The Fox and the Grapes

One hot summer’s day a certain Fox saw a juicy bunch of Grapes hanging from a vine.It certainly was very hot, and the Fox was thirsty for something to drink. “These Grapes are just what I need to quench my thirst! ” said the Fox.

But the vine on which the Grapes hung was too high for him to reach even with his longest stretch. So he decided to jump.

Drawing back a few paces, he ran towards the vine and took a great big leap, but missed the Grapes.

Turing around, he jumped again. This time too, with no success.

The Fox tried to jump for the Grapes again and again and yet again and again, in vain.

Since he could not reach the delicious-looking Grapes, the Fox finally concluded, “These Grapes must be sour! ”and walked away with his nose in the air, through hotter and even thirstier than before!

狐狸与葡萄

夏季炎热的一天，一只狐狸看见葡萄藤上挂着一串串晶莹剔透的葡萄。天确实很热，狐狸渴得找东西喝。“这些葡萄正是我要解渴的东西！”狐狸说。

但葡萄藤太高，即使狐狸伸长了脖子也够不着。因此他决定跳一跳。

狐狸后退了几步，朝着葡萄藤跑过去并猛烈地跳起来，然而他没有够着葡萄。

狐狸转过身又跳了一次，但同样没有成功。

狐狸一次一次地跳起来够葡萄，然而一次一次地失败告终。

既然他够不着可口的葡萄，狐狸最后总结道：“这些葡萄肯定很酸！”虽然他比刚才更热更渴，但他非常高傲地走开了！

The Two Pots

There were once two pots floating down the river. One shined happily in the sun while the other looked dull and unpleasant from being wet in the water.

That because one pot was made of brass and the other was made of clay. “Please do not come near me!” said the clay pot to the brass one.

“Why not? We could be friends,” said the brass pot.

“No,” replied the clay pot, “I am to fragile. If you touch me even once I will break into pieces. I must stay far from you and cannot think of being your friend. Please go away, you will find someone downstream just like you to play with!”

The brass pot, disappointed and sad, then floated away as the river took him across to another corner of the river bank, while the clay pot wet and cold in the wind, seemed to suddenly grow a shade gloomier.

两只罐子

从前，河中漂着两只罐子。一只在阳光下闪闪发光，另一只却因浸了河水儿显得沉闷、难看。

这是因为一只罐子是用黄铜做成的，而另一只罐子由陶土做成的缘故。“请不要靠近我！”陶罐对铜罐说。

“为什么?我们可以成为朋友。”铜罐说。

“不行，”陶罐回答，“我太脆，你只要碰我一下，我就会成为碎片。我必须远离你，想都不敢想成为你的朋友。请离开我，你可以在下游找到跟你一样的人去玩！”

铜罐又失望又伤心，随后被河水冲着，漂到了河岸的另一角；而陶罐在风中又冷又湿，看上去忽然更加灰暗。

The Fox Who Had Lost His Tail

A Fox who was caught in a trap escaped, but in so doing, he lost his tail. After that, he felt his life a burden from the shame and ridicule to which he was exposed, so he planned to make all the other Foxes believe that being tailless was much more attractive. In this way, he could make up for his own loss of the tail.

He gathered a good many Foxes and publicly advised them to cut off their tails. He said that they would not only look much better without them, but they would get rid of the weight of the brush, which was a very great inconvenience.

One of them interrupted him and said, “If you had not yourself lost your tail, my friend, you would not thus advise us.”

断尾的狐狸

一只狐狸被捕兽器夹住，虽然成功地逃脱了，却因此丢掉了尾巴。有了这次奇耻大辱，他觉得自己脸上无光，生活得很累，所以他计划说服其他的狐狸，让他们相信没有尾巴更有魅力，以此弥补自己失去的尾巴。

他将许多狐狸召集到一起，公开建议大家砍掉尾巴。他说这样一来不仅更加雅观，而且使他们摆脱了那个一点儿也不方便的笨重刷子。

有只狐狸打断他的话说：“朋友，如果你自己没有失去尾巴的话，你就不会这样规劝我们了。”

The Lion and the Mouse 狮子与报恩的老鼠

A LION was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up angrily, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying: "If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness." The Lion laughed and let him go. It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar, came and gnawed the rope with his teeth and set him free, exclaiming:

"You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favor; now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to con benefits on a Lion."

狮子睡着了，有只老鼠跳到了他身上。狮子猛然站起来，把他抓住，准备吃掉。老鼠请 求饶命，并说如果保住性命，必将报恩，狮子轻蔑地笑了笑，便把他放走了。不久，狮子真 的被老鼠救了性命。原来狮子被一个猎人抓获，并用绳索把他捆在一棵树上。老鼠听到了他 的哀嚎，走过去咬断绳索，放走了狮子，并说：

“你当时嘲笑我，不相信能得到我的报答， 现在可清楚了，老鼠也能报恩。” 这故事说明，时运交替变更，强者也会有需要弱者的时候。

The Wolf and the Lamb 狼与小羊

WOLF, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf's right to eat him. He thus addressed him: "Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me." "Indeed," bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, "I was not then born." Then said the Wolf , "You feed in my pasture." "No, good sir," replied the Lamb, "I have not yet tasted grass." Again said the Wolf, "You drink of my well." "No," exclaimed the Lamb, "I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me." Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, "Well! I won't remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations."

The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.

一只小羊在河边喝水，狼见到后，便想找一个名正言顺的借口吃掉他。于是他跑到上 游，恶狠狠地说小羊把河水搅浑浊了，使他喝不到清水。小羊回答说，他仅仅站在河边喝 水，并且又在下游，根本不可能把上游的水搅浑。狼见此计不成，又说道：“我父亲去年被 你骂过。”小羊说，那时他还没有出生。狼对他说：“不管你怎样辩解，反正我不会放过 你。”

这说明，对恶人做任何正当的辩解也是无效的。

伊索寓言中的经典故事 - - 英汉对照