Introduction：The narrator，a Jewish man named Gimpel，tells his life experienceof being a“fool”。He was harassed and teased because of the fact he was easyto“take in”。The townspeople looked at Gimpel as if he was a fool，but overall，Gimpel wasn’t as foolish as the people had thought him to be。
1 I am Gimpel the fool。I don’t think myself a fool。On the contrary。But that’s what folks call me。They gave me the name while I was still in school。I hadseven names in all：imbecile，donkey，flax-head，dope，flump，ninny，and fool。The last name stuck。What did my foolishness consist of？I was easy to take in。They said，“Gimpel，you know the rabbi’s wife has been broughtto childbed？”SoI skipped school。Well，it turned out to be a lie。How was I supposed to know？She hadn’t had a big belly。But I never looked at her belly。Was that really sofoolish？The gang laughed and hee-hawed，stomped and danced and chanted a goodnight prayer。And instead of the raisins they give when a woman’s lying in，theystuffed my hand full of goat turds。I was no weakling。If I slapped someone he’dsee all the way to Cracow。But I’m really not a slugger by nature。I think to myself：Let it pass。So they take advantage of me。
2 I was coming home from school and heard a dog barking。I’m not afraid of dogs，but of course I never want to start up with them。One of them may be mad，andif he bites there’s not a Tartar in the world who can help you。So I made tracks。Then I looked around and saw the whole market place wild with laughter。It was no dog at all but Wolf-Leib the thief。How was I supposed to know it was he？It sounded like a howling bitch。
3 When the pranksters and the leg-pullers found that I was easy to fool，everyone of them tried his luck with me。“Gimpel，the Czar is coming to FrampolGimpel，the moon fell down in TurbeenGimpel，little Hodel Furpiece found a treasure behind the bathhouse。”And I like a golem believed everyone。In the first place，everything is possible，as it is written in the Wisdom of the Fathers。I’veforgotten just howSecond，I had to believe when the whole town came down onme！If I ever dared to say，“Ah，you’re kidding！”There was trouble。People got angry。“What do you mean！”“You want to call everyone a liar？”What was I to do？I believed them，and I hope at least that did them some good。
imbecile：n。癡呆傻，文中列出的七個詞都是“白癡”的不同說法
take in：欺騙
rabbi：n。拉比（猶太的學者）
hee-haw：v。大笑
stomp：vi。用力地踏、踩、跺
raisin：n。葡萄幹
turd：n。糞塊，屎
weakling：n。弱者
slugger：n。猛擊者
Tartar：n。韃靼人，意指“凶悍的人”
howl：v。吠；n。號叫，哀叫
prankster：n。開玩笑者
leg-puller：n。惡作劇者
golem：n。機器人4I was an orphan。My grandfather who brought me up was already bent toward the grave。So they turned me over to a baker，and what a time they gave me there！Every woman or girl who came to bake a batch of noodles had to fool me at least once。“Gimpel，there’s a fair in heavenGimpel，the rabbi gave birth to a calfin the seventh monthGimpel，a cow flew over the roof and laid brass eggs。”A student from the yeshiva came once to buy a roll，and he said，“You，Gimpel，while you stand here scraping with your baker’s shovel，the Messiah has come。The dead have arisen。”“What do you mean？”I said。“I heard no one blowing the ram’shorn！”He said，“Are you deaf？”And all began to cry，“We heard it，we heard！”Then in came Rietze the Candle-dipper and called out in her hoarse voice，“Gimpel your father and mother have stood up from the grave。They’re looking for you。”
5 To tell the truth，I knew very well that nothing of the sort had happened，but all the same，as folks were talking，I threw on my wool vestand went out。Maybe something had happened。What did I stand to lose by looking？Well，what catmusic went up！And then I took a vow to believe nothing more。But that was no go either。They confused me so that I didn’t know the big end from the small。
