The Tortoise and the Eagle乌龟与鹰   

 

A TORTOISE, lazily basking in the sun, complained to the  sea-birds of her hard fate, that no one would teach her to fly.   An Eagle, hovering near, heard her lamentation and demanded what  reward she would give him if he would take her aloft and float  her in the air. "I will give you," she said, "all the riches of the Red   Sea ." "I will teach you to fly then," said the Eagle; and taking her   up in his talons he carried her almost to the clouds suddenly he let   her go, and she fell on a lofty mountain, dashing her shell to pieces  . The Tortoise exclaimed in the moment of death: "I have deserved  my present fate; for what had I to do with wings and clouds, who   can with difficulty move about on the earth?'   

If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined.     

乌龟看见鹰在空中飞翔，便请求鹰教他飞行。鹰劝告他，说他不能飞行。可乌龟再三恳 求，鹰便抓住他，飞到高空，然后将他松开。乌龟落在岩石上，被摔得粉身碎骨。    

这故事说明，那些好高鹜远，不切实际的人必将失败。  

 

The Flies and the Honey-Pot苍蝇与蜜   

 

A NUMBER of Flies were attracted to a jar of honey which had   been overturned in a housekeeper's room, and placing their feet in  it, ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with the  honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves,   and were suffocated. Just as they were expiring, they exclaimed,   "O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we  have destroyed ourselves."   

Pleasure bought with pains, hurts.       房里有蜜漏流出来，许多苍蝇便飞去饱餐起来。蜂蜜太甜美了，他们舍不得走。然而， 就在这时他们的脚被蜜粘住，再也飞不起来了。他们后悔不已，嗡嗡乱叫：“我们真不幸， 因贪图一时的享受而丧了命。”    

对于许多人来说，贪婪是许多灾祸的根源。 

 

The Man and the Lion人与同行的狮子   

 

A MAN and a Lion traveled together through the forest. They soon  began to boast of their respective superiority to each other in  strength and prowess. As they were disputing, they passed a  statue carved in stone, which represented "a Lion strangled by a  Man." The traveler pointed to it and said: "See there! How strong  we are, and how we prevail over even the king of beasts." The  Lion replied: "This statue was made by one of you men. If we  Lions knew how to erect statues, you would see the Man placed  under the paw of the Lion."   

One story is good, till another is told.       

有一天，狮子与人同行赶路，他们互相吹嘘自己。在路上，他们看见一块石碑，石碑上 刻着一个人征服几头狮子的图画。那人一边指给狮子看，一边说：“你看，事实证明我们比 你们强得多了吧。”狮子笑着说道：“如果狮子们会雕刻，那么你就会看见众多人倒在狮子 脚下。”    

这故事是说，那些自己毫无本事的人却喜欢常常在别人面前炫耀自己。 

 

 

SOME CRANES made their feeding grounds on some plowlands  newly sown with wheat. For a long time the Farmer, brandishing an  empty sling, chased them away by the terror he inspired; but when  the birds found that the sling was only swung in the air, they   ceased to take any notice of it and would not move. The Farmer,  on seeing this, charged his sling with stones, and killed a great  number. The remaining birds at once forsook his fields, crying  to each other, "It is time for us to be off to Liliput: for this man is   no longer content to scare us, but begins to show us in earnest   what he can do."  

 If words suffice not, blows must follow.