The waggoner threw down his whip. He knelt down and prayed to Hercules. “Hercules, help me,please,“ he said.
But Hercules appeared to him, and said, “Man, don’t kneel there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel.“
大力神與車夫
●壹名車夫趕著貨車沿著壹條非常泥濘的小路前行。
●突然，馬車的輪子陷入了泥潭，馬無法將它們拉出來。
●車夫扔下鞭子，跪在地上，祈求大力神出現，“大力神啊，請來幫助我。”他說。
●大力神出現了，卻說：“朋友，用妳的肩膀把車輪扛起來，再驅趕馬拉車出來。跪在那裏祈求我有什麽用呢?”
2.The two pots
There were two pots on the bank of a river. One was made of brass, and the other was made of clay.
When the water rose they both floated off down the river. The earthen pot tried to stay away from the brass one.
So the brass pot cried out, "Fear nothing, friend, I will not hit you."
"But I may come in contact with you," said the earthen pot. "If I come too close, whether I hit you or you hit me, I shall suffer for it."
After that the earthen pot floated away.
兩口鍋
●河中漂流著壹個瓦鍋和壹個銅鍋。
●每當潮漲潮落時，瓦鍋就盡量地遠離銅鍋。銅鍋大叫：“別害怕，朋友，我不會撞妳的。”
●“但是我有可能會和妳接觸，”瓦鍋對銅鍋說，“如果我離妳太近，無論是妳碰到我，或者是我自己不小心碰到妳，我都會碎的。”
●然後，瓦鍋就漂走了。
3.The milkmaid and her pail
A milkmaid was going to the market. She carried her milk in a pail on her head.
As she went along she began calculating what she would buy after she had sold the milk.
"I‘ll buy a new dress, and when I go to the ball, all the young men will dance with me!"
As she spoke she tossed her head back. The pail immediately fell off her head, and all the milk was spilt.
The girl went back without anything. She felt very sad. "Ah, my child," said her mother. "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched."
擠牛奶的姑娘
●壹個農家擠奶姑娘頭頂著壹桶牛奶，前往集市。
●走了壹會兒，她開始算計起賣完牛奶後要買的東西：“我要買壹身新衣服，好去參加舞會，年輕的小夥子都會邀請我跳舞。”
●想到這裏，她真地搖起頭來，牛奶桶隨之傾倒在地，牛奶都流了出去。
●女孩很傷心，兩手空空地回到家裏，母親對她說：“我的孩子，不要過早地打如意算盤。”
4.The young thief and his mother
A young man was caught stealing, and sentenced to death three days later.
He wanted to speak with his mother before the execution. Of course this was granted.
When his mother came to him, he said, "I want to tell you something." He said something but she could not hear. He whispered again, and when she came close to him, she put her ear to his mouth. He nearly bit off her ear. All the bystanders were horrified.
"It is to punish her," he said. "When I was young I began stealing little things, and brought them home to mother. "Instead of punishing me, she laughed and said, ‘It will not be noticed.‘ It is because of her that I am here today."
小偷和他的母親
●壹個小偷被抓住了，被判處死刑，三天後執行。
●他想在行刑前與他的母親話別，得到了允許。
●當他媽媽來到他的面前，他說：“告訴妳壹件事。”他輕輕說了壹遍，但是她聽不到；等她走近些，小偷又輕聲說了壹遍。母親將耳朵貼近時，兒子突然咬住母親的耳朵，差點撕下來，周圍的人都驚呆了。
●“這是對她的懲罰，”小偷說，“我小時候小偷小摸，把偷的東西帶回家時，她不但不懲罰我，反而笑著說‘別讓人看見。’就是因為她我才落個今天這樣的下場。”
5.The eagle and the arrow
An eagle was flying in the sky. As soon as it saw a rabbit, it swooped down on its prey.
Suddenly it was hit by an arrow.
It fluttered slowly down to the earth, and blood was pouring from the wound.
When the eagle looked down, he found that the shaft of the arrow was feathered with one of its own plumes.“Alas!”it cried.“We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.”
鷹和箭
●鷹在天空中飛翔，當他看見壹只野兔時，就俯沖下來捕捉獵物。
●突然，有人壹箭射中了它。
●鷹扇著翅膀降落在地面上。鮮血從傷口中噴湧而出。
●它低頭看到箭尾竟是由壹根它自己的羽毛制成的，就痛苦地說：“唉，我們總是給敵人提供毀滅我們自己的工具！”
6.The miser and his gold
Once upon a time there was a miser. He hid his gold under a tree. Every week he used to dig it up.
One night a robber stole all the gold. When the miser came again, he found nothing but an empty hole.
He was surprised, and then burst into tears.All the neighbors gathered around him.
He told them how he used to come and visit his gold.
"Did you ever take any of it out?" asked one of them. "No," he said, "I only came to look at it." "Then come again and look at the hole," said the neighbor, "it will be the same as looking at the gold."
守財奴
●從前，有個守財奴將他的金塊埋到壹棵樹下，每周他都去把他挖出來看看。
●壹天晚上，壹個小偷挖走了所有的金塊。 守財奴再來查看時，發現除了壹個空洞什麽都沒有了。
●守財奴便捶胸痛哭。哭聲引來了鄰居，他告訴他們這裏原來有他的金塊。
●問明了原因後，壹個鄰居問：“妳使用過這些金塊嗎？” “沒用過，” 他說，“我只是時常來看看。”“那麽，以後再來看這個洞，”鄰居說，“就像以前有金塊時壹樣。”
7.The fox and the lion
When the fox first saw the lion he was terribly frightened. He ran away, and hid himself in the woods.
The second time, however, he came near the lion. He stopped at a safe distance, and watched him pass by.
The third time they came near one another.
The fox went straight up to the lion, and stayed the whole day with him. He asked the lion how his family was, and when they would meet again.
They soon became good friends.
狐貍和獅子
●狐貍第壹次見到獅子時非常害怕，趕緊藏到森林裏。
●當他第二次遇到獅子時，則站在附近看獅子經過。
●第三次遇到獅子時，他竟有膽量，走了上去，與獅子進行十分親切的談話。
●不久，他們變成了好朋友。
8.The goose with the golden eggs
One morning a countryman went to his goose‘s nest, and saw a yellow and glittering egg there.
He took the egg home. To his delight, he found that it was an egg of pure gold.
Every morning the same thing occurred, and he soon became rich by selling his eggs.
The countryman became more and more greedy. He wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose, when he looked inside, he found nothing in its body.
生金蛋的鵝
●壹天早晨，壹位農夫發現自家的鵝窩中有壹只金燦燦的蛋。
●他將蛋帶回家，驚喜地發現這是壹個金蛋。
●此後，農夫每天都能得到壹個金蛋。從此，他靠賣他的金蛋變得富有起來。
●農夫變得越來越貪婪，他想壹下子得到鵝肚子中所有的金蛋。於是他殺死了鵝，但是，鵝肚子中什麽也沒有。
9.Belling the cat
Long ago, there was a big cat in the house. He caught many mice while they were stealing food.
One day the mice had a meeting to talk about the way to deal with their common enemy. Some said this, and some said that.
At last a young mouse got up, and said that he had
a good idea.
"We could tie a bell around the neck of the cat. Then when he comes near, we can hear the sound of the bell, and run away."
Everyone approved of this proposal, but an old wise mouse got up and said, "That is all very well, but who will tie the bell to the cat?" The mice looked at each other, but nobody spoke.
老鼠開會
●從前，壹所房子裏面有壹只大貓，他抓住了很多偷東西的老鼠。
●壹天，老鼠在壹起開會商量如何對付他們***同的敵人。會上大家各有各的主張，最後，壹只小老鼠站出來說他有壹個好主意。
●“我們可以在貓的脖子上綁壹個鈴鐺，那麽如果他來到附近，我們聽到鈴聲就可以馬上逃跑。”
●大家都贊同這個建議，這時壹只聰明的老耗子站出來說：“這的確是個絕妙的主意，但是誰來給貓的脖子上綁鈴鐺呢？”老鼠們面面相覷，誰也沒有說話。
10.The hare and the tortoise
The hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I have never been beaten," he said, "when I run at full speed, no one is faster than me."
The tortoise said quietly, "I will race with you." "That is a good joke," said the hare. "I could dance around you the whole way."
The race started. The hare darted almost out of sight at once. He soon stopped and lay down to have a nap.
The tortoise plodded on and on. When the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise was near the finish line, and that he had lost the race.
●兔子向動物們誇耀他的速度，“我從來沒有失敗過，”他說，“當我奔跑時，沒有人比我更快。”
●烏龜平靜地說：“我要與妳比賽。”“真是笑話，我可以邊玩邊和妳賽跑。”兔子說。
●比賽開始了，壹眨眼工夫，兔子已經跑得不見了蹤影，但是他覺得自己跑得快，對比賽掉以輕心，躺在路邊睡著了。
●烏龜慢騰騰地卻持續不停地走，當兔子壹覺醒來，他看到烏龜已經快到終點線了。兔子輸了比賽。