英语小故事

1、The Cock and the Jewel（公鸡和宝石）

A cock, scratching in the farmyard for food for the hens, turned up a precious stone that shone and sparked in the sun.

"Well," said the Cock, "I don’t know what you are doing here. You are a very beautiful thing, and no doubt if your owner found you he would be delighted, but you are no good to me. I would rather have one grain of delicious barley than all the precious stones under the sun!"

MORAL: Judge thins by their true value.

公鸡在农家的庭院里用爪子搔呀刨呀，为母鸡觅食。他从地里翻出了一粒宝石，那粒宝石在阳光下闪闪发光。

“喂！”公鸡说，“我不知道你在这儿干吗。你是一个挺美丽的玩意儿。如果你被主人发现，毫无疑问，他一定会喜出望外，可是，你对我却没有丝毫用处。我情愿要一棵美味的大麦，而不要天下所有的宝石。”

The Fox and the Tiger（狐狸和老虎）

An Archer, hunting in the woods, was so successful with his arrows that he killed many of the wild animals. This frightened the rest so much that they ran into the densest part of the bushes to hide. At last the Tiger stood up, and pretending to be very brave, told the other animals not to be afraid anymore, but to rely on his courage, and he would attack the enemy on his own. While he was talking, and lashing his tail and tearing at the ground with his claws to impress the others, an arrow came and pierced his ribs. The Tiger howled with pain.

While he was trying to draw out the arrow with his teeth the Fox went up to him and asked, in surprise, whoever had the strength and courage to wound such a brave and mighty beast as the Tiger?

"Nay," said the Tiger, "I misjudged my enemy. It was that unbeatable man over there!"

MORAL: Knowledge is power.

狐狸和老虎

一个射手正在森林里打猎。他的箭法好极了，射死了许多野兽。这可大大地吓坏了余下的动物，它们都跑到最茂盛的灌木丛中躲藏起来。最后，老虎站了起来，装着非常勇敢的样子叫其余的动物相信它的勇敢，不必再害怕。它将独个儿向敌人进攻。它一边说着，一边甩动着它的尾巴，并用它的爪子刨着地上的泥土，想使别人更信任它。就在这时，一枝箭飞来，刺穿了他的肋骨，老虎顿时痛得吼叫起来。

正当它尽力用牙齿拔出身上的箭时，狐狸走上前来吃惊地问道：“谁能有这样的力气和胆量来伤害象老虎这样勇敢而强有力的野兽呢？”

“不，”老虎说，“我错误地判断了我的敌人，是那边那个不可战胜的人打败了我。”

Dad: I can't find my watch, children.

孩子们，我的手表不见了。

Amy: Where did you put it last night, Dad?

爸爸，你昨晚把它放哪儿啦？

Dad: I can't remember.

我记不起来了。

Matt: Is it in your bed?

在不在你的床上？

Dad: No.

不在。

Amy: Is it in the drawer?

在抽屉里吗？

Dad: No, I've looked for it everywhere. It should be at home.

不，我到处找过了。它应该在家里。

Matt: Do you wear it?

你是不是戴上了？

Dad: Oh, yes. How stupid I am!

啊，是的。我真笨！

The Old Cat

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."

一位老妇有只猫，这只猫很老，它跑不快了，也咬不了东西，因为它年纪太大了。一天，老猫发现一只老鼠，它跳过去抓这只老鼠，然而，它咬不住这只老鼠。因此，老鼠从它的嘴边溜掉了，因为老猫咬不了它。

于是，老妇很生气，因为老猫没有把老鼠咬死。她开始打这只猫，猫说：“不要打你的老仆人，我已经为你服务了很多年，而且还愿意为你效劳，但是，我实在太老了，对年纪大的不要这么无情，要记住老年人在年青时所做过的有益的事情。”

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."

断尾的狐狸

一只狐狸的尾巴被夹住了，当他试着脱身的时候，挣断了整条尾巴。

开始时，他看到其他狐狸的时候感到很羞愧。后来，他决定面对这种不幸，就召集了所有的狐狸开会。

大家到齐后，他极力劝说其他狐狸也割掉尾巴，说尾巴在遭遇敌人时很不方便，尾巴一点儿作用也没有。

可他没有说有尾巴的任何好处。

一只老狐狸站出来说：“如果你没有失去你的尾巴，你是不会来劝大家都割去尾巴的。”

寓意: 有些人为了自己的利益而劝告他人，我们不能轻信他们的意见。

An unlucky fox fell into a well. It was quite deep, so he could not get out by himself..

A goat passed by. He asked the fox what he was doing in the well. "Oh, have you not heard?" said the fox. "There is going to be a great drought, so I jumped down to get some water. Why don’t you come down here too?"

The goat believed his words, and jumped down into the well.

But the fox immediately jumped on the goat’s back and up to the edge of the well. "Good-bye, friend," said the fox. "Remember next time don’t trust the advice of a man in difficulties."

狐狸和山羊

一只不走运的狐狸，失足掉到了井里。井很深，他无法跳出来。

一只山羊经过这里，便问狐狸在井下做什么。狐狸说：“哦，你没有听说吗？这里将要大旱，因此我跳进来取水，为什么你不下来一起喝呢？”

山羊相信了狐狸的话，就真的跳进井里。狐狸立即跳上山羊的背，又一跳，跳上了井沿。

“再见，朋友，”狐狸说，“记住，不要相信一个身陷麻烦的人的建议。”

寓意: 处于困境之中的人为了摆脱困境，往往不惜牺牲别人的利益，所以他们的建议常常是不可信的。

A wolf wanted to eat the sheep, but he was afraid of the vigilant shepherd and his dogs.

One day the wolf found the skin of a sheep. He put it on and walked among the sheep.

A lamb thought that the wolf was its mother because his skin looked like hers. So it followed the wolf.

Soon after they had left the dogs, the wolf came at the lamb and ate it up. For some time he succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying hearty meals.

披着羊皮的狼

狼想吃羊，但是他害怕警惕的牧羊人和牧羊犬。

有一天狼发现了一块羊皮，便披着它混入羊群。

一只小羊羔把这只披着羊皮的狼误认为自己的妈妈，被领出了羊群。