Long, long ago there lived two animals -- a cat and a monkey. One day the monkey found some chestnuts in a fire. He wanted very much to eat them, but was afraid of burning his hand. So he took the cat to the fire and said: "Ah! How good those chestnuts smell! Cat, my dear friend, your paws are made just like man's hands. You are the only one who can pull the nuts from the fire. Why don't you try it?"

　　The cat was flattered by the monkey's praise. She was willing to do anything for him. So she put her paw and began to pull the chestnuts out of the fire. She burned her paw each time she pulled a nut out.

　　"How fine it is to have hands like a man!" said the monkey. "Try to get some more. We'll share them."

　　So the cat went on pulling more and more chestnuts out of the fire. But when at last she turned for her share of the nuts, she found that the monkey had eaten them all.

　　这是我的高中英语课本第一册第3课的阅读文章《火中取栗》。

　　“火中取栗”最早出自公元前三世纪的《伊索寓言》，17世纪，法国作家拉·封丹用同一题材写了《猴子与猫》，cat's paw这句成语便流传开来

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