days of labor in the field.

He jingled the money happily. "Now I am a man," he cried, and he felt his back stiffen so that he could climb down from the fence post.16

Off he went toward the town singing a happy song. But when he got to town, no one would speak to him. People passed him by without so much as a "How-do-you-do." They didn't even seem to see him.

The scarecrow was very sad. "Perhaps it's my clothes," he said. "I had better get some new ones." So he went into a store and bought a new suit and a new hat. They were very becoming and he was proud to walk out onto the street all dressed up in his Sunday best.17 But still no one paid a bit of attention to him.

"I'm afraid money doesn't make a man," sighed the scarecrow.

Just then, a little girl ran out into the street. She ran right in front of an automobile. She would have been run over if the scarecrow had not darted out into the street after her.18 He picked her up just in time and carried her to the side walk19 in safety.

The people on the curb20 who had seen the scarecrow risk his own life to save the child, began to cheer. The mother of the little girl came running out of her house with tears streaming down her cheeks and thanked him.

All at once the scarecrow felt warm and glowing inside.21 He looked down at his hands and feet and saw they were no longer made of straw but were of flesh and blood. He heard the crowd say, " It takes a brave heart to make a man."22

1． scarecrow: 稻草人。

2． 在风中挥舞着胳膊吓走乌鸦。cornfield: 麦田。

3． 他防着那些又大又黑的鸟突然从空中俯冲下来，在谷物长成之前就把它们吃掉。swoop:飞扑，猛扑。

4． 他被绑在栅栏柱上，晚上没法躺下，在白天的炽热天气里，也没法进屋凉快凉快。lie down: 躺在床上休息。

5． 他也没法抬头看着白云在天空中轻快地掠过，因为他的宽边软帽在前额上压得很低。sail through: 轻快地走过。

6． 而且他自己站在空旷的野外非常孤独，除了被他赶走的鸟儿和偶尔从田里抄近路的棉尾兔，没人和他说话。shoo: 用“嘘”声赶走，吓走。

7． 他看着他们随心所欲地来回踱步，播种或收割。to and fro: 往复地，来回地。

8． make-believe: 假装的。

9． 就在这时，一个穿着破衣烂衫的流浪汉路过。他坐在离稻草人不远的台阶上休息。tramp: 流浪者，流浪乞丐；tattered: （衣服等）破烂的；stile:（篱或墙）两侧的台阶。

10．vagabond/#v*g2b=nd/: 流浪者。

11．“我想知道怎样变成人，”稻草人说。“我厌烦了只做一件填满了稻草的旧衣服。”

12．那就是你口袋里丁当作响的钱。jingle: 发出丁当声。

13．“不，我只是一半的人。”流浪汉羞愧得垂下头，走开了。

14．mutter: 小声而含糊不清地说。

15．于是他把一把钱塞到稻草人的口袋里，然后向小溪那边跑过去，男孩子们正在那里叫他。thrust: 插，挤。

16．他感到自己的背挺了起来，便从栅栏柱上爬下来。

17．它们非常好看，他穿上自己这身最好最漂亮的衣服走到街上，觉得非常得意。becoming: 好看的；有吸引力的；Sunday best:〈口〉（在星期日或其他特殊场合穿的）最好的衣服， 最新的衣服，节日盛装。

18．如果稻草人没有跟着她冲到路中间，她一定会被撞倒。run over:（撞倒并）辗过；dart: 猛冲，飞奔。

19．sidewalk: 人行道。

20．curb: 路缘。

21．突然稻草人觉得心里暖洋洋，热乎乎的。

22．“有了勇敢的心灵后才能成为一个（真正的）人。”