讀點好英文:Seven Lions and a Cow 七只獅子和一頭牛

Seven Lions and a Cow 七只獅子和一頭牛

There were seven lions who were friends to a cow. One day, the lions invited the cow for a meal.They prepared lots of meat to share with the cow.However, the cow could not eat the meat but he remained quiet about it and thanked the lions for their hospitality.

Later, the cow invited the lions to be his guests. The seven lions saw big bundles of fresh grass when they reached the cow's house.They were very surprised.“Don't you have any meat?Are you going to serve us with grass only?Don't you know that we eat meat?”

The cow said nervously，“I think grass tastes better than meat. Try it and see.”

“When you were invited as our guest, we did not force you to take the meat，”the lions said，“and we did not ask you to try it. But here you are asking us to try eating the grass.If you were sincere about inviting us for a meal, you would prepare food in favor of the guests.Without meat to eat, how could it be a feast?”

“But where could I get meat?”the cow argued.

The lions said，“It is definitely discourteous！You invited us as your guests but starve us. If anyone else were to treat us like this, we would tear him into pieces.Since you are our friend, we will be kind to you and eat only one of your legs.”

The cow knew very well that he could not argue with them any more and he trembIed as he said，“That's very kind of you.”

The lions bit off one of the cow's legs and enjoyed eating it while he was left there bleeding to death.

Soon the lions said，“Since the cow is dead, we may as well finish him.”Thus they continued feasting on the cow.

A fox passed by and wanted to have a taste of the delicious meat too. So he sneaked in quietly and carried away the cow's heart.He hid himself behind a tree to enjoy his food.

When the seven lions had eaten up the whole cow, they asked among themselves，“Where is the cow's heart?Do you mean the cow has no heart at all?”

The fox came out from his hiding place and said，“You're wrong！He has a heart but no brain. Or else he would not be friends with you at all.”

七只獅子和一頭牛做了朋友。有一天，獅子們邀請牛到它們家里來做客。獅子們準(zhǔn)備了一大堆鮮肉，請牛一塊兒吃。然而，牛雖然不吃肉，但它盡力不讓獅子看出來，還不斷地向獅子道謝，多謝它們的款待。

后來輪到牛請獅子了。當(dāng)七只獅子到牛家時發(fā)現(xiàn)在它們面前只有一大堆新鮮的草。獅子們非常驚訝。“你沒有準(zhǔn)備肉嗎？你不是真的要請我們吃草吧？你忘了我們是食肉動物嗎？”

牛緊張地說：“依我看來，草比肉好吃得多。你們嘗嘗看?！?/p>

“我們請客時，可沒有一定要你吃肉，”獅子們說，“我們沒有對你說‘你嘗嘗’，可你卻要我們嘗試吃草。要是你真想請客，就應(yīng)該預(yù)備好客人喜愛吃的東西。沒有肉，算什么宴會啊？”

“但是叫我到哪兒去找肉呢？”牛生氣地說。

獅子說：“這真是極端的無禮！請我們來做客，結(jié)果卻叫我們挨餓。要是別人像你這樣做的話，我們早就把它撕成碎片了。可你是我們的朋友，所以我們對你特別寬厚，只吃你的一條腿算了?！?/p>

牛知道跟它們爭論是沒有用的，只得渾身顫抖地說：“你們待我真好?！?/p>

獅子便咬下可憐的牛的一條腿，開始吃起來。牛因為流血過多，死了。

于是獅子說：“反正這只牛已經(jīng)死了，我們就把它的身體全吃光吧！”于是，它們就繼續(xù)大口吃起來。

有一只狐貍正好路過，它也想嘗嘗美味的牛肉。于是趁獅子沒注意，悄悄地上前叼走了牛的心，躲到樹后吃去了。

七只獅子把牛吃得連骨頭也沒剩下，它們互相問道：“這頭牛的心在哪兒？難道它根本沒有心嗎？”

這時候狐貍從躲藏的地方走了出來，說：“你們錯了，它有心卻沒有大腦。不然的話，它也不會跟你們做朋友。