The charcoal-burner and the fuller 燒炭工和漂洗工

　　There was once a charcoal1-burner who lived and worked by himself. A fuller, however, happened to come and settle in the same neighbourhood; and the charcoal-burner, having made his acquaintance and finding he was an agreeable sort of fellow, asked him if he would come and share his house: "We shall get to know one another better that way," he said, "and, beside, our household expenses will be diminished." The fuller thanked him, but replied, "I couldn't think of it, sir: why, everything I take such pains to whiten would be blackened in no time by your charcoal."

　　從前，有一個(gè)自力更生的燒炭工人獨(dú)自在家做工作。碰巧，一個(gè)漂洗工搬至隔壁，與他成了鄰居。結(jié)實(shí)漂洗工后，燒炭工人經(jīng)過了解發(fā)現(xiàn)，這個(gè)鄰居是一個(gè)很好的合作伙伴，就問漂洗工愿不愿意搬到他的鋪?zhàn)永镆黄鸸ぷ鳌?ldquo;那樣我們會(huì)更加親密。”燒炭人說：“不僅如此，我們還可以節(jié)省生活開銷呢?”漂洗工謝絕了他，回答說：“我可不這樣看，先生，因?yàn)椴还芪业囊路吹亩嗝窗祝紩?huì)立刻被你的木炭染黑了。”

　　The cage-bird and the bat 籠子里的鳥與蝙蝠

　　A singing-bird was confined1 in a cage which hung outside a window, and had a way of singing at night when all other birds were asleep. One night a bat came and clung2 to the bars of the cage, and asked the bird why she was silent by day and sang only at night. "I have a very good reason for doing so," said the bird: "it was once when I was singing in the daytime that a fowler was attracted by my voice, and set his nets for me and caught me. Since then I have never sung except by night." But the bat replied, "It is no use your doing that now when you are a prisoner. If only you had done so before you were caught, you might still have been free."

　　Precautions3 are useless after the event.

　　一只畫眉鳥被囚禁在窗外掛著的一個(gè)籠子里，當(dāng)其他鳥兒都酣睡時(shí)，她卻在夜里唱歌。有一個(gè)夜晚，蝙蝠飛過來，抓住鳥籠的柵欄，問她為什么白天默默無聲，卻在夜里放聲歌唱。小鳥回答說：“我這樣做是有道理的，曾經(jīng)有一次，當(dāng)我在白天唱歌時(shí)，一個(gè)捕鳥人被我的歌聲吸引，就用鳥籠子捉住了我。從此我只在夜里歌唱。”可是，蝙蝠卻說：“你現(xiàn)在這樣做根本沒用了，因?yàn)槟阋呀?jīng)成為階下囚。若是在被捉住之前這樣做就好了，那樣或許你依然是自由之身!”

　　待事情發(fā)生之后再預(yù)防，為時(shí)已晚。

　　The Pack-Ass,the Wild Ass and the Lion 家驢、野驢和獅子

　　A wild ass1 saw a pack-ass jogging along under a heavy load, and taunted2 him with the condition of slavery in which he lived, in these words: "What a vile3 lot is yours compared with mine! I am free as the air, and never do a stoke of work; and, as for fodder4, I have only to go to the hills and there I find far more than enough for my needs. But you! You depend on your master for food, and he makes you carry heavy loads every day and beats you unmercifully." At that moment a lion appeared on the scene, and made no attempt to molest5 the pack-ass owing to the presence of the driver, but he fell upon the wild ass, who had no one to protect him, and without more ado made a meal of him.

　　It is no use being your own master unless you can stand up for yourself.

　　一頭野驢看到一頭家驢背負(fù)這沉重的貨物一路小跑，便譏諷他過著奴隸般的生活：“和我相比，你過得多么卑微呀!我自由自在地享受著大自然，從不下苦力，說道食物，我只需要跑到山上去，就能發(fā)現(xiàn)大量吃的東西。再看看你!只能依靠主人施舍吃點(diǎn)，他不僅每天都讓你馱重物，還無情地鞭打你。”這時(shí)，一只獅子出現(xiàn)在他們的視野中，由于驢夫的出現(xiàn)，獅子沒有騷擾家驢，直接撲向了沒有保護(hù)者的野驢，立即吃掉了野驢。

　　除非能照顧好自己，否則做自己的主人一點(diǎn)用也沒有。

　　Drunk 好孩子

　　小羅伯特向媽媽要兩分錢。

　　“昨天給你的錢干什么了?”

　　“我給了一個(gè)可憐的老太婆，”他回答說。 “你真是個(gè)好孩子，”媽媽驕傲地說。“再給你兩分錢。可你為什么對(duì)那位老太太那么感興趣呢?”

　　“她是個(gè)賣糖果的。”

　　One day, a father and his little son were going home. At this age, the boy was interested in all kinds of things and was always asking questions. Now, he asked, "What's the meaning of the word 'Drunk', dad?" "Well, my son," his father replied, "look, there are standing two policemen. If I regard the two policemen as four then I am drunk."

　　"But, dad," the boy said, " there's only ONE policeman!"