THE FARMER AND FORTUNE

農(nóng)夫和命運(yùn)之神

A Farmer was ploughing one day on his farm when he turned up a pot of golden coins with his plough.He was overjoyed at his discovery，and from that time forth made an offering daily at the shrine of the Goddess of the Earth.Fortune was displeased at this，and came to him and said，"My man，why do you give Earth the credit for the gift which I bestowed upon you？You never thought of thanking me for your good luck；but should you be unlucky enough to lose what you have gained I know very well that I，F(xiàn)ortune，should then come in for all the blame."

Show gratitude where gratitude is due.

｛中文閱讀｝

有個(gè)農(nóng)夫在耕地時(shí)用犁耙出一壇金幣，他欣喜若狂，從那之后，他每天都用豐富的供品來供奉土地爺。命運(yùn)之神對此很生氣，來到他面前，說：“喂，朋友，那壇金幣是我送給你的禮物，你為什么要去供奉土地爺呢？賦予你如此好的運(yùn)氣，你卻從未想過感謝我；如果你運(yùn)氣不好，丟了本應(yīng)屬于你的東西，我敢保證，你一定會(huì)埋怨我這個(gè)命運(yùn)之神了。”

應(yīng)該感恩時(shí)，一定要表現(xiàn)出來。

JUPITER AND THE MONKEY

朱庇特和猴子

Jupiter issued a proclamation to all the beasts，and offered a prize to the one who，in his judgment，produced the most beautiful offspring.Among the rest came the Monkey，carrying a baby monkey in her arms，a hairless，flat-nosed little fright.When they saw it，the gods all burst into peal on peal of laughter；but the Monkey hugged her little one to her，and said，"Jupiter may give the prize to whomsoever he likes：but I shall always think my baby the most beautiful of them all."

｛中文閱讀｝

朱庇特通知森林中所有動(dòng)物，要給那些他認(rèn)為擁有最漂亮子孫的動(dòng)物頒獎(jiǎng)。母猴懷里抱著一只扁鼻無毛、相貌丑陋的小猴子，與其它動(dòng)物一起來到朱庇特那里參加評獎(jiǎng)。當(dāng)大家看到那只小猴子時(shí)，發(fā)出一陣哄堂大笑。但是，母猴卻抱緊了自己的孩子，堅(jiān)定地說：“朱庇特或許會(huì)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)他最喜歡的那一個(gè)，但是，我堅(jiān)定地認(rèn)為自己的孩子就是最最漂亮的那一個(gè)。”

FATHER AND SONS

父親和兒子

A certain man had several Sons who were always quarrelling with one another，and，try as he might，he could not get them to live together in harmony.So he determined to convince them of their folly by the following means.Bidding them fetch a bundle of sticks，he invited each in turn to break it across his knee.All tried and all failed：and then he undid the bundle，and handed them the sticks one by one，when they had no difficulty at all in breaking them."There，my boys，"said he，"united you will be more than a match for your enemies：but if you quarrel and separate，your weakness will put you at the mercy of those who attack you."

Union is strength.

｛中文閱讀｝

有一個(gè)人生養(yǎng)了幾個(gè)兒子，可是兒子們之間總愛爭吵不休，父親無論做什么，都無法使兒子們和睦相處。于是，他決定用下面的方法來說服兒子們。他讓兒子們?nèi)硪焕δ景簦蠹逸喠髟囍孟ドw折斷它們。幾個(gè)兒子分別試了一下，可是都失敗了。接著，他拆開那捆木棒，一根一根地交給兒子們，這時(shí)，他們便毫不費(fèi)力地折斷了木棒。“看吧，我的孩子，”他說，“你們?nèi)裟荦R心協(xié)力，便可與敵人抗衡。但是，如果你們之間不團(tuán)結(jié)且各自為營，那么這個(gè)弱點(diǎn)就會(huì)使你們?nèi)斡蓴橙藬[布了。”

團(tuán)結(jié)就是力量。

THE LAMP

油燈

A Lamp，well filled with oil，burned with a clear and steady light，and began to swell with pride and boast that it shone more brightly than the sun himself.Just then a puff of wind came and blew it out.Some one struck a match and lit it again，and said，"You just keep alight，and never mind the sun.Why，even the stars never need to be relit as you had to be just now."

｛中文閱讀｝

有一盞裝滿油的油燈，在燃燒時(shí)發(fā)出了清晰穩(wěn)定的亮光。油燈開始洋洋得意起來，以為自己發(fā)出的光比太陽光還要亮得多。就在這時(shí)，一陣風(fēng)吹來，燈馬上被吹滅了。有人過來又點(diǎn)燃了它，并說道：“你就好好亮著吧，永遠(yuǎn)不要去想太陽。為什么？因?yàn)榧幢闶切切牵膊粫?huì)像你剛才一樣被風(fēng)吹滅。”

THE OWL AND THE BIRDS

貓頭鷹和百鳥

The Owl is a very wise bird；and once，long ago，when the first oak sprouted in the forest，she called all the other Birds together and said to them，"You see this tiny tree？If you take my advice，you will destroy it now when it is small：for when it grows big，the mistletoe will appear upon it，from which birdlime will be prepared for your destruction."Again，when the first flax was sown，she said to them，"Go and eat up that seed，for it is the seed of the flax，out of which men will one day make nets to catch you."Once more，when she saw the first archer，she warned the Birds that he was their deadly enemy，who would wing his arrows with their own feathers and shoot them.But they took no notice of what she said：in fact，they thought she was rather mad，and laughed at her.When，however，everything turned out as she had foretold，they changed their minds and conceived a great respect for her wisdom.Hence，whenever she appears，the Birds attend upon her in the hope of hearing something that may be for their good.She，however，gives them advice no longer，but sits moping and pondering on the folly of her kind.

｛中文閱讀｝

貓頭鷹是一種非常聰明的鳥。很久以前，第一只貓頭鷹開始在森林里扎根繁衍時(shí)，她召集起所有的鳥類，對他們說：“你們看到這棵小樹了嗎？要是愿意聽從我的建議，在它還沒長成大樹之前，就先毀掉它。因?yàn)楫?dāng)它長成參天大樹之后，就會(huì)出現(xiàn)槲寄生，繼而你們就等著被專門捕鳥的粘圈毀滅吧。”當(dāng)亞麻種子第一次出現(xiàn)在森林里時(shí)，她又對鳥兒們說：“去吃掉那些種子，因?yàn)檫@是亞麻種子，要是沒有亞麻，人類就無法織網(wǎng)來捕鳥了。”還有一次，當(dāng)她第一次看到弓箭手時(shí)，就提醒鳥兒們注意這是它們的死敵，因?yàn)槿藗儠?huì)用帶有鳥類羽毛的箭來射死鳥類。但是，鳥兒們并沒有將她的話放在心上，正相反，鳥兒們還嘲笑她是個(gè)瘋子。然而，當(dāng)事實(shí)正如貓頭鷹預(yù)言的那樣依次出現(xiàn)時(shí)，鳥兒們開始改變自己的思想了，并且大大佩服并贊賞貓頭鷹的智慧。由此，只要貓頭鷹一出現(xiàn)，鳥兒們就會(huì)趨之若鶩，想聽到一些對自己有益的忠言。不過，貓頭鷹已經(jīng)不再提出忠告，而只是百無聊賴地坐在那里，沉浸在自己心中的遐想之中。

THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN

披著獅皮的驢

An Ass found a Lion's Skin，and dressed himself up in it.Then he went about frightening every one he met，for they all took him to be a lion，men and beasts alike，and took to their heels when they saw him coming.Elated by the success of his trick，he loudly brayed in triumph.The Fox heard him，and recognised him at once for the Ass he was，and said to him，"Oho，my friend，it's you，is it？I，too，should have been afraid if I hadn't heard your voice."

｛中文閱讀｝

一頭驢發(fā)現(xiàn)了一張獅子的皮，于是就披到身上。他走出去嚇唬其它動(dòng)物，所有見到他的人和動(dòng)物都把他當(dāng)成了獅子，嚇得四處逃跑。驢見自己的詭計(jì)得逞了，興奮地大叫起來。狐貍聽到了他的聲音，立刻認(rèn)出這是一頭驢，于是就對他說：“哦，朋友，這才是真正的你，是嗎？要不是聽到了你的聲音，我也被你嚇著了。”突然一陣風(fēng)刮來，把驢身上披著的獅皮吹走了，驢子原形畢露。這時(shí)，動(dòng)物們見此情形，又都跑回來，用木板和棍棒狠狠地打他。

THE SHE-GOATS AND THEIR BEARDS

母山羊和她們的胡須

Jupiter granted beards to the She-Goats at their own request，much to the disgust of the he-Goats，who considered this to be an unwarrantable invasion of their rights and dignities.So they sent a deputation to him to protest against his action.He，however，advised them not to raise any objections."What's in a tuft of hair？"said he."Let them have it if they want it.They can never be a match for you in strength."

｛中文閱讀｝

朱庇特答應(yīng)了母山羊的請求，讓她們也長出胡須，但是公山羊?qū)Υ朔浅２桓吲d，抱怨女人無理侵犯他們的權(quán)利和尊嚴(yán)。因此，為了反對這一舉動(dòng)，他們派出代表向朱庇特抗議。不過，朱庇特勸他們不要提出任何異議。“一綹毛發(fā)能算什么呢？”朱庇特說道，“如果她們想要，就讓她們擁有吧。但是她們的力量永遠(yuǎn)無法與你們匹敵。”