英语短文十五则(有翻译).doc

英语短文一One day a visitor from the city came to a small rural area to drive around the country roads, see how the farms looked, and perhaps to see how farmers earned their living. The city man saw a farmer in his yard, holding a pig up in his hands, and lifting it so that the pig could eat apples from an apple tree. The city man said to the farmer, I see that your pig likes apples, but isnt that quite a waste of time? The farmer replied, whats time to a pig?二A Dog and a WolfA wolf was almost dead with hunger. A house-dog saw him, and asked, Friend, your irregular life will soon ruin you. Why dont you work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly? I would have no objection, said the wolf, if I could only get a place. I will help you, said the dog. Come with me to my master, and you shall share my work. So the wolf and the dog went to the town together. On the way the wolf saw that there was no hair around the dogs neck. He felt quite surprised, and asked him why it was like that? Oh, it is nothing, said the dog. Every night my master puts a collar around my neck and chains me up. You will soon get used to it. Is that the only reason? said the wolf. Then good-bye to you, my friend. I would rather be free.三A man was going to the house of some rich person. As he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road. He said, I do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat. Then he took the apples and threw them away into the dust. He went on and came to a river. The river had become very big; so he could not go over it. He waited for some time; then he said, I cannot go to the rich mans house today, for I cannot get over the river. He began to go home. He had eaten no food that day. He began to want food. He came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them. Do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time.四Fox and cock One morning a fox sees a cock. He thinks,This is my breakfast. He comes up to the cock and says,I know you can sing very well. Can you sing for me? The cock is glad .He closes his eyes and begins to sing. The fox sees that and caches him in his mouth and carries him away. The people in the field see the fox. They cry, Look, look! The fox is carrying the cock away.The cock says to the fox, Mr. Fox, do you understand? The people say you are carrying their cock away. Tell them it is yours .Not theirs. The fox opens his mouth ang says, The cock is mine, not yours.Just then the cock runs away from the fox and flies into the tree.五The Old CatAn old woman had a cat. The cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it. Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. She began to hit the cat. The cat said, Do not hit your old servant. I have worked for you for many years, and I would work for you still, but I am too old. Do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young. 六The City Mouse and the Country Mouse Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, Do come and see me at my house in the country. So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city. The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, “Run! Run! The cat is coming! They ran away quickly and hid. After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid. 七The Bat and the WeaselsA bat who fell upon the ground and was caught by a Weasel pleaded to be spared his life. The Weasel refused, saying that he was by nature the enemy of all birds. The Bat assured him that he was not a bird, but a mouse, and thus was set free. Shortly afterwards the Bat again fell to the ground and was caught by another Weasel, whom he likewise entreated not to eat him. The Weasel said that he had a special hostility to mice. The Bat assured him that he was not a mouse, but a bat, and thus a second time escaped. It is wise to turn circumstances to good account. 八A Woman Who FellIt was rush hour and I was dashing to a train in New York Citys Grand Central Terminal - As I neared the gate, a plump, middle-aged woman sprinted up from behind, lost her footing on the smooth marble floor and slid onto her back. Her momentum carried her close to my shoes. Before I could help her, however, she had scrambled up. Gaining her composure, she winked at me and said, Do you always have beautiful women failing at your feet? 九Jonesie The Great Lion HunterA small village was troubled by a man-eating lion. So its leaders sent a message to the great hunter, Jonesie, to come and kill the beast. For several nights the hunter lay in wait for the lion, but it never appeared. Finally, he told the village chief to kill a cow and give him its hide. Draping the skin over his shoulders, he went to the pasture to wait for the lion. In the middle of the night, the villagers woke to the sound of blood-curdling shrieks coming from the pasture. As they carefully approached, they saw the hunter on the ground, groaning in pain. There was no sign of the lion. What happened, Jonesie? Where is the lion? asked the chief. Forget the damn lion! he howled. Which one of you idiots let the bull loose? 