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!”
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。
在众多的奥林波斯山神中,主神宙斯和雷托之子阿波罗最受推崇。据希腊神话记载,雷托被天后赫拉驱赶得四处流浪。最终是海神波塞冬怜悯她并从海中捞起提落岛让她居住。在岛上,她生了孪生儿子阿波罗和阿尔特弥斯。
阿波罗是太阳神。清晨他身着紫色袍,坐在那明亮的东方宫殿,准备开始每日穿越天空的旅行。白天,他驾着用金子和象牙制成的战车,给广阔无垠的大地带来光明、生命和仁爱。黄昏时分,他在遥远的西海结束了旅行,然后就乘上金船返回东方的家中。
阿波罗是音乐神和诗神。他可唤起人们倾注于圣歌中的各种情感。在奥林波斯山上,他手拿金质里拉,用悦耳的音调指挥缪斯的合唱。当他帮助波塞冬建造特洛伊城墙时,里拉奏出的音乐如此动听,以致石头有节奏地、自动地各就其位。有一次他接受凡人音乐家马斯亚斯的挑战参加一次竞赛。战胜对方后,他将对手剥皮致死以惩罚他的狂妄自大。在另外一次音乐比赛中,因输给了潘神,他就将裁判迈尔斯国王的耳朵变成了驴耳朵。
阿波罗的儿子俄耳甫斯继承了父亲这方面的才能。他的竖琴使人与动物皆受感动。
阿波罗象征着青春和男子汉的美。金色的头发、庄重的举止、容光焕发的'神态,这些足以使他受到世人的青睐。一位名叫克里提的美丽少女迷恋于他的英俊潇洒,跪在地上,从黎明到黄昏,双手伸向太阳神。她凝视着那辆金质马车在蔚蓝的天空驰骋。虽然她的爱并未得到回报,但她对阿波罗的痴情却从未改变。目睹这悲哀的场面,众神深受感动,将她变成了一株向日葵。
The Father and His Son
Father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarrelling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placed the faggot into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They each tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it.
He next unclosed the faggot, and took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into their hands, on which they broke them easily. He then addressed them in these words: "My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this faggot, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."
一位父亲有几个孩子,这些孩子时常发生口角。他丝毫没有办法来劝阻他们,只好让他们看看不合群所带来害处的例子。为了达到这个目的,有一天他叫他们替他拿一捆细柴来。当他们把柴带来时,他便先后地将那捆柴放在每一个孩子的手中,吩咐他们弄断这捆柴。他们一个个尽力去试,总是不能成功。
然后他解开那捆柴,一根根地放在他们手里,如此一来,他们便毫不费力地折断了。于是他就告诉他们说:「孩子们!如果你们大家团结一致,互相帮助,你们就像这捆柴一样,不能被你们的敌人折断;但如果你们自行,你们就将和这些散柴一般,不堪一折了。
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