Words: 鹿林深

Butterfly or Moth?

蝴蝶還是蛾子？

小知識

1. Dark 作為名詞有“黑暗”“暗處”的意思；作為形容詞有“黑暗的”“深色的”“暗色的”等意思。

2. Place 作為名詞有“位置”“場所”等意思；作為動詞有“放置”“安頓”等意思。

The Lion and the Mouse

Once when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down upon him; this soon woke the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him, and opened his big jaws to swallow him. “Pardon, O King,” cried the little Mouse, “forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows but what I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?” The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw and let him go. Some time after the Lion was caught in a trap, and the hunters who desired to carry him alive to the King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a waggon to carry him on. Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, went up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts. “Was I not right?” said the little Mouse.

Little friends may prove great friends.

獅子與老鼠

從前有一只獅子，他正在休息時(shí)被一只上躥下跳的小老鼠吵醒了。獅子用他的大爪子抓住老鼠，張大嘴要吞掉它?！暗纫幌拢业谋菹?，饒了我這次吧，我永遠(yuǎn)不會忘了您的大恩大德，總有一天我會回報(bào)您的。”獅子被老鼠的話逗樂了，抬起爪子放走了它。不久，獅子掉進(jìn)了獵人的陷阱中，獵人們高興壞了，要把他活捉獻(xiàn)給國王。他們?nèi)フ荫R車的時(shí)候先把獅子綁在了樹上，就在這時(shí)，老鼠恰巧經(jīng)過?？吹姜{子的窘境，老鼠上前撕咬起了繩子，很快就把百獸之王救了出來。小老鼠說道：“我沒說錯(cuò)吧？”

小朋友卻能幫大忙。

Key points

bound 束縛 desire 希望 do one a (good) turn 幫某人忙 gnaw away 咬斷

plight 困境 tickle 逗樂 trap 陷阱 waken 弄醒

The Hares and the Frogs

The Hares were so persecuted by the other beasts, they did not know where to go. As soon as they saw a single animal approach them, off they used to run. One day they saw a troop of wild Horses stampeding about, and in quite a panic all the Hares scuttled off to a lake hard by, determined to drown themselves rather than live in such a continual state of fear. But just as they got near the bank of the lake,a troop of Frogs, frightened in their turn by the approach of the Hares, scuttled off and jumped into the water. “Truly,”said one of the Hares, “things are not so bad as they seem.”

There is always someone worse off than yourself.

野兔和青蛙

野兔們深受其他走獸的迫害，不知該何去何從。每當(dāng)看到有動物經(jīng)過，他們通常都紛紛而逃。一天，看到一群野馬呼嘯而過，野兔們受到巨大的驚嚇，一路小跑到湖邊，決定：就是集體跳湖自盡，也比整日擔(dān)驚受怕地生活要強(qiáng)。就在他們跑到湖邊時(shí)，一群青蛙卻受到了他們的驚嚇，紛紛跳入了湖中?！捌鋵?shí)，”一只野兔說道，“事情并不像看上去那么糟。”

世上總有人比你更慘。

Key points

bank 河岸；銀行

quite 非常，很

drown 淹死

scuttle 快跑，急走

frighten 使驚恐

stampede 狂奔，涌向

hard by 在附近，緊挨著

troop 一群

panic 驚慌

本欄目選自《伊索寓言：漢英對照》，由現(xiàn)代出版社有限公司授權(quán)選載。