THE STAG IN THE OX-STALL

牛棚里的雄鹿

A Stag，chased from his lair by the hounds，took refuge in a farmyard，and，entering a stable where a number of oxen were stalled，thrust himself under a pile of hay in a vacant stall，where he lay concealed，all but the tips of his horns.Presently one of the Oxen said to him，"What has induced you to come in here？Aren't you aware of the risk you are running of being captured by the herdsmen？"To which he replied，"Pray let me stay for the present.When night comes I shall easily escape under cover of the dark."In the course of the afternoon more than one of the farm-hands came in，to attend to the wants of the cattle，but not one of them noticed the presence of the Stag，who accordingly began to congratulate himself on his escape and to express his gratitude to the Oxen."We wish you well，"said the one who had spoken before，"but you are not out of danger yet.If the master comes，you will certainly be found out，for nothing ever escapes his keen eyes."Presently，sure enough，in he came，and made a great to-do about the way the Oxen were kept."The beasts are starving，"he cried；"here，give them more hay，and put plenty of litter under them."As he spoke，he seized an armful himself from the pile where the Stag lay concealed，and at oncedetected him.Calling his men，he had him seized at once and killedfor the table.

｛中文閱讀｝

一只雄鹿被獵狗趕出了巢穴，只得躲進(jìn)一個(gè)農(nóng)家小院里。他闖進(jìn)了一個(gè)滿是公牛的牛棚里，拼命擠進(jìn)空牛欄的干草堆中，藏了起來(lái)，但是他的鹿角卻一直露在外面。不久，一頭公牛對(duì)他說(shuō)：“是什么原因讓你到這里來(lái)自投羅網(wǎng)呢？待在這里很危險(xiǎn)，會(huì)被牧人抓走的，你知不知道？”雄鹿回答說(shuō)：“求求你，就讓我在這里待一會(huì)兒吧。當(dāng)夜幕降臨后，我就能有機(jī)會(huì)在黑暗中逃走了。”整個(gè)下午都很平安，雖然有幾個(gè)雇工來(lái)牛棚照料牛群，但是沒有一個(gè)人注意到雄鹿的存在，雄鹿一邊暗自慶幸可以平安逃走，一邊對(duì)公牛表示感激。“我們都希望你能平安，”先前曾和雄鹿講話的那頭公牛又開口了，“但是，你還沒有完全脫離危險(xiǎn)。如果主人來(lái)了，你可能就會(huì)被發(fā)現(xiàn)，因?yàn)闆]有什么能逃出他的眼睛。”正說(shuō)著，農(nóng)場(chǎng)主來(lái)了，開始抱怨工人沒有好好照料牛群。“牲口都餓著呢，”他大喊道，“這里再多加點(diǎn)干草，要給他們足夠的鋪墊。”他一邊說(shuō)著話，一邊查看著雄鹿躲身的干草堆，立刻就認(rèn)出了雄鹿。于是，他叫來(lái)幫工，立刻抓住雄鹿并殺死它美餐了一頓。

THE MILKMAID AND HER PAIL

擠奶女孩和她的桶

A farmer's daughter had been out to milk the cows，and was returning to the dairy carrying her pail of milk upon her head.As she walked along，she fell a-musing after this fashion："The milk in this pail will provide me with cream，which I will make into butter and take to market to sell.With the money I will buy a number of eggs，and these，when hatched，will produce chickens，and by and by I shall have quite a large poultry-yard.Then I shall sell some of my fowls，and with the money which they will bring in I will buy myself a new gown，which I shall wear when I go to the fair；and all the young fellows will admire it，and come and make love to me，but I shall toss my head and have nothing to say to them."Forgetting all about the pail，and suiting the action to the word，she tossed her head.Down went the pail，all the milk was spilled，and all her fine castles in the air vanished in a moment！

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

｛中文閱讀｝

一個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)主的女兒擠完牛奶后，頭頂著一桶牛奶，從田野里走回農(nóng)莊。她邊走邊開始想入非非：“從這桶牛奶里可以得到奶酪，也能得到奶油，就可以拿到市場(chǎng)上去賣。用賣得的錢，我還可以買回一些雞蛋。這些雞蛋還可以再孵出成群的小雞。如此算來(lái)，我就能擁有一個(gè)大型的家禽場(chǎng)了。然后，我再賣掉那些牲畜，用賣得的錢，我就能買一條漂亮的長(zhǎng)裙子，可以穿著到集市上去；年輕的小伙子們都會(huì)贊美裙子，都會(huì)過(guò)來(lái)向我示愛，而我卻要搖搖頭，什么也不說(shuō)。”想到這里，她完全忘記了頭頂上的桶，配合著自己的想法，她真的搖起頭來(lái)。結(jié)果，頭頂上的牛奶桶掉在了地上，所有的牛奶都灑出來(lái)了，她的美妙幻想也隨之消失了。

不要高興得太早。

THE DOLPHINS，THE WHALES，AND THE SPRAT

海豚、鯨和西鯡魚

The Dolphins quarreled with the Whales，and before very long they began fighting with one another.The battle was very fierce，and had lasted some time without any sign of coming to an end，when a Sprat thought that perhaps he could stop it；so he stepped in and tried to persuade them to give up fighting and make friends.But one of the Dolphins said to him contemptuously，"We would rather go on fighting till we're all killed than be reconciled by a Sprat like you！"

｛中文閱讀｝

海豚與鯨爭(zhēng)吵起來(lái)，他們之間已經(jīng)爭(zhēng)斗了很久。戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)進(jìn)一步升級(jí)，并且越打越猛烈，根本沒有一點(diǎn)要停的跡象，有一條西鯡魚認(rèn)為自己或許能夠調(diào)停他們的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，便過(guò)去準(zhǔn)備勸他們停止?fàn)幎罚蔀榕笥选５牵ｋ噍p蔑地對(duì)他說(shuō)：“我們寧可爭(zhēng)斗到同歸于盡，也不會(huì)讓一條像你這樣的西鯡魚來(lái)調(diào)解！”

THE FOX AND THE MONKEY

狐貍和猴子

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 cemetery 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 pointed to the tombs and replied，"All the monuments that you see here were put up in honor of my forefathers，who in their day were eminent 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 brag most when they cannot be detected.

｛中文閱讀｝

狐貍與猴子同行，一路上都在爭(zhēng)吵誰(shuí)的家世更高貴。他們各自堅(jiān)持著夸耀自己，邊說(shuō)邊來(lái)到一個(gè)路邊滿是墓碑的地方。這時(shí)，猴子停下來(lái)，四處觀望，然后放聲大哭。“你為什么這樣呀？”狐貍忙問(wèn)道。猴子指著那些墓碑，說(shuō)：“你在這里看到的所有墓碑都是我祖先的榮譽(yù)，他們當(dāng)時(shí)可都是杰出的人士！”狐貍沉默了一會(huì)兒，但是很快就反駁道：“噢！接著吹吧，先生，不會(huì)有人揭穿你的——我相信，他們之中沒有人能站起來(lái)反駁你。”

謊言無(wú)法被揭穿時(shí)，吹牛者便會(huì)夸夸其談。