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| 《伊索寓言》 |
| 来源：不详 作者：佚名 时间：2006-9-1 16:35:55 字号选择：大 中 小 |
up for his own deprivation. He assembled a good many Foxes and
publicly advised them to cut off their tails, saying that they
would not only look much better without them, but that they would
get rid of the weight of the brush, which was a very great
inconvenience. One of them interrupting him said, "If you had
not yourself lost your tail, my friend, you would not thus
counsel us."
The Boy and the Nettles
A BOY was stung by a Nettle. He ran home and told his Mother,
saying, "Although it hurts me very much, I only touched it
gently." "That was just why it stung you," said his Mother. "The
next time you touch a Nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will be
soft as silk to your hand, and not in the least hurt you."
Whatever you do, do with all your might.
The Man and His Two Sweethearts
A MIDDLE-AGED MAN, whose hair had begun to turn gray, courted two
women at the same time. One of them was young, and the other
well advanced in years. The elder woman, ashamed to be courted
by a man younger than herself, made a point, whenever her admirer
visited her, to pull out some portion of his black hairs. The
younger, on the contrary, not wishing to become the wife of an
old man, was equally zealous in removing every gray hair she
could find. Thus it came to pass that between them both he very
soon found that he had not a hair left on his head.
Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.
The Astronomer
AN ASTRONOMER used to go out at night to observe the stars. One
evening, as he wandered through the suburbs with his whole
attention fixed on the sky, he fell accidentally into a deep
well. While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and
cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning
what had happened said: "Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to
pry into what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on
earth?'
The Wolves and the Sheep
"WHY SHOULD there always be this fear and slaughter between us?"
said the Wolves to the Sheep. "Those evil-disposed Dogs have
much to answer for. They always bark whenever we approach you
and attack us before we have done any harm. If you would only
dismiss them from your heels, there might soon be treaties of
peace and reconciliation between us." The Sheep, poor silly
creatures, were easily beguiled and dismissed the Dogs, whereupon
the Wolves destroyed the unguarded flock at their own pleasure.
The Old Woman and the Physician
AN OLD WOMAN having lost the use of her eyes, called in a
Physician to heal them, and made this bargain with him in the
presence of witnesses: that if he should cure her blindness, he
should receive from her a sum of money; but if her infirmity
remained, she should give him nothing. This agreement being
made, the Physician, time after time, applied his salve to her
eyes, and on every visit took something away, stealing all her
property little by little. And when he had got all she had, he
healed her and demanded the promised payment. The Old Woman,
when she recovered her sight and saw none of her goods in her
house, would give him nothing. The Physician insisted on his
claim, and. as she still refused, summoned her before the Judge.
The Old Woman, standing up in the Court, argued: "This man here
speaks the truth in what he says; for I did promise to give him a
sum of money if I should recover my sight: but if I continued
blind, I was to give him nothing. Now he declares that I am
healed. I on the contrary affirm that I am still blind; for when
I lost the use of my eyes, I saw in my house various chattels and
valuable goods: but now, though he swears I am cured of my
blindness, I am not able to see a single thing in it."
The Fighting Cocks and the Eagle
TWO GAME COCKS were fiercely fighting for the mastery of the
farmyard. One at last put the other to flight. The vanquished
Cock skulked away and hid himself in a quiet corner, while the
conqueror, flying up to a high wall, flapped his wings and crowed
exultingly with all his might. An Eagle sailing through the air
pounced upon him and carried him off in his talons. The
vanquished Cock immediately came out of his corner, and ruled
henceforth with undisputed mastery.
Pride goes before destruction.
The Charger and the Miller
A CHARGER, feeling the infirmities of age, was sent to work in a
mill instead of going out to battle. But when he was compelled
to grind instead of serving in the wars, he bewailed his change
of fortune and called to mind his former state, saying, "Ah!
Miller, I had indeed to go campaigning before, but I was barbed
from counter to tail, and a man went along to groom me; and now I
cannot understand what ailed me to prefer the mill before the
battle." "Forbear," said the Miller to him, "harping on what was
of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups
and downs of fortune."
The Fox and the Monkey
A MonKEY once danced in an assembly of the Beasts, and so pleased
them all by his performance that they elected him their King. A
Fox, envying him the honor, discovered a piece of meat lying in a
trap, and leading the Monkey to the place where it was, said that
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