【第一篇：金絲雀與蝙蝠】
A bird was confined in a cage outside a window. She often sang at night when all other birds were asleep.
One night a bat came. He asked the bird why she was silent by day and sang only at night.
The bird answered, “Last year when I was singing in the daytime, a bird catcher heard my voice and caught me in his net.Since then I have never sung by day.” The bat replied, "But it is useless to do this now that you have become a prisoner." Then he flew away.
【譯文】
金絲雀與蝙蝠
掛在窗口籠里的金絲雀，經(jīng)常在鳥兒睡著的夜里歌唱。
一天晚上，蝙蝠來(lái)了，飛過(guò)來(lái)問(wèn)她為什么白天安靜無(wú)聲，夜里卻要歌唱。
金絲雀回答說(shuō)：“去年我在白天唱歌時(shí)，捕鳥人聽到我的歌聲抓住了我。從此，我再也不在白天唱歌了�！彬鹫f(shuō)：“你現(xiàn)在才懂得謹(jǐn)慎已沒(méi)用了，你若在變?yōu)榍敉街熬投茫窃摱嗪醚?”說(shuō)完就飛走了。
寓意: 我們應(yīng)該在危險(xiǎn)發(fā)生之前就提高警覺，因?yàn)槲ｋU(xiǎn)一旦發(fā)生，我們?cè)僭鯓有⌒囊矝](méi)有用了。
【第二篇：沒(méi)有尾巴的狐貍】
A fox's tail was caught in a trap. When he was trying to release himself, he lost his whole tail except the stump.
At first he was ashamed to see the other foxes because he had no tail, but he was determined to face his misfortune. He called all the foxes to a meeting.
When they had gotten together, the fox said that they should all do away with their tails.
He said that their tails were very inconvenient when they met with their enemies. He did not talk about any advantages of the tail. "You are right," said one of the older foxes, "but I don’t think you would advise us to do away with our tails if you hadn't lost it yourself first."
【譯文】
沒(méi)有尾巴的狐貍
一只狐貍的尾巴被夾住了，當(dāng)他試著脫身的時(shí)候，掙斷了整條尾巴。
開始時(shí)，他看到其他狐貍的時(shí)候感到很羞愧。后來(lái)，他決定面對(duì)這種不幸，就召集了所有的狐貍開會(huì)。
大家到齊后，他極力勸說(shuō)其他狐貍也割掉尾巴，說(shuō)尾巴在遭遇敵人時(shí)很不方便，尾巴一點(diǎn)兒作用也沒(méi)有。
可他沒(méi)有說(shuō)有尾巴的任何好處。一只老狐貍站出來(lái)說(shuō)：“如果你沒(méi)有失去你的尾巴，你是不會(huì)來(lái)勸大家都割去尾巴的。
【第三篇：守株待兔】
Once upon a time there was a farmer who worked hard in the fields every day.One day,while he was ploughing the fields,he heard a bumping sound. He saw a dead rabbit .He thought to himself ,"Since it is so easy to get a rabbit like that, why should I work so hard all day long"He threw his hoe away and lay by the tree everyday,dreaming for more rabbits to come.When he finally realized his foolish,he starved to death.
The story told us no pain ,no gain , no one can reap where one has not sown.
【譯文】
守株待兔
從前有一個(gè)農(nóng)民每天在地里辛苦勞作。一天他正在耕地時(shí)聽到撞擊聲;他看到一只兔子躺在樹旁。他撿起一看是一只肥大的兔子，他自言自語(yǔ)地說(shuō)：“既然這么容易撿到兔子，為什么我要整天辛苦勞作呢?”他扔掉鋤頭，每天躺在樹邊，夢(mèng)想有兔子來(lái)。當(dāng)他最終意識(shí)到他的愚蠢返回地里時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)他的稻谷全死了。
這個(gè)故事告訴我們，我們不能等著機(jī)會(huì)和運(yùn)氣帶來(lái)的不可預(yù)料的收獲，也就是說(shuō)，我們希望不勞而獲。
