The Fox and the Crow
A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree. ‘That’s for me, as I am a Fox,’ said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. ‘Good-day, Mistress Crow,’ he cried. ‘How well you are looking to-day: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.’ The Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by Master Fox. ‘That will do,’ said he. ‘That was all I wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the future .’Do not trust flatterers.
一次，一個狐貍看到一只烏鴉嘴里銜著一塊奶酪飛過并停在了樹枝上。“那是給我的，因?yàn)槲沂且恢缓�。”狐貍說道，然后便走到樹腳邊。“早安，烏鴉女主人,”他哭著說“你今天看上去很好，你的羽毛很有光澤，你的眼睛也閃著光芒，我相信你的歌喉一定比其他鳥兒都好，就像你的羽毛一樣;請讓我聆聽你的歌聲，僅僅一首，也許我會把你尊為鳥中之后。”烏鴉聽了很高興，于是就開始展現(xiàn)自己最棒的一面，但是正當(dāng)她張開嘴，那塊奶酪就落到了地上，沒想到竟被狐貍搶走了�！靶辛�,”他說道“那是我想要的。那就用這奶酪交換一條對你未來的建議吧�！辈灰嘈欧畛姓摺�
An old woman had a cat. The cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it.
Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. She began to hit the cat. The cat said, "Do not hit your old servant. I have worked for you for many years, and I would work for you still, but I am too old. Do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young."
【譯文】
老貓
一位老婦有只貓，這只貓很老，它跑不快了，也咬不了東西，因?yàn)樗昙o(jì)太大了。一天，老貓發(fā)現(xiàn)一只老鼠，它跳過去抓這只老鼠，然而，它咬不住這只老鼠。因此，老鼠從它的嘴邊溜掉了，因?yàn)槔县堃Р涣怂?br> 于是，老婦很生氣，因?yàn)槔县垱]有把老鼠咬死。她開始打這只貓，貓說：“不要打你的老仆人，我已經(jīng)為你服務(wù)了很多年，而且還愿意為你效勞，但是，我實(shí)在太老了，對年紀(jì)大的不要這么無情，要記住老年人在年青時所做過的有益的事情�！�
