Two men were going through a forest.

“I am afraid,” said one, “that we may meet with wild beasts; I see the tracks of their paws on the ground.”

“Fear nothing, friend Quickwit,” cried the other, whose name was Braggart.“In case of an attack we shall stand by one another like men. I have a strong arm, a stout heart, and—”

“Hark!” cried the first in alarm, as a low growl was heard from a thicket near. In an instant Braggart, who was light and nimble, climbed up a tree like a squirrel, leaving his friend, who was not so active, to face the danger alone!

But Quickwit's presence of mind did not fail him. He could not fight, he could not fly; but he laid himself flat on the ground, and held his breath, so as to appear quite dead. Out of the thicket rushed a huge bear, and at once made up to poor Quickwit; while Braggart looked down, trembling, from his perch in the tree.

One may guess what were the feelings of Quickwit when the bear snuffed all round him, coming so near that he could feel its warm breath, when its muzzle was close to his ear! But Quickwit did not wince or move; and the bear, thinking him dead, plunged again into the thicket, leaving him quite unharmed!

When Braggart saw that the danger was over, he came down from the tree. Somewhat ashamed of his cowardly conduct, he tried to pass off the matter with a joke.

“Well, my friend Quickwit,” he said, “what did the bear say to you when he whispered into your ear?”

“He told me,” replied Quickwit, “never again to trust a boaster like you!”

The hour of danger often shows that the greatest boasters are the greatest cowards. Let courage be proved by deeds, not by words.

Questions

What were the names of the two friends? Which appeared to be the braver, from his way of speaking? What did he do when the growl of the bear was heard? Who is lying close to the bear in the picture? Is he dead, or what? How did the other try to pass off the matter? What was the bear's advice?

Pronunciation

Quick'-wit ap-pear' squir'-rel cow'-ard-ly leav'-ing

Brag'-gart con'-duct trem'-bling whis'-pered boast'-ers

at-tack' cour'-age un-harmed' think'-ing dan'-ger

Write

thicket muzzle boasters

squirrel trembling cowardly

presence unharmed whispered

兩個旅行者正在穿越一片森林。

“我很害怕，”其中一個人說，“我害怕我們可能會遇到野獸；我看到地面上有它們的爪印。”

“不要害怕，‘智多星’朋友，”另一個綽號“牛皮大王”的旅行者喊道，“如果發生襲擊的話，我們要像男人一樣互相支持。我有堅強的臂膀，勇敢的心臟，還有——”

“聽！”聽到濃密的灌木叢里傳來低沉的咆哮聲，“智多星”不禁驚慌地喊道。這時，身形輕巧、反應靈敏的“牛皮大王”立馬像松鼠一樣爬到了樹上，將他腿腳不大靈活的朋友獨自置于危險之地！

但是“智多星”的頭腦一點都不輸給他的朋友。雖然不能反抗、不能飛出去，但是他平躺在了地上，屏住呼吸，佯裝死去。茂密的灌木叢里沖出一頭體型巨大的熊，這頭熊一出來，就向“智多星”的方向跑去；當“牛皮大王”從樹上往下看的時候，不禁顫抖起來。

大家可能會猜想，當熊圍著“智多星”左嗅嗅，右嗅嗅，口鼻離得他那么近的時候，當“智多星”都能聽到熊溫熱的呼吸的時候，他是什么感受啊。但是“智多星”既沒有畏縮，也沒移動。熊認為他已經死了，于是又躍入灌木叢中，“智多星”毫發無損！

“牛皮大王”眼見危險已經過去了，就從樹上爬了下來。他為自己膽小的舉動感到羞愧，于是就想開個玩笑把剛才的事掩飾過去。

“哦，我的‘智多星’朋友，”他說，“那頭熊剛才都向你耳語什么了呀？”

“他告訴我，”“智多星”回答道，“不要再相信一個像你這樣吹牛的人！”

在危險來臨之時，那些最能吹牛的人往往是最膽小的。勇氣是通過行動，而不是語言來體現的。