短篇英语寓言小故事

　　The charcoal-burner and the fuller 烧炭工和漂洗工

　　There was once a charcoal1-burner who lived and worked by himself. A fuller, however, happened to come and settle in the same neighbourhood; and the charcoal-burner, having made his acquaintance and finding he was an agreeable sort of fellow, asked him if he would come and share his house: "We shall get to know one another better that way," he said, "and, beside, our household expenses will be diminished." The fuller thanked him, but replied, "I couldn't think of it, sir: why, everything I take such pains to whiten would be blackened in no time by your charcoal."

　　从前，有一个自力更生的烧炭工人独自在家做工作。碰巧，一个漂洗工搬至隔壁，与他成了邻居。结实漂洗工后，烧炭工人经过了解发现，这个邻居是一个很好的合作伙伴，就问漂洗工愿不愿意搬到他的铺子里一起工作。“那样我们会更加亲密。”烧炭人说：“不仅如此，我们还可以节省生活开销呢?”漂洗工谢绝了他，回答说：“我可不这样看，先生，因为不管我的衣服漂洗的多么白，都会立刻被你的木炭染黑了。”

　　The cage-bird and the bat 笼子里的鸟与蝙蝠

　　A singing-bird was confined1 in a cage which hung outside a window, and had a way of singing at night when all other birds were asleep. One night a bat came and clung2 to the bars of the cage, and asked the bird why she was silent by day and sang only at night. "I have a very good reason for doing so," said the bird: "it was once when I was singing in the daytime that a fowler was attracted by my voice, and set his nets for me and caught me. Since then I have never sung except by night." But the bat replied, "It is no use your doing that now when you are a prisoner. If only you had done so before you were caught, you might still have been free."

　　Precautions3 are useless after the event.

　　一只画眉鸟被囚禁在窗外挂着的一个笼子里，当其他鸟儿都酣睡时，她却在夜里唱歌。有一个夜晚，蝙蝠飞过来，抓住鸟笼的栅栏，问她为什么白天默默无声，却在夜里放声歌唱。小鸟回答说：“我这样做是有道理的，曾经有一次，当我在白天唱歌时，一个捕鸟人被我的歌声吸引，就用鸟笼子捉住了我。从此我只在夜里歌唱。”可是，蝙蝠却说：“你现在这样做根本没用了，因为你已经成为阶下囚。若是在被捉住之前这样做就好了，那样或许你依然是自由之身!”

　　待事情发生之后再预防，为时已晚。

　　The Pack-Ass,the Wild Ass and the Lion 家驴、野驴和狮子

　　A wild ass1 saw a pack-ass jogging along under a heavy load, and taunted2 him with the condition of slavery in which he lived, in these words: "What a vile3 lot is yours compared with mine! I am free as the air, and never do a stoke of work; and, as for fodder4, I have only to go to the hills and there I find far more than enough for my needs. But you! You depend on your master for food, and he makes you carry heavy loads every day and beats you unmercifully." At that moment a lion appeared on the scene, and made no attempt to molest5 the pack-ass owing to the presence of the driver, but he fell upon the wild ass, who had no one to protect him, and without more ado made a meal of him.

　　It is no use being your own master unless you can stand up for yourself.

　　一头野驴看到一头家驴背负这沉重的货物一路小跑，便讥讽他过着奴隶般的生活：“和我相比，你过得多么卑微呀!我自由自在地享受着大自然，从不下苦力，说道食物，我只需要跑到山上去，就能发现大量吃的东西。再看看你!只能依靠主人施舍吃点，他不仅每天都让你驮重物，还无情地鞭打你。”这时，一只狮子出现在他们的视野中，由于驴夫的出现，狮子没有骚扰家驴，直接扑向了没有保护者的野驴，立即吃掉了野驴。

　　除非能照顾好自己，否则做自己的主人一点用也没有。

　　Drunk 好孩子

　　小罗伯特向妈妈要两分钱。

　　“昨天给你的钱干什么了?”

　　“我给了一个可怜的老太婆，”他回答说。 “你真是个好孩子，”妈妈骄傲地说。“再给你两分钱。可你为什么对那位老太太那么感兴趣呢?”

　　“她是个卖糖果的。”

　　One day, a father and his little son were going home. At this age, the boy was interested in all kinds of things and was always asking questions. Now, he asked, "What's the meaning of the word 'Drunk', dad?" "Well, my son," his father replied, "look, there are standing two policemen. If I regard the two policemen as four then I am drunk."

　　"But, dad," the boy said, " there's only ONE policeman!"