十Weather PredictA film crew was on location deep in the desert. One day an old Indian went up to the director and said, Tomorrow rain. The next day it rained. A week later, the Indian went up to the director and said, Tomorrow storm. The next day there was a hailstorm. This Indian is incredible, said the director. He told his secretary to hire the Indian to predict the weather. However, after several successful predictions, the old Indian didnt show up for two weeks. Finally the director sent for him. I have to shoot a big scene tomorrow, said the director, and Im depending on you. What will the weather be like? The Indian shrugged his shoulders. Dont know, he said. Radio is broken. 十一The Wolf and the LambWolf, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolfs right to eat him. He thus addressed him:Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me. Indeed, bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice, I was not then born. Then said the Wolf , You feed in my pasture. No, good sir, replied the Lamb, I have not yet tasted grass. Again said the Wolf, You drink of my well. No, exclaimed the Lamb, I never yet drank water, for as yet my mothers milk is both food and drink to me. Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up, saying, Well! I wont remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my imputations. 十二The Goat and the GoatherdA goatherd had sought to bring back a stray goat to his flock. He whistled and sounded his horn in vain; the straggler paid no attention to the summons. At last the Goatherd threw a stone, and breaking its horn, begged the Goat not to tell his master. The Goat replied, Why, you silly fellow, the horn will speak though I be silent. 十三The Thirsty PigeonA pigeon, oppressed by excessive thirst, saw a goblet of water painted on a signboard. Not supposing it to be only a picture, she flew towards it with a loud whir and unwittingly dashed against the signboard, jarring herself terribly. Having broken her wings by the blow, she fell to the ground, and was caught by one of the bystanders. 十四The Raven and the SwanA raven saw a Swan and desired to secure for himself the same beautiful plumage. Supposing that the Swans splendid white color arose from his washing in the water in which he swam, the Raven left the altars in the neighborhood where he picked up his living, and took up residence in the lakes and pools. But cleansing his feathers as often as he would, he could not change their color, while through want of food he perished. 十五The Ass and the GrasshopperAn 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 live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger. 1一天，有一个城市里的游客来到一个小乡村，在乡间路上开着车，想看看农庄是什么样子，也想看看农夫怎样种田过日子。这位城里人看见一位农夫在宅后的草地上，手中抱着一头猪，并把它举得高高的，好让它能够吃到树上的苹果。城里人对农夫说，我看你的猪挺喜欢吃苹果的，但是，这不是很浪费时间吗?那位农夫回答说，时间对猪有什么意义?2一只狼快要饿死了，一只狗看见后问他：“你现在的无规律的生活一定会毁掉你，为什么不像我一样稳定地干活并有规律地获得食物呢?”狼说：“如果我有个地方住，我没有意见。”狗回答说：“跟我到主人那里去，我们一起工作。”于是狼和狗一起回到了村子。 在路上，狼注意到狗的脖子上有一圈没有毛，他很奇怪地问为什么会那样。 “噢，没有什么，”狗说，“我的主人每天晚上都用一条铁链子拴住我，你很快就会习惯的。”“就是因为这个原因吗?”狼说道，“那么，再见了，我的朋友，我宁愿选择自由。”3：一个人正朝着一个富人的房子走去，当他沿着路走时，在路的一边他发现一箱好贫饮，他说：“我不计划吃那些贫饮，因为富人会给我更多的食物，他会给我特别好吃的东西。”接着他拿起贫饮，一把扔到土里去。 他继续走，来到河边，河涨水了，因此，他到不了河对岸，他等了一会儿，接着他说：“今天我去不了富人家了，因为我不能度过河。” 他开始回家，那天他没有吃东西。他就开始去找吃的，他找到贫饮，特别开心地把它们从尘土中翻出来吃了。 不要把好东西扔掉，换个时候你会觉得它们大有效果处。 4狐狸和公鸡 一天早上，一只狐狸看到了一侄耀鸡。他想：这是我的早餐。 他朝公鸡走来，对他说：“我知道，你能唱得很好听，你能唱给我听么？”公鸡特别开心。他闭上眼睛开始唱歌。狐狸看到这些抓住它放到自己的嘴里走了。 在田地里的人们看到了狐狸。大喊大叫：“看，看！狐狸抓住公鸡逃走了。”公鸡对狐狸说：“狐狸先生，你能理解么？人们认为你叼走了公鸡。告诉他们这是你的，不是他们的。” 狐狸张开她的嘴说：“公鸡是我的，不是你们的。”就在那时，。公鸡跑到了树底下。 5老猫 一位老妇有只猫，这只猫特别老，它跑不快了，也咬不了东西，因为它年纪太大了。一天，老猫发现一只老鼠，它跳过去抓这只老鼠，然而，它咬不住这只老鼠。因此，老鼠从它的嘴边溜掉了，因为老猫咬不了它。 于是，老妇特别生气，因为老猫没有把老鼠咬死。她开始打这只猫，猫说：“不要打你的老仆人，我已经为你服务了特别多年，还而且愿意为你效劳，但是，我实在太老了，对年纪大的不要这么无情，要记住老年人在年青时所做过的有益的事情。”6城里老鼠和乡下老鼠 从前，有两只老鼠，它们是好好友。一只老鼠居住在乡村，另一只住在城里。特别多年以后，乡下老鼠碰到城里老鼠，它说：“你一定要来我乡下的家瞧瞧。”于是，城里老鼠就去了。乡下老鼠领着它到了一块田地上它自己的家里。它把全部最精美食物都找出来给城里老鼠。城里老鼠说：“这东西不好吃，你的家也不好，你为啥住在田野的地洞里呢？你应该搬到城里去住，你能住上用石头造的漂亮房子，而且会吃上美味佳肴，你应该到我城里的家瞧瞧。” 乡下老鼠就到城里老鼠的家去。房子十分漂亮，好吃的东西也为他们摆好了。可是正当他们要开始吃的时候，听见特别大的一阵响声，城里的老鼠叫喊起来：“快跑！快跑！猫来了！”他们飞快地跑开躲藏起来。 过了一会儿，他们出来了。当他们出来时，乡下老鼠说：“我不喜欢住在城里，我喜欢住在田野我的洞里。因为这样虽然贫穷但是快乐自在，比起虽然富有却要过着提心吊胆的生活来说，要好些。” 7蝙蝠与黄鼠狼蝙蝠掉落在地上，被黄鼠狼叼去，他请求饶命。黄鼠狼说绝不会放过他，自己生来痛恨鸟类。蝙蝠说他是老鼠，不是鸟，便被放了。后来蝙蝠又掉落了下来，被另一只黄鼠狼叼住，他再三请求不要吃他。这只黄鼠狼说他恨一切鼠类。蝙蝠改口说自己是鸟类，并非老 鼠，又被放了。这样，蝙蝠两次改变了自己的名字，终于死里逃生。 这故事说明，我们遇事要随机应变方能避免危险8摔倒的女人上下班高峰期，我匆匆奔向纽约豪华中心站去赶一趟火车。接近门口，一位肥胖的中年妇女从后面冲过来，没想到在平滑的大理石地面上失了脚，仰面滑倒了。她的惯性使她接近了我的脚。我