The Dangerous Helper危险的帮手

In a dense1 forest， there was a lake. All the animals used to drink water fromthe lake. The water of this lake was so sweet that many fish lived there for longtime. In this lake there lived a crab. The crab’s best friend was a swan2. Thatswan was in the same lake. They were happy in the company of each other. Theirhappiness lasted until one day a snake made his home near the lake.

在一片茂密的森林中有一个湖。所有的动物都常喝湖里的水。这个湖的水很甜，许多鱼在那里生活了很长时间。湖里住着一只螃蟹。螃蟹最好的朋友是一只天鹅。那只天鹅也住在同一个湖里。他们在彼此的陪伴下很快乐。他们的快乐一直持续到有一天一条蛇在湖边安家。

Every day the swan laid an egg. The snake would come and eat it up.“Ihave to find a way to save my eggs，”thought the swan.

天鹅每天都下一个蛋。蛇就会过来把它吃了。“我必须想办法救我的蛋。”天鹅想。

One day， she went to the crab and said，“Please help me， dear friend. My eggsare under threat3. That cruel4 snake eats all the eggs in the nest. What can I do？”

一天，她走到螃蟹跟前说：“亲爱的朋友，请帮帮我吧。我的蛋受到了威胁。那条残忍的蛇吃掉了窝里所有的蛋。我该怎么办？”

The crab decided to help his best friend. He thought for a while.Then he said， “I have an idea. Let us catch some fish from this lakeand scatter5 them from the snake’s house till the mongoose6 house.”That mongoose lived in the nearby tree.

螃蟹决定帮帮他最好的朋友。他想了一会儿然后说：“我有个主意。让我们从湖里抓些鱼，把它们一路从蛇窝撒到猫鼬窝。”那只猫鼬就住在附近的树上。

Then， the crab and the swan caught some fish and dropped themfrom the mongoose’s house all the way to the snake’s house. Then bothof them hid behind a tree and watched. They waited for some time.After a long time， the mongoose came out. He saw the fish and wasoverjoyed. “Wow！ Fish right outside my own house！ ”he said， smacking7 his lips. He happily ate all of them one by one. As he atehe kept following the fish trail8 to the snake’s house. Finally， themongoose reached the house of the snake. Both the crab and the swanwere watching all these events， waiting behind the tree.

然后，螃蟹和天鹅抓了一些鱼，把它们从猫鼬窝一路撒到蛇窝。然后他们俩躲在一棵树后面看着。他们等了一会儿。过了很长时间，猫鼬出来了。他看到鱼，喜出望外。“哇！鱼就在我家门外！”他咂着嘴说。他高兴地把它们一条一条地吃掉了。他一边吃，一边顺着鱼的踪迹走到蛇的家。最后，猫鼬来到了蛇的家。螃蟹和天鹅都在树后观望着这一切。

When the snake saw the mongoose， he thought，“That mongoose ishere to attack9 me. I had better fight with him.”After some time， thesnake started to fight with the mongoose. They fought for some time andthe mongoose killed the snake.

当蛇看到猫鼬时，他想：“那只猫鼬是来攻击我的。我最好跟他打一架。”过了一会儿，蛇开始和猫鼬打架。他们打了一阵，猫鼬杀死了那条蛇。

Watching this behind the tree， the swan and the crab got a sigh of relief. Buttheir joy was short-lived. The next day， the mongoose， looking for more fish， cameupon the swan’s nest. There the mongoose found more eggs of the swan. Heimmediately ate all of them. The swan and the crab now felt helpless. They hadbrought this new threat upon themselves. They did not know that the mongoosewas the dangerous helper. “Our thoughtlessness10 has got us a new enemy， evenmore dangerous than the previous enemy，”cried the two friends.

在树后看到这一幕，天鹅和螃蟹松了一口气。但他们高兴得太早了。第二天，猫鼬在寻找更多的鱼，并来到了天鹅的巢。猫鼬在那里发现了更多天鹅的蛋。他立刻把它们都吃了。天鹅和螃蟹现在感到很无助。新的威胁是他们自找的。他们不知道猫鼬是危险的帮手。“我们的轻率给我们带来了一个新的敌人，他甚至比以前的敌人更危险。”两个朋友叫道。

After few days， they decided to form one more plan to get rid of thedangerous helper—mongoose. It is must be careful while fighting with an enemy.

几天后，他们决定再制定一个计划来摆脱这个危险的帮手———猫鼬。与敌人作战时必须慎之又慎。

（英语原文选自：english-for-students.com）