原文
AVOID DEBT
Young men starting in life should avoid running into debt. There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt. It is a slavish position to get in, yet we find many a young man, hardly out of his teens, running in debt. He meets a chum and says, Look at this: I have got trusted for a new suit of clothes. He seems to look upon the clothes as so much given to him; well, it frequently is so, but, if he succeeds in paying and then gets trusted again, he is adopting a habit which will keep him in poverty through life. Debt robs a man of his self-respect, and makes him almost despise himself. Grunting and groaning and working for what he has eaten up or worn out, and now when he is called upon to pay up, he has nothing to show for his money; this is properly termed working for a dead horse. I do not speak of merchants buying and selling on credit, or of those who buy on credit in order to turn the purchase to a profit. The old Quaker said to his farmer son, John, never get trusted; but if thee gets trusted for anything, let it be for 'manure,' because that will help thee pay it back again.
Mr. Beecher advised young men to get in debt if they could to a small amount in the purchase of land, in the country districts. If a young man, he says, will only get in debt for some land and then get married, these two things will keep him straight, or nothing will.
This may be safe to a limited extent, but getting in debt for what you eat and drink and wear is to be avoided. Some families have a foolish habit of getting credit at the stores, and thus frequently purchase many things which might have been dispensed with.
It is all very well to say; I have got trusted for sixty days, and if I don't have the money the creditor will think nothing about it. There is no class of people in the world, who have such good memories as creditors. When the sixty days run out, you will have to pay. If you do not pay, you will break your promise, and probably resort to a falsehood. You may make some excuse or get in debt elsewhere to pay it, but that only involves you the deeper
A good-looking, lazy young fellow, was the apprentice boy, Horatio. His employer said, Horatio, did you ever see a snail? I—think—I—have, he drawled out. You must have met him then, for I am sure you never overtook one, said the boss. Your creditor will meet you or overtake you and say, Now, my young friend, you agreed to pay me; you have not done it, you must give me your note. You give the note on interest and it commences working against you; it is a dead horse. The creditor goes to bed at night and wakes up in the morning better off than when he retired to bed, because his interest has increased during the night, but you grow poorer while you are sleeping, for the interest is accumulating against you.
Money is in some respects like fire; it is a very excellent servant but a terrible master. When you have it mastering you; when interest is constantly piling up against you, it will keep you down in the worst kind of slavery. But let money work for you, and you have the most devoted servant in the world. It is no eye-servant. There is nothing animate or inanimate that will work so faithfully as money when placed at interest, well secured. It works night and day, and in wet or dry weather.
参考译文
不要负债
涉世之初的年轻人应该避免负债。可以说，几乎没有什么能像债务那样完全拖垮一个人。不管是谁，一旦陷进去，其结果只能是沦为金钱的奴隶。话虽如此，很多时候我们看到的却是，许多年轻人，几乎从他十几岁的时候，就开始负债。他逢人便说: “快看啊，我用信托买了套新衣服。”那神气劲儿仿佛那衣服是别人白给的似的。的确，一般意义上来说，当下 他确实没有花钱，但是，如果这一次 尝到甜头，他就会继续沉迷于信托， 进而染上这种恶习，而这恰恰是导致他终生贫困的根源。债务夺走了一个人全部的尊严，甚至让他几尽自我鄙夷。他辛辛苦苦为生计奔忙，时常叫苦连天，怨天尤人，可是等到债主临门时，却发现自己竟然一无所有。这大概就是我们常说的“徒劳无功”了吧。当然我所说的，既不是那些赊购、赊销的商人们，也不是那些心怀不轨的二道贩子们。老贵格曾对他的农夫儿子说:“约翰，永远不要用信托，即使到了万不得已的时候，你必须用它， 我也希望你用它来买肥料，因为它所带来的收益可以助你还债。”
比彻先生说，要是年轻人想在乡村买一小块地的话，可以考虑贷款。“如果一个年轻人，”他认为，“仅仅为了土地和婚姻这两件事负债，那么他要么永葆正直，要么碌碌无为。” 一定程度上，这确实很安全，但要注意绝对不能因吃、喝、穿这些消费品负债。一些家庭喜欢在商店赊账买一些并不需要的东西，其结果只能是弃置不用，这是非常愚蠢的。
我们常常可以听到这样的话，“我有60天的时间，即便我还不了钱，债主们也绝不会为难我。”但是要知道的是，世界上根本没有哪个人能像债主那样拥有如此好的记性啊。等到60天的期限到了，你就必须还钱了。如果还不上，就意味着你不守信用，而且在这种情况下，极大可能你会撒谎。你可能会找一些借口来拖延时间或者从其他地方贷款来偿还债务，但不管怎样，这只会让你越陷越深。
学徒霍雷肖是个英俊但懒惰的年轻小伙。他的雇主对他说:“霍雷肖，你见过蜗牛吗?”“我想我见过它，”他故意拉长了声调慢吞吞地说。“你一定见过它，而且我确信，你从来没有追上过它，”老板说道。你的债主来堵你或是追你，说道:“小伙子，已经到我们约定的时间了，可是你没有如约还钱，今天你必须还钱。”你还上了利息，可这对你并没有什么好处，因为这是“一匹死马。”债主只需晚上睡觉，早晨起来便会比上床睡觉的时候更富有，因为利息在晚上增加了，不幸的是，你睡觉的时候却只会越来越穷，因为利息地增加对你不利。
金钱在某些方面就像一团火;它是个非常优秀的仆人，但同时也是个非常可怕的主人。当它控制你的时候;当不断增加地利息压到你的时候，你就会彻底沦为金钱最凄惨的奴隶。但是，如果可以让金钱为你效劳，那么你就拥有了这个世界上最忠诚的仆人。它绝不是那种看着才干活的人。这世界上没有任何有生命或无生命的事物，像金钱一样忠诚，只要给它利息，好好经营，就可以不断升值。它夜以继日地工作，并且旱涝无阻。