A Modest Proposal For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick

It is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an Alms.

对于那些在城镇中漫步或在乡村旅行的人来说，看到街道、道路和小屋门口挤满了女乞丐，她们带着三、四或六个衣衫褴褛的孩子，向每个过路人乞求施舍，这是令人忧郁的景象。

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasee, or a ragoust.

我从我在伦敦的一位非常了解情况的美国朋友那里得知，一个被好好喂养的健康婴儿，在一岁时，无论是炖、烤、烘还是煮，都是一道美味、滋养且健康的食物；我毫不怀疑它同样适用于做炖菜或肉酱。