四則英語寓言故事

四則英語寓言故事

　　The ass and the grasshopper 驢子與蚱蜢

　　An ass1 having heard some grasshoppers2 chirping3, was highly enchanted4; and, desiring to possess the same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on to give them such beautiful voices. They replied, "The dew."

　　The ass resolved that he would live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger.

　　驢子聽見蚱蜢唱歌，被美妙動聽的歌聲所打動，自己也想能發出同樣悅耳動聽的聲音，便羨慕地問他們吃些什麼，才能發出如此美妙的聲音來。蚱蜢答道：“吃露水。”

　　驢子便也只吃露水，沒多久就餓死了。

　　The Cock and the Pearl 公雞和珍珠

　　A cock was once strutting1 up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he espied2 something shinning amid the straw. "Ho! ho!" quoth he, "that's for me," and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard? "You may be a treasure," quoth master pock, "to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls."

　　Precious things are for those that can prize them.

　　在農場的庭院裡有一隻公雞正昂首闊步地在一群母雞中間來來回回。突然他到稻草中有什麼東西在閃閃發光。“哈哈”他說“那是我的'”。然後迅速把它從稻草中刨了出來。他刨出出來的是一顆不知什麼時候遺落在庭院裡的珍珠“你也許這是個寶貝”，公雞大人說，“對於人類來說，他們會珍惜你，但在我看來，我寧可要一粒大麥也不想琢一粒珍珠。”

　　只有懂得價值的人才會珍惜寶物。

　　The labourer and the snake 工人和蛇

　　A labourer's little son was bitten by a snake and died of the wound. The father was beside himself with grief, and in his anger against the snake the caught up an axe1 and went and stood close to the snake's hole, and watched for a chance of killing2 it. Presently the snake come out, and the man aimed a blow at it, but only succeeded in cutting of the tip of its tail before it wriggled3 in again. He then tried to get it to come out a second time, pretending that he wished to make up the quarrel. But the snake said, "I can never be your friend because of my lost tail, nor you mine because of your lost child."

　　Injuries are never forgotten in the presence of those who caused them.

　　工人的小兒子被一條毒蛇咬了一口，並且死於蛇傷。悲痛氣憤之餘，工人抓起一把斧頭，氣沖沖地跑到蛇洞外，等待機會砍死蛇。不久，蛇從洞裡出來了，工人立即一斧頭砍過去，可是隻砍斷了它的尾巴尖。隨後，工人還想再如法炮製，便假裝想與蛇和解。可是，蛇卻說：“我永遠也無法成為你的朋友，因為我丟了自己的尾巴，而你卻丟失了兒子。”

　　在造成創傷的雙方心裡，永遠無法忘卻傷痛。

　　The fox and the monkey 狐狸和猴子

　　A fox and a monkey were on the road together, and fell into a dispute as to which of the two was the better born. They kept it up for some time, till they came to a place where the road passed through a cemetery1 full of monuments, when the monkey stopped and looked about him and gave a great sigh. "Why do you sigh?" said the fox. The monkey pointed2 to the tombs and replied, "All the monuments that you see here were put up in honour of my forefathers3, who in their day were eminent4 men." The fox was speechless for a moment, but quickly recovering he said, "Oh! don't stop at any lie, sir; you're quite safe: I'm sure none of your ancestors will rise up and expose you."

　　Boasters brag5 most when they cannot be detected.

　　狐狸與猴子同行，一路上都在爭吵誰的家世更高貴。他們各自堅持著誇耀自己，邊說邊來到一個路邊滿是墓地的地方。這時，猴子停下來，四處觀望，然後放聲大哭。“你為什麼這樣嗎?”狐狸忙問道。猴子指著那些墓碑，說：“你在這裡看到的所有墓碑都是我祖先的榮譽，他們當時可都是傑出的人士!”狐狸沉默了一會兒，但是很快就反駁道：“哦!接著吹吧，先生，不會有人揭穿你的——我相信，他們之中沒有人能站起來反駁你。

　　謊言無法被揭穿時，吹牛者便會誇誇其談。