A hound, roaming in the forest, spied a lion. He thought the lion might be a good prey1 and chased, thinking he would make a fine quarry2. Presently the lion perceived that he was being pursued, so, stopping short, he rounded on his pursuer and gave a loud roar. The hound immediately turned tail and fled. A fox, seeing him running away, jeered3 at him and said, "Ho! Ho! There goes the coward who chased a lion and ran away the moment the roared!"
有一条猎狗,正在森林里闲逛,猛然看见了一只狮子,心想这可是一个不错的猎物,便追了上去,想施展一下自己的小伎俩。很快,狮子觉察到自己被追踪了,便突然停住,回过头来冲着追捕者大声吼叫。猎狗立刻转身逃跑了。一只狐狸见状,便嘲笑起猎狗:“呵呵,真是个胆小鬼,竟然还敢追狮子,只要狮子一声吼,你可就落荒而逃了!”
Have you not heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? It said to a turtle that lived in the East Sea, "I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing beside the mouth of the well. When I come home, I rest in the holes on the broken wall of the well. If I jump into the water, it comes up to my armpits and holds up my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers up my feet. I look around at the wriggly worms, crabs and tadpoles, and none of them can compare with me. Moreover, I am lord of this trough of water and I stand up tall in this shallow well. My happiness is full. My dear sir, why don't you come often and look around my place?"
Before the turtle from the East Sea could get its left foot in the well, its right knee got stuck. It hesitated and retreated. The turtle told the frog about the East Sea.
"Even a distance of a thousand li cannot give you an idea of the sea's width; even a height of a thousand ren cannot give you an idea of its depth. In the time of King Yu of the Xia dynasty, there were floods nine years out of ten, but the waters in the sea did not increase. ln the time of King Tang of the Shang dynasty there were droughts seven years out of eight, but the waters in the sea did not decrease. The sea does not change along with the passage of time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that falls. The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea."
After listening to these words, the frog of the shallow well was shocked into realization of his own insignificance and became very ill at ease.
一口废井里住着一只青蛙。有一天,青蛙在井边碰上了一只从海里来的大龟。 青蛙就对海龟夸口说:“你看,我住在这里多快乐!有时高兴了,就在井栏边跳跃一阵;疲倦了,就回到井里,睡在砖洞边一回。或者只留出头和嘴巴,安安静静地把全身泡在水里:或者在软绵绵的泥浆里散一回步,也很舒适。看看那些虾和蝌虾,谁也此不上我。而且,我是这个井里的主人,在这井里极自由自在,你为什么不常到井里来游赏呢!” 那海龟听了青蛙的话,倒真想进去看看。但它的左脚还没有整个伸进去,右脚就已经绊住了。它连忙后退了两步,把大海的情形告诉青蛙说:“你看过海吗?海的广大,哪止千里;海的'深度,哪只千来丈。古时候,十年有九年大水,海里的水,并不涨了多少;后来,八年里有七年大早,海里的水,也不见得浅了多少。可见大海是不受旱涝影响的。住在那样的大海里,才是真的快乐呢!” 井蛙听了海龟的一番话,吃惊地呆在那里,再没有话可说了。
寓意:宇宙无终极,学识无穷尽。这则寓言告诫人们,千万不要因一孔之见,便洋洋自得,不要因一得之功,便沾沾自喜。
An ant is walking by the river. He looks at the river and says to himself, "How nice and cool this water looks! I must drink some of it." But when he is drinking, he slips into the river.
"Oh.Help!Help!" The ant cries,
A dove is sitting in the tree. She hears him and throws him a leaf, "Climb up that leaf," she says "and you will float bank."
The ant climbs uo onto the leaf, and the wind blows the leaf to the bank. And the ant is saved.
"Thank you, Dove. You're so kind," The ant says and runs home, "You have saved my life, and I wish I could do something for you, Goodbye!"
"Goodbye!" says the dove, "Be careful. Not to fall into the river again."
After a few days, the dove is building her nest. And a man is raising his gun to shoot her.
The ant sees this, and runs quickly to bite the man's leg. "Ouch! Ouch!" The man feels pained and drops his gun. The dove hears and flies away. So the man picks up his gun and leave.
The dove comes to her nest. "Thank you, my little friend," she says, "You have saved my life."
The little ant is so glad, because he can help the dove.
一只蚂蚁在河边散步。他看见喝水自言自语道:"这河水看上去真清凉啊!我要去喝点。"可是他在喝水的时候,一不小心滑进河里了。
"啊!救命!救命!'蚂蚁叫喊着。
一只鸽子正呆在树上,听见呼救声,就扔给他一片树叶。"快爬到树叶上去。她说:"你会漂到岸上的。"
"谢谢你,鸽子。你真善良。"蚂蚁一边说一边向家跑,"你救了我的命,我会报答你的。再见!"
"再见!小心别掉进河里了。"鸽子说。
几天后,鸽子正在筑巢,一个人举着枪要打鸽子。蚂蚁看见了,迅速地跑过去,在那个人的腿上咬了一口。"啊呀!哎呀!"那个人疼得扔掉枪。鸽子听见了,连忙飞走了。那个人只好捡起枪,走了。
鸽子又飞回巢里。"谢谢你,我的小朋友。"鸽子说,"你救了我的.命。"
小蚂蚁可高兴了,因为他也帮助了鸽子。
寓意:有些朋友也许平时看似微不足道,但却有可能在我们身处困难的时候提供巨大的帮助。
One fine day in winter some ants were busy drying their store of corn, which had got rather damp during a long spell of rain. Presently1 up came a grasshopper2 and begged them to spare her a few grains, "For," she said, "I'm simply starving." The ants stopped work for a moment, though this was against their principles. "May we ask," said they, "what you were doing with yourself all last summer? Why didn't you collect a store of food for the winter?" "The fact is," replied the grasshopper, "I was so busy singing that I hadn't the time." "If you spent the summer singing," replied the ants, "you can't do better than spend the winter dancing." And they chuckled3 and went on with their work.
冬天一个温暖如春的日子里,蚂蚁们正忙着晒干自己存储的粮食。由于下来很长时间的雨,粮食已经非常潮湿了。这时,来了一只蚂蚱,向他们乞讨一点粮食。“因为,”蚂蚱说,“我实在是饿坏了。”尽管有点违背原则,但蚂蚁们还是停下了手头的工作。“我们能问一下吗?”他们说,“整个夏天你都在做些什么呢?为什么不为冬天储存一些粮食呢?”“实际上,”蚂蚱回答道,“我一直在忙着唱歌,根本没有时间存储粮食。”“如果你整个夏天都在唱歌,”蚂蚁们回答道,“那么,你最好在冬天就忙着跳舞吧。”他们哈哈大笑起来,继续忙于各自的工作。
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