老虎和柿子干

There was once a small and sleepy villagewith mountains all around. A tiger lived on themountain behind the village. Whenever heclimbed to the top of the mountain and shouted，people in the village were scared and trembled2.

On a winter night， when all the worldseemed to be covered with snow， the tigerclimbed down. He had not eaten for severaldays and was very， very hungry. As he waslooking for food， he came near the window of ahouse. Just then a baby began crying loudly.

Just as the tiger， looking around carefully，was about to get in the house， he heard the voiceof a woman， “Keep quiet. The fox... the bear isjust outside the window.”But the baby didn’tnotice the mother’s threats3 and went on crying.

Crouching4 down below the window ofthe house， the tiger thought，“That’s a strangebaby. I wonder5 what he looks like. He isnot afraid of a fox or even a bear.”Feelingvery hungry again， the tiger stood up. Thebaby was still crying.

“Oh， look， look...”came the mother’svoice， “here comes a tiger！ He’s there，just under the window...” But the babywent on crying.

The tiger was so shocked6 and scaredthat he fell on the ground and almostfainted7.“How on earth does she know thatI am here？” the tiger said to himself.Taking a breath after a while， the tigerlooked into the house again. The baby wasstill crying. He did not show any sign ofbeing afraid of a tiger， either.

The tiger had never seen an animalwhich wasn’t afraid of him. He had alwaysthought that all the animals of the worldcould not but tremble at the very mention8of his name. But this strange baby did notcare. Nothing seemed to make him afraid，even a tiger！

Now， the tiger began to feel worried. Atthat very moment， the mother’s voice washeard again， “Now， keep quiet. Here youare... dried persimmons！ ”The baby stoppedcrying at once. It was very silent9. Not eventhe sound of breathing was heard. The tigerwondered，“Who is Persimmons？ He must bemore powerful10 and ferocious11 than me.”The tiger was both worried and scared.

Just then something heavy fell on hisback. The tiger ran for his life， sure thatwhat had jumped on his back was none otherthan the terrible persimmon.

Actually， what had jumped on hisback was a thief12 who had come to steal13the cow. He had jumped from the top ofthe house， mistaking14 the tiger for a cowin the dark.

The thief was taken aback15， too. Hewas scared to death16 when he realized thatthe animal he was riding was not a cow，but a tiger.

The tiger ran fast to throw the“persimmon” off his back. But the thiefheld on tightly17 to the tiger’s back， as heknew that the moment he fell， the tigerwould tear18 him to pieces.

Luckily， on the road， there came a treehe could reach out to. So he caught it，climbed up， and hid himself in the tree. Hehad at last run away from the tiger’s back，to his great relief19.

The tiger was relieved20， too.“Great，”said he. “My life is saved. The persimmonis really a terrible animal.”So he ran backto his home in the mountains.

从前有一座安静的小村庄，四面环山。一只老虎住在村子后面的山上。每当它爬到山顶大吼时，村里的人都吓得发抖。

在一个冬天的晚上，当整个世界似乎都被雪覆盖时，老虎下山了。它已经好几天没吃东西了，非常非常饿。在寻找食物时，它来到了一所房子的窗边。就在这时，一个婴儿开始大声啼哭。

正当老虎小心地四处张望后准备进屋时，它听到一个女人的声音说：“安静。有只狐狸……熊就在窗外。”但是婴儿不在意妈妈的威胁，继续哭。

老虎蹲在房子的窗户下面，心想：“这是个奇怪的婴儿。我想知道他长什么样。他不怕狐狸，甚至不怕熊。”老虎又觉得很饥饿，就站了起来。婴儿还在哭。

“哎呀，快看，快看……”母亲的声音传来，“来了一只老虎！它在那儿，就在窗户下面呢……”但是婴儿继续哭。

老虎又惊又怕，以至于摔倒在地上，差点晕倒。“她究竟是怎么知道我在这里的？”老虎自言自语道。过了一会儿，老虎深吸了一口气，又往房子里看了看。婴儿仍在哭，还是没有表现出任何害怕老虎的迹象。

老虎从未见过不害怕它的动物。它一直认为，一提到它的名字，世界上所有的动物都不能不颤抖。但是这个奇怪的婴儿不在乎。似乎没有什么能让它害怕，即使是一只老虎！

现在，老虎开始担心了。

就在这时，母亲的声音再次响起：“现在，保持安静。给你……干柿子！”婴儿立刻停止了哭泣。里面非常安静，甚至连呼吸的声音也听不见。老虎很纳闷：“柿子是谁？他一定比我更强大，更凶残。”老虎既担心又害怕。

就在这时，一个沉重的东西落在了它的背上。老虎开始逃命，它确信跳到自己背上的不是别人，正是那个可怕的柿子。

实际上，跳到它背上的是一个来偷牛的小偷。他从屋顶上跳了下来，在黑暗中把老虎当成了一头牛。

小偷也吃了一惊。当他意识到自己骑的动物不是牛而是一头老虎时，吓得要死。

老虎飞快地跑起来，想把背上的“柿子”甩下去。但是小偷紧紧地抓着老虎的背，因为他知道一摔下来，老虎就会把自己撕成碎片。

幸运的是，路边有一棵他可以伸手够到的树。于是他抓住树爬了上去，藏在了树上。他终于逃离了老虎的后背，这让他松了一大口气。

老虎也松了口气。“太好了。”它说，“总算捡回一条命。柿子真是一种可怕的动物。”于是它跑回了山里的家。

（英语原文选自：pitara.com）