寓言是民間口頭創(chuàng)作，至今保存了許多當(dāng)時(shí)流行的優(yōu)秀寓言。

　　蝙蝠和鼠狼

　　bat falling upon the ground was caught by a weasel, ofwhom he earnestly besought his life. the weasel refused,saying, that he was by nature the enemy of all birds. thebat assured him that he was not a bird, but a mouse, andthus saved his life.

　　shortly afterwards the bat again fellon the ground, and was carght by another weasel, whom helikewise entreated not to eat him. the weasel said that hehad a special hostility to mice. the bat assured him thathe was not a mouse, but a bat; and thus a second timeescaped.it is wise to turn circumstances to good account.

　　一只蝙蝠墜落到地面上來(lái)，被一只鼠狼捉住了，蝙蝠哀求討?zhàn)垺Ｊ罄遣淮饝?yīng)，說(shuō)它自己最愛(ài)和鳥(niǎo)類為敵。蝙蝠便證明它自己不是鳥(niǎo)，只是一只老鼠，因此鼠狼就放了它。

　　不久這只蝙蝠又墜落到地上來(lái)，被另一只鼠狼捉住，它同樣地哀求討?zhàn)垺Ｄ鞘罄钦f(shuō)它自己最恨老鼠，蝙蝠證明自己并不是老鼠，而是一只蝙蝠;因此，它第二次又安然地逃離危險(xiǎn)了。隨機(jī)應(yīng)變乃聰明之舉。

　　驢和蚱蜢

　　Ass having heard some Grasshoppers chirping, was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on, to give them such beautiful voices. They replied, "The dew." The Ass resolved that he would only live upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger.

　　一只驢聽(tīng)到幾只蚱蜢在叫，便覺(jué)得很有趣;于是也想得到同樣有趣的音調(diào)，便問(wèn)蚱蜢吃什么東西過(guò)活，以致于能有這樣優(yōu)美的聲音。蚱蜢說(shuō)：「露水。」驢子聽(tīng)了，從此以后也單吃露水過(guò)活，不久便餓死了。

　　獅和鼠

　　lion was awakened from sleep by a mouse running over his face. rising up in anger, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the mouse piteously entreated, saying: "if you would only spare my life, i would be sure to repay your kindness." the lion laughed and let him go.

　　it happened shortly after this that the lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. the mouse, recognizing his roar, came up, and gnawed the rope with his teeth, and setting him free, exclaimed: "you ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, not expecting to receive from me any repayment of your favour; but now you know that it is possible for even a mouse to confer benefits on a lion."

　　一只老鼠從一只獅子面前跑過(guò)去，將它從夢(mèng)中吵醒。獅子生氣地跳起來(lái)，捉住老鼠，要弄死它。老鼠哀求說(shuō)：「只要你肯饒恕我這條小生命，我將來(lái)一定會(huì)報(bào)答你的大恩。」獅子便笑著放了它。

　　狼和鸛雀

　　Wolf, having a bone stuck in his throat, hired a Crane, for a large sum, to put her head into his throat, and draw out the bone. When the Crane had extracted the bone, and demanded the promised payment, the Wolf, grinning and grinding his teeth, exclaimed: "Why, you have surely already a sufficient recompense, in having been permitted to draw out your head in safety from the mouth and jaws of a wolf."

　　一只狼喉嚨鯁了一根骨頭，便用很多錢(qián)去雇請(qǐng)一只鸛雀，將頭伸進(jìn)他的喉嚨中，把那塊骨頭取出來(lái)。當(dāng)鸛雀拔出那塊骨頭，向他索取約定的報(bào)酬，狼卻呲牙咧齒地說(shuō)：「怎么?允許你的頭從一只狼的嘴巴和牙床中安全地伸出來(lái)，已經(jīng)是莫大的報(bào)酬了。」為惡人效勞，不要希望得到報(bào)酬;要是能避免傷害，已經(jīng)是萬(wàn)幸了。