6 I went to the rabbi to get some advice。He said，“It is written，better to be a fool all your days than for one hour to be evil。You are not a fool。They are the fools。For he who causes his neighbour to feel shame loses Paradise himself。”Nevertheless the rabbi’s daughter took me in。As I left the rabbinical court she said，“Have you kissed the wall yet？”I said，“No，what for？”she answered，“It’s the lawyou’ve got to do it after every visit。”“Well，there didn’tseem to be any harm in it。”And she burst out laughing。It was a fine trick。She put one over on me，all right。
評注：作者在1到6段，主要敘述了吉姆佩爾一件件受騙的事情。吉姆佩爾雖然知道鎮上的人總是騙他，但還是選擇去相信別人。正如拉比所言，他其實是“大智若愚”。更為愚蠢和可憐的人是那些什麼都不相信或不敢相信的人。
7 I wanted to go off to another town，but then everyone got busy matchmaking，and they were after me so they nearly tore my coat tails off。They talked at me and talked until I got water on the ear。She was no chaste maiden，but they toldme she was virgin pure。She had a limp，and they said it was deliberate，from coyness。She had a bastard，and they told me the child was her little brother。I cried，“You’re wasting your time。I’ll never marry that whore。”But they said indignantly。“What a way to talk！Aren’t you ashamed of yourself？We can take you to the rabbi and have you fined for giving her a bad name。”I saw then thatIwouldn’t escape them so easily and I thought：They’re set on making me theirbutt。But when you’re married the husband’s the master，and if that’s all rightwith her it’s agreeable to me too。Besides，you can’t pass through life unscathed，nor expect to。
calf：n。小牛仔
Messiah：彌塞亞，猶太人期望中的複國教主。據說當彌塞亞降臨時，死人亦可複活。
ram’s horn：羊角號。猶太風俗，每遇重大慶典，都要奏樂，羊角號是所用樂器之一。
vest：n。背心，內衣
matchmake：v。說媒
chaste：adj。貞潔的
limp：n。跛
coyness：n。害羞，怕羞
bastard：n。私生子
whore：n。妓女
unscathed：adj。未受損傷的，未遭受傷害的8I went to her clay house，which was built on the sand，and the whole gang，hollering and chorusing，came after me。They acted like bear baiters。When we came to the well they stopped all the same。They were afraid to start anything withElka。Her mouth would open as if it were on a hinge，and she had a fierce tongue。I entered the house。Lines were strung from wall to wall and clothes were drying。Barefoot she stood by the tub，doing the wash。She was dressed in a worn hand-me-down gown of plush。She had her hair put up in braids and pinned across her head。It took my breath away。Almost，the reek of it all。
9 Evidently she knew who I was。She took a look at me and said，“Lookwho’s here！He’s come，the drip。Grab a seat。”
10 I told her allI denied nothing。“Tell me the truth，”I said，“are youreally a virgin，and is that mischievous Yechiel actually your little brother？Don’t be deceitful with me，for I’m an orphan。”
11 “I’m an orphan myself，”she answered，“and whoever tries to twist you up，may the end of his nose take a twist。But don’t let them think they can take advantage of me。I want a dowry of fifty guilders，and let them take up a collection besides。Otherwise they can kiss my you-know-what。”She was very plainspoken。I said，“It’s the bride and not the groom who gives a dowry。”Then she said，“Don’t bargain with me。Either a flat‘yes’or a flat‘no’—Go back to where you came from。”
holler：v。叫喊
chorus：v。齊唱
plush：n。長毛絨
braid：n。辮子
reek：n。發出的臭氣
drip：n。“俚語”令人討厭的人
twist sb。up：捉弄某人
plainspoken：adj。直言不諱的
dowry：n。嫁妝12I thought：No bread will ever be baked from this dough。But ours is not a poor town。They consented to everything and proceeded with the wedding。It so happened that there was a dysentery epidemic at the time。The ceremony was held at the cemetery gates，near the little corpse-washing hut。The fellows got drunk。While the marriage contract was being drawn up I heard the most pious high rabbi ask，“Is the bride a widow or a divorced woman？”And the sexton’s wife answeredfor her，“Both a widow and divorced。”It was a black moment for me。But what was I to do，run away from under the marriage canopy？
13 There was singing and dancing。An old granny danced opposite me，hugginga braided white chalah。The master of revels made a“God’s mercy”in memory of the bride’s parents。The schoolboys threw burrs，as on Tishe b’Av fast day。There were a lot of gifts after the sermon：a noodle board，a kneading trough，a bucket，brooms，ladles，and household articles galore。Then I took a look and saw twostrapping young men carrying a crib。“What do we need this for？”I asked。So they said，“Don’t rack your brains about it。It’s all right，it’ll come in handy。”I realized I was going to be rooked。Take it another way though，what did I stand to lose？I reflected：I’ll see what comes of it。A whole town can’t go altogether crazy。
評注：第13段中喧鬧的結婚儀式與受騙的吉姆佩爾內心的悲涼形成了對比。
dough：n。麵團
consent：v。同意
dysentery：n。痢疾
epidemic：n。瘟疫流行
cemetery：n。公墓
pious：adj。虔誠的
canopy：n。蚊帳，華蓋
chalah：n。麵包
revel：n。（喧鬧的）宴會
burr：n。刺果
Tishe b’Av：聖殿節，在阿甫月（猶太曆十一月）九日，是為了紀念耶路撒冷聖殿之毀滅。
galore：n。豐富
strapping：adj。魁梧的
crib：n。有欄杆的兒童床
rook：vt。欺騙14At night I came where my wife lay，but she wouldn’t let me in。“Say，look here，is this what they married us for？”I said。And she said，“my monthly has come。”
15 “But yesterday they took you to the ritual bath，and that’s afterward，isn’t it supposed to be？”
16 “Today isn’t yesterday，”said she，“and yesterday’s not today。You can beat it if you don’t like it。”In short，I waited。
17 Not four months later she was in childbed。The townsfolk hid their laughterwith their knuckles。But what could I do？She suffered intolerable pains and clawed at the walls。“Gimpel，”she cried，“I’m going。Forgive me。”The house filled with women。They were boiling pans of water。The screams rose to the welkin。
18 The thing to do was to go to the House of Prayer to repeatPsalms，and that was what I did。
19 The townsfolk liked that，all right。I stood in a corner saying Psalms and prayers，and they shook their heads at me。“Pray，pray！”they told me，“Prayer never made any woman pregnant。”One of the congregation put a straw to my mouthand said，“Hay for the cows。”There was something to that too，by God！
20 She gave birth to a boy，Friday at the synagogue the sexton stood up beforethe Ark，pounded on the reading table，and announced，“The wealthy Reb Gimpel invites the congregation to a feast in honour of the birth of a son。”The whole House of Prayer rang with laughter。My face was flaming。But there was nothing Icould do。After all，I was the one responsible for the circumcision honours andrituals。
21 Half the town came running。You couldn’t wedge another soul in。Women brought peppered chickpeas，and there was a keg of beer from the tavern。I ate and drank as much as anyone，and they all congratulated me。Then there was a circumcision，and I named the boy after my father，may he rest in peace。When all were gone and I was left with my wife alone，she thrust her head through the bed-curtain and called me to her。
welkin：n。天空
Psalm：n。（為了慶祝而唱的）聖歌
congregation：n。集合在一起的群眾
synagogue：n。猶太教徒的集會
sexton：n。教堂司事
circumcision：n。割禮。根據猶太習俗，男嬰出生後七天內要行割禮。
wedge：vt。擠入，揳入
keg：n。小桶
tavern：n。酒館22“Gimpel，”said she，“why are you silent？Has your ship gone and sunk？”
23 “What shall I say？”I answered。“A fine thing you’ve done to me！If my mother had known of it，she’d have died a second time。”
24 She said，“Are you crazy or what？”
25 “How can you make such a fool，”I said，“of one who should be the lord and master？”