1. the dog in the manger(牛槽裡的狗)
once a dog was taking a nap in the manger of an ox. it was full of hay. but soon the ox came back from his work to the manger. he wanted to eat his own hay. then the dog awoke, stood up and barked at the ox. the ox said to the dog, “do you want to eat this hay, too?”
“of course not,” said the dog.
“then, go away and let me eat my own hay.”
“oh, no. you go away and let me sleep.”
“what a selfish dog! he will neither eat the hay himself, nor let me eat it !” said the ox to himself.
2.the lion, the bear and the fox(獅子、熊與狐狸)
long ago a lion and a bear saw a kid. they sprang upon it at the same time. the lion said to the bear, “i caught this kid first, and so this is mine.”
"no, no," said the bear.“i found it earlier than you, so this is mine.” and they fought long and fiercely. at last both of them got very tired and could no longer fight.
a fox who hid himself behind a tree not far away and was watching the fight between the lion and the bear, came out and walked in between them, and ran off with the kid.
the lion and the bear both saw the fox, but they could not even catch the fox.
the lion said to the bear, “we have fought for nothing. that sly fox has got the kid away.”
3.the boys and the frogs(男孩與青蛙)
one spring day some naughty boys were playing near a pond. they began to throw stones into the water. in the pond lived many frogs were much afraid of the boys, for the stones hurt some of the frogs. at last an old frog lifted his head out of the water and said, “boys, please don’t throw stones at us.”
the boys said, “we are only playing.” “i know that, but please stop throwing stones, my boys. what is play to you is death to us,” said the old frog.
so the boys stopped throwing stones and went away.
4.the two travelers(兩個旅人)
many years ago two men were traveling together they were walking along a road in the wood.
then they found a beautiful ax on the ground. one of them picked it up and said, “look here have found an ax.”
“don't say i, but we have found the ax,” said the other “we are friends. we ought to share it between us.”
“no,” said the first one, “i found the ax, so it is mine.”
soon after they heard someone running after them. they looked back. they found he called out, “stop, thieves! stop, thieves !”
the first traveler said, “what shall we do? he is running after us. we shall be caught by him.” “don't say we, but i shall be caught. you found the ax, and you say it is yours,” said the other, and left him alone.