Monu Saves His Friend莫努救友

Monu the mongoose1 crawled2 out of the ditch3 in the back garden. Hismother was already out with his three little brothers. They had long bodies withshort legs. They did things fast. They were already good hunters4 like their mother.

But Monu was not smart like his brothers. He didn’t like chasing5 mice andgarden rats like they did. He didn’t even like to go for frogs and lizards. And hedisliked snakes most of all！ His brothers laughed at him.“Little coward6！ ”theylaughed at him.“Poor scared baby！ ”

Monu thought chasing grasshoppers were fun. It was also fun to climb up treesand look inside birds’nests7. Monu liked the taste of birds’eggs. And he likedeating roots and berries. But his brothers said that it was a disgrace8 to be socoward. They fought with snakes and often killed them.

Monu’s brothers liked meat best. All of them had sharp9 teeth. It was veryuseful for tearing10 meat and cutting them up into pieces. They did it when theyattacked11 rats， mice and frogs.

“Ma， why do you keep chasing rats and mice like a cat？”Monu asked one day.“I don’t，”said his mother.“The cat attacks mice on the sly12. We don’t！ We alwaysattack animals openly and directly. Why ask？ All you ever do is eating eggs andberries. You should have been a bird and not a mongoose！ ”said Monu’s brothers.

猫鼬莫努从后花园的水沟里爬了出来。它的母亲已经和它的三个弟弟出去了。它们有长长的身体和短短的腿。它们动作敏捷。它们已经像它们的母亲一样是优秀的猎手了。

但是莫努不像它的兄弟们那样聪明。它不喜欢像它们那样追逐小老鼠和花园里的大老鼠。它甚至不喜欢去抓青蛙和蜥蜴。它最不喜欢蛇！它的兄弟们都嘲笑它。“小懦夫！”它们笑它，“可怜的受惊宝宝！”

莫努认为追逐蚱蜢很有趣，爬到树上看看鸟巢里面也很有趣。莫努喜欢鸟蛋的味道。它喜欢吃树根和浆果。但是它的兄弟们说，如此懦弱是一种耻辱。它们和蛇搏斗，经常杀死它们。

莫努的兄弟们最喜欢吃肉。它们都有锋利的牙齿，对于把肉撕开和嚼碎非常有用。当它们攻击老鼠和青蛙时，它们就是这样做的。

“妈，你为什么像猫一样不停地追逐老鼠？”一天，莫努问。“我才没有呢。”它妈妈说。“猫总是偷偷地攻击老鼠。我们不会！我们总是公然而直接地攻击其他动物。为什么问这个？你只会吃鸡蛋和浆果。你应该是一只鸟而不是一只猫鼬！”莫努的兄弟们说。

Monu’s eyes filled with tears. He couldn’t help being different！ He was surethere were other mongooses like him. Unluckily， he didn’t know any！

“Don’t laugh at him，”said their mother.“He is very young yet. I’m sure he， too，will catch a snake some day and we’ll all be proud13 of him.”“Monu catches asnake！ ”laughed the others.“He hasn’t even killed a little mouse as yet！ ”

Monu’s brothers were smart and fast. He often watched them play with snakes.They never got bitten by them. To them it was an exciting game. The hair on theirbody bristled14 whenever they were excited. And it made them look much larger thanthey actually were. Then， just as the snake lowered15 its head to attack， one of hisbrothers would hit the back of the snake’s head， killing it. It was really clever.

The gardener16 did not chase the mongoose family. He left them alone. Monuonce heard him telling his son that they were very useful because they killed rats，mice， snakes， insects and scorpions17.

Monu liked the gardener’s son. He often gave him nuts and berries. And hecalled Monu his friend. Monu’s brothers did not like human beings. They laughed atMonu about his human friend.

One afternoon Monu was all alone in the garden. Thegardener’s son was fast asleep under a tree. Monu saw acobra18 crawling near by. It was very close to the gardener’sson. Would it bite him？ Monu jumped up and was on top ofthe cobra and then hit the back of its head just like he hadseen his brothers do. Taken by surprise， the cobra died onthe place. Monu looked as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Just then Monu’s mother rushed into the garden.“Monu， have you killed this cobra？”she cried excitedly，“None of your brothers did that. I’m proud of you！ ”Monusmiled happily. He had saved his friend from being bitten.

莫努的眼里充满了泪水。它无法控制自己与众不同！它确信还有其它像它一样的猫鼬。不幸的是，它一个也没见过！

“不要嘲笑他。”它们的母亲说，“他还很年轻。我相信他有一天也会抓到一条蛇，我们都会为他感到骄傲。”“莫努抓到蛇？！”其它猫鼬笑着说，“他甚至连一只小老鼠都没有杀死过！”

莫努的兄弟们既聪明又敏捷。它经常看到它们玩蛇。它们从来没有被咬过。对它们来说，这是一场激动人心的比赛。每当它们兴奋起来时，它们身上的毛发就会竖起来。这让它们看起来比实际大得多。然后，就在蛇低下头准备攻击的时候，其中一个兄弟会攻击蛇的后脑，一击毙命。这种做法真的很聪明。

园丁没有驱逐猫鼬一家，而是任它们自生自灭。莫努曾经听到他告诉他儿子，说它们非常有用，因为它们可以杀死老鼠、蛇、昆虫和蝎子。

莫努喜欢园丁的儿子。他经常给莫努喂坚果和浆果，称莫努为他的朋友。莫努的兄弟们不喜欢人类。它们嘲笑莫努的人类朋友。

一天下午，莫努独自在花园里。园丁的儿子在树下熟睡。莫努看到一条眼镜蛇在附近爬行。它离园丁的儿子很近。它会咬他吗？莫努跳起来，在眼镜蛇的上方，然后打在它的后脑上，就像它看到它的兄弟们所做的那样。猝不及防之下，眼镜蛇当场死亡。莫努看起来似乎不敢相信自己的眼睛。

就在那时，莫努的妈妈冲进了花园。“莫努，你杀了这条眼镜蛇吗？”它激动地喊道，“你的兄弟们一个都没有做到。我为你骄傲！”莫努开心地笑了。它救了它的朋友，让他不被毒蛇咬伤。