讀點(diǎn)好英文:The Crane and the Crab 鶴與螃蟹

The Crane and the Crab 鶴與螃蟹

One day, an old crane stood in the shallows of a lotus pond with a very dejected look upon his long face. A crab nearby noticed the troubled look on the old bird, and asked，“There are fish in this pond.How is it that you stand there as if you have given up the thought of ever eating?”

“I am sad，”said the old crane，“because I heard a terrible piece of news today. I overheard the fishermen in town saying that tomorrow they will come to this pond and drain it of every fish and every shell to the last periwinkle.When that happens, I am doomed for I shall have nothing to live on.My appetite has left me ever since and I am now resigning myself to dying of hunger.”

The fish in the pond overheard the crane, and they said to each other in their distress，“Since he and we have a common enemy in the fishermen, perhaps the wise crane can advise us what to do.”

They swam up to the long-legged bird and said，“Sir crane, can you tell us how we may save ourselves from this terrible plight?”

“There is only one way，”said the crane，“you must get to another pool before it is too late.”

“But how can we do that?”asked the fish.

“There is a protected pool nearby，”said the crane，“and if you wish I will carry you there one by one.”

The poor fish consulted among themselves and said，“Since there is nothing else we can do to save ourselves, we must make an alliance with our foe.”And they agreed to let the crane transport them one by one to the pool where they would be safe.

The wicked crane took the fish, one by one, to a lonely spot nearby, where he devoured them. He returned for more, reporting that all the others were now safe and happy in another pool.

Finally all the fish were gone, and the crab said，“Sir crane, take me also to that pool, for I wish to be with my friends, the fish.”

The greedy crane, who loved crab meat, carefully lifted the ten-legged creature and carried him off to the spot where he had devoured all the fish. But when the crab saw all the bones on the ground and realized how cunning the crane had been, he thought to himself，“I am undone！Yet when the wise are attacked, even if they see no hope of saving themselves, they still do not give up, but die fighting.”

Whereupon the crab fastened his pincer-like fore claws upon the crane's throat and tore at it until the crane perished.

一天，一只老鶴站在荷花池里的淺水處，它那張長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的臉上一副沮喪的神情。附近的一只螃蟹注意到老鶴的一臉憂愁，問(wèn)道：“這個(gè)池塘里有魚(yú)。你怎么呆呆地站在那兒，好像再也不想吃魚(yú)了。”

“我很傷心，”老鶴說(shuō)，“今天我聽(tīng)到了一個(gè)可怕的消息。我聽(tīng)城里的漁夫們說(shuō)，他們明天要來(lái)捕光所有的魚(yú)和甲殼動(dòng)物，連個(gè)玉黍螺也不剩，那樣我就死定了，因?yàn)槲覜](méi)東西吃了。從那時(shí)起我就沒(méi)胃口了，我現(xiàn)在就是順其自然，等著餓死?！?/p>

池塘里的魚(yú)聽(tīng)到鶴的話，很是憂傷地議論道：“它和我們的共同敵人是漁夫，或許聰明的鶴能告訴我們?cè)撛趺崔k?！?/p>

它們游到長(zhǎng)腿鶴跟前說(shuō)：“鶴先生，你能告訴我們?cè)鯓硬拍芴用撨@場(chǎng)可怕的災(zāi)難嗎？”

“只有一個(gè)辦法，”鶴說(shuō)，“你們必須及早到另一個(gè)池塘里去?！?/p>

“可是，我們?cè)趺慈ツ?？”魚(yú)問(wèn)。

“附近有一個(gè)被保護(hù)的池塘，”鶴說(shuō)，“要是你們?cè)敢?，我可以逐個(gè)兒把你們送過(guò)去?！?/p>

可憐的魚(yú)兒商量后說(shuō)：“要想活命咱們沒(méi)有別的辦法，只有和敵人結(jié)為同盟了?！庇谑?，它們同意由鶴把它們逐一送到安全的池塘。

這只陰險(xiǎn)邪惡的鶴把魚(yú)一條一條地銜到附近一個(gè)偏僻的地方，把它們吃掉了。然后又回來(lái)銜更多的魚(yú)，還說(shuō)那些魚(yú)在另一個(gè)池塘里很安全很快樂(lè)。

最后，魚(yú)都被銜走了。螃蟹說(shuō)：“鶴先生，也把我?guī)У侥莻€(gè)池塘里去吧，我想和我的魚(yú)朋友們?cè)谝黄??！?/p>

這只貪婪的鶴很喜歡吃螃蟹肉，它小心地銜著這只十條腿的動(dòng)物，把螃蟹帶到它吃魚(yú)的地方去。螃蟹看到地上的骨頭，立刻明白了鶴是多么狡猾，它心想：“我完了！但是智者被攻擊時(shí)，即使沒(méi)有生存的希望，也絕不會(huì)放棄，寧愿戰(zhàn)斗而死?！?/p>

想到此，螃蟹用它鉗子般的前螯扼緊鶴的喉嚨，不停地撕咬，直到鶴咽氣為止。

Practising&Exercise 實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升篇

單詞注解

pasture['pa：st??]n.牧草地，牧場(chǎng)

foId[f?uld]n.羊欄；羊圈

sufficient[s?'fi??nt]a.足夠的；充足的

abundantIy[?'b?nd?ntli]ad.豐富；大量地

cautious['k?：??s]a.小心的；謹(jǐn)慎的

distress[di'stres]n.悲痛；痛苦；苦惱；憂傷

實(shí)用句型

The goatherd scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him.

牧羊人責(zé)怪它們忘恩負(fù)義，就這樣棄他而去了。

My appetite has left me ever since and I am now resigning myself to dying of hunger.

從那時(shí)起我就沒(méi)胃口了，我現(xiàn)在就是順其自然，等著餓死。

智慧點(diǎn)津

Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for new ones.

不能讓老朋友無(wú)辜地為新朋友做出犧牲。

Harm set, harm get.

害人害己。