Can You Tell Them Apart?你能分清吗？

Words: 鹿林深

Butterfly or Moth?

蝴蝶还是蛾子？

小知识

1. Dark 作为名词有“黑暗”“暗处”的意思；作为形容词有“黑暗的”“深色的”“暗色的”等意思。

2. Place 作为名词有“位置”“场所”等意思；作为动词有“放置”“安顿”等意思。

The Lion and the Mouse

Once when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down upon him; this soon woke the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him, and opened his big jaws to swallow him. “Pardon, O King,” cried the little Mouse, “forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows but what I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?” The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw and let him go. Some time after the Lion was caught in a trap, and the hunters who desired to carry him alive to the King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a waggon to carry him on. Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, went up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts. “Was I not right?” said the little Mouse.

Little friends may prove great friends.

狮子与老鼠

从前有一只狮子，他正在休息时被一只上蹿下跳的小老鼠吵醒了。狮子用他的大爪子抓住老鼠，张大嘴要吞掉它。“等一下，我的陛下，饶了我这次吧，我永远不会忘了您的大恩大德，总有一天我会回报您的。”狮子被老鼠的话逗乐了，抬起爪子放走了它。不久，狮子掉进了猎人的陷阱中，猎人们高兴坏了，要把他活捉献给国王。他们去找马车的时候先把狮子绑在了树上，就在这时，老鼠恰巧经过。看到狮子的窘境，老鼠上前撕咬起了绳子，很快就把百兽之王救了出来。小老鼠说道：“我没说错吧？”

小朋友却能帮大忙。

Key points

bound 束缚 desire 希望 do one a (good) turn 帮某人忙 gnaw away 咬断

plight 困境 tickle 逗乐 trap 陷阱 waken 弄醒

The Hares and the Frogs

The Hares were so persecuted by the other beasts, they did not know where to go. As soon as they saw a single animal approach them, off they used to run. One day they saw a troop of wild Horses stampeding about, and in quite a panic all the Hares scuttled off to a lake hard by, determined to drown themselves rather than live in such a continual state of fear. But just as they got near the bank of the lake,a troop of Frogs, frightened in their turn by the approach of the Hares, scuttled off and jumped into the water. “Truly,”said one of the Hares, “things are not so bad as they seem.”

There is always someone worse off than yourself.

野兔和青蛙

野兔们深受其他走兽的迫害，不知该何去何从。每当看到有动物经过，他们通常都纷纷而逃。一天，看到一群野马呼啸而过，野兔们受到巨大的惊吓，一路小跑到湖边，决定：就是集体跳湖自尽，也比整日担惊受怕地生活要强。就在他们跑到湖边时，一群青蛙却受到了他们的惊吓，纷纷跳入了湖中。“其实，”一只野兔说道，“事情并不像看上去那么糟。”

世上总有人比你更惨。

Key points

bank 河岸；银行

quite 非常，很

drown 淹死

scuttle 快跑，急走

frighten 使惊恐

stampede 狂奔，涌向

hard by 在附近，紧挨着

troop 一群

panic 惊慌

本栏目选自《伊索寓言：汉英对照》，由现代出版社有限公司授权选载。