简单英语小故事

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.

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.”

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.”

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 an

d 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.

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.

The first traveler tried to hide the ax, but he did not know where to hide it. And at last

he was caught by the owner of the ax.

Ant And The Dove

（螞蟻與鴿子）

One day a little ant was walking along the bank of a stream. His foot slipped and he fell

into the water

. “Oh, help, help!” cried the ant. A dove was sitting on a branch of a tree over the

stream and heard his cry of help. “Oh, poor ant!” said the dove. “I will help the ant.”

The dove

pulled

off a leaf and

dropped it near the ant. “Here is a leaf.

Climb

on it,”

said the dove. The ant climbed on it at once and floated to the bank.

A few days after this a hunter found the dove and was going to shoot her. Just then the

ant passed by and said to himself, “This time I must help the dove.” The ant ran to the hunter and

bit his foot hard. The hunter sprang up and

missed to

shoot the dove. The

dove

said to the ant,

“Thank you very much, my little friend. You have saved my life,” and she could fly away happily.

6. The Cock And The Jewel

（公雞與寶石）

One fine morning, a cock said to the hens and chickens, “Come, let us go out to find some

food. We have not had our breakfast yet.”

Then

th

e

cock

began

to

dig

the

soft

earth.

Suddenly

he

cried,

“Look,

look!

I

have

found

something strange. I wonder what it is. It is like a ball. But it is

not a stone. It may be an egg of

some bird.”

The hens

heard his cry and came around him. One of them

said, “Dear me! This is not

an egg, but a jewel. Someone has lost it.” A chicken asked, “Can we eat it?” “No,” said the hen, “It

is very precious to human beings, but it is of no use to us; we cannot eat it. Throw it away and try

to find some worms. I want to have one worm than all the jewels in the world.”

Wolf and the Dove

（狼與山羊）

One day a wolf saw a goat on a high cliff. He was jumping to and fro and was grazing.

The wolf wanted to eat him, but he could not climb up there to catch him. So he said to

the goat, “Good morning, my good friend Goat! Come down here!

If you

slip down the cliff, you will break your neck. And the grass is short and

dry

up

there. Com

e down! The grass is long and tender here.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wolf, but never mind. I am

used to playing here, and I like the grass

here better

. I would rather eat day grass than be eaten by a wolf,” said the goat.

Hare and the Tortoise

（野兔與烏龜）

One day a hare met with a tortoise at the foot of a hill.

“Hallo, little Tortoise! Where are you going? How short your legs are!” said the hare.

“ I am going over to the hill. I am a slow runner, but I can run a race with you,”

said the

tortoise. “All right. Let's run a race with you to the top of the hill,” said the hare.

The hare and the tortoise

started. The hare ran very fast. The hare said to himself, “ I

can much faster than the tortoise, and I may have a little na

p here.”

So the

hare lay down under a tree and was fast asleep. But the tortoise did not stop

for a moment. He walked on and on. At last he got to the top of the hill.

The hare woke up and looked around, but he could not see the tortoise.

He sprang up

and ran as fast as he could. When the hare got to the top

of the

hill, he found the tortoise was

resting there peacefully.

The tortoise said to the hare, “Now, Mr

. Hare! Which was the faster runner, you or I?”

Lion and the Mouse

（獅子與老鼠）

Once a great lion was sleeping in a wood. A little mouse happened to come and ran over his

face. The lion awoke and caught the little mouse in anger, and was going to kill her. “ Oh, dear

kind Lion!” Said the

little mouse.

me. I didn't mean to do you any harm. Let me

go. I shall return your kindness.

laughed the lion.

Thank you very much, kind Lion! I hope I shall be able to do you a good return some day,

said

the little mouse.

Some

time

after

this,

the

lion

was

caught

in

a

trap.

Just

then

the

little

mouse

came