貪婪的旅行者

馮萍

Once， there was an old tiger that could no longer hunt. One morning， he stood by a lake and held a gold bracelet2 in one paw3. He was shouting， “Ladies and Gentlemen！A gold bracelet for my kindness.”

曾經(jīng)一只老虎，它老了，不能抓捕獵物了。一天早上，它站在湖邊，一個(gè)爪子拿著一只金手鐲，喊道：“女士們，先生們，為表善意，我獻(xiàn)出一只金手鐲?！?/p>

A traveler， passing by， liked the gold bracelet. However， he was scared of the tiger.

一個(gè)旅行者剛好經(jīng)過，他很喜歡這個(gè)金手鐲，但是他怕老虎。

The traveler said， “How can I believe that you would not harm me？”

旅行者說：“我怎么能相信你不會(huì)傷害我呢？”

The tiger replied， “I admit that when I was young， I was wicked4 and killed many cows and human beings. Then a holy man advised me to give alms5. So， now I take a bath and give things for the sake of kindness. Besides， I’ve gone old. My teeth and claws have fallen off. So， what do you fear？”

老虎回答道：“我承認(rèn)，我年輕的時(shí)候，我是作惡多端，吃了很多牛和人。后來一個(gè)圣人建議我多行布施。所以現(xiàn)在我洗了個(gè)澡，為表善心，我把這些東西給別人。而且，我老了，我的牙齒和爪子掉了，你有什么好怕的呢？”

The traveler believed him and went into the lake， but got struck in the deep mud.

旅行者相信了老虎，向湖走去，但是他深陷泥漿，不得動(dòng)彈。

When the tiger saw this， he comforted him. “Oh！Don’t worry. I’ll help you，” he said， and slowly waded6 towards the traveler and grabbed7 him.

老虎看到了，寬慰旅行者說：“?。〔灰獡?dān)心，我來幫助你吧。”他說著，慢慢地朝旅行者趟水走過去，抓住了他。

Soon after that， the tiger killed the traveler and ate him up.

很快，老虎咬死了旅行者，并把他吞下了肚。

Moral： You must not risk your life for the sake of greed.

寓意：不能因?yàn)樨澙范ッ吧奈ｋU(xiǎn)。