THE LION AND THE MOUSE

獅子與報(bào)恩的老鼠

A Lion asleep in his lair was waked up by a Mouse running over his face.Losing his temper he seized it with his paw and was about to kill it.The Mouse，terrified，piteously entreated him to spare its life."Please let me go，"it cried，"and one day I will repay you for your kindness."The idea of so insignificant a creature ever being able to do anything for him amused the Lion so much that he laughed aloud，and good-humouredly let it go.But the Mouse's chance came，after all.One day the Lion got entangled in a net which had been spread for game by some hunters，and the Mouse heard and recognized his roars of anger and ran to the spot.Without more ado it set to work to gnaw the ropes with its teeth，and succeeded before long in setting the Lion free."There！"said the Mouse，"you laughed at me when I promised I would repay you：but now you see，even a Mouse can help a Lion."

｛中文閱讀｝

獅子在自己的窩里睡著了，卻被一只跑到他臉上的老鼠吵醒了。獅子非常生氣，用爪子抓住老鼠，準(zhǔn)備弄死他。戰(zhàn)戰(zhàn)兢兢的老鼠請(qǐng)求獅子饒了他的性命。“求你放了我吧，”老鼠哭喊道，“我肯定會(huì)報(bào)答你的恩情。”一個(gè)不足掛齒的小生命肯為自己做任何事，獅子被如此無(wú)意義的想法逗笑了，便隨和地放他走了。不久，老鼠報(bào)恩的機(jī)會(huì)終于來(lái)了。有一天，獅子被獵人們布好的大網(wǎng)纏住了，憤怒地大吼起來(lái)，老鼠聽(tīng)到了獅子的哀嚎，迅速趕來(lái)。老鼠輕松地走過(guò)去開(kāi)始噬咬繩索，很快就成功地放走了獅子。老鼠說(shuō)：“看吧！當(dāng)我許諾要報(bào)答你時(shí)，你還嘲笑我；現(xiàn)在你可看到了，即便一只小老鼠也能幫助一頭大獅子。”

THE CROW AND THE PITCHER

烏鴉和水罐

A thirsty Crow found a Pitcher with some water in it，but so little was there that，try as she might，she could not reach it with her beak，and it seemed as though she would die of thirst within sight of the remedy.At last she hit upon a clever plan.She began dropping pebbles into the Pitcher，and with each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it reached the brim，and the knowing bird was enabled to quench her thirst.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

｛中文閱讀｝

一只口渴的烏鴉發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)大水罐，雖然里面沒(méi)有多少水，但畢竟也能解解渴，于是她想盡辦法用自己的長(zhǎng)喙去接觸水面，然而，盡管救命之水就在跟前，可她卻無(wú)能為力。最后，她想出一條妙計(jì)。烏鴉開(kāi)始用嘴叼著石子投到水罐里，每丟進(jìn)去一粒石子，水面就會(huì)上升一點(diǎn)。終于，水面上升到了烏鴉的嘴邊，她高興地喝到了水，解了口渴。

需求是發(fā)明之母。

THE BOYS AND THE FROGS

男孩和青蛙

Some mischievous Boys were playing on the edge of a pond，and，catching sight of some Frogs swimming about in the shallow water，they began to amuse themselves by pelting them with stones，and they killed several of them.At last one of the Frogs put his head out of the water and said，"Oh，stop！stop！I beg of you：what is sport to you is death to us."

｛中文閱讀｝

幾個(gè)淘氣的孩子在水池邊玩耍，淺水中正在游泳的幾只青蛙映入了他們的眼簾，他們便用石頭去打青蛙，以此作為消遣娛樂(lè)。甚至于，他們還打死了幾只青蛙。最后，一只青蛙從水中伸出頭來(lái)，說(shuō)：“住手！住手！求你們不要再打了。對(duì)你們來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一個(gè)活動(dòng)，可是對(duì)于我們來(lái)說(shuō)，卻是致命一擊啊。”

THE NORTH WIND AND THE SUN

北風(fēng)與太陽(yáng)

A dispute arose between the North Wind and the Sun，each claiming that he was stronger than the other.At last they agreed to try their powers upon a traveler，to see which could soonest strip him of his cloak.The North Wind had the first try；and，gathering up all his force for the attack，he came whirling furiously down upon the man，and caught up his cloak as though he would wrest it from him by one single effort：but the harder he blew，the more closely the man wrapped it round himself.Then came the turn of the Sun.At first he beamed gently upon the traveler，who soon unclasped his cloak and walked on with it hanging loosely about his shoulders：then he shone forth in his full strength，and the man，before he had gone many steps，was glad to throw his cloak right off and complete his journey more lightly clad.

Persuasion is better than force.

｛中文閱讀｝

北風(fēng)與太陽(yáng)爭(zhēng)論不休，雙方都在強(qiáng)調(diào)自己的能量更大。最后，他們一致贊同在一個(gè)行人身上試驗(yàn)自己的力量，看看誰(shuí)能夠最快速地讓行人脫下衣服。北風(fēng)先開(kāi)始發(fā)威，他用盡全身力氣攻擊行人，猛烈的旋風(fēng)向著行人襲來(lái)，并且拖住他的衣角以便使行人身上的衣服自行脫落；然而，風(fēng)吹得越猛烈，這個(gè)行人越是緊緊裹住了自己的衣服。接下來(lái)，該太陽(yáng)上場(chǎng)了。太陽(yáng)開(kāi)始溫和地照耀著行人，行人很快就邊走邊解開(kāi)衣服上的扣子，將其松散地搭在肩上；接著，太陽(yáng)強(qiáng)烈地發(fā)光射向大地，已經(jīng)走了很久的行人開(kāi)心地脫掉衣服，輕裝上陣。

溫和的說(shuō)服勝于蠻橫的武力。

THE MISTRESS AND HER SERVANTS

女主人和仆人

A Widow，thrifty and industrious，had two servants，whom she kept pretty hard at work.They were not allowed to lie long abed in the mornings，but the old lady had them up and doing as soon as the cock crew.They disliked intensely having to get up at such an hour，especially in winter-time：and they thought that if it were not for the cock waking up their Mistress so horribly early，they could sleep longer.So they caught it and wrung its neck.But they weren't prepared for the consequences.For what happened was that their Mistress，not hearing the cock crow as usual，waked them up earlier than ever，and set them to work in the middle of the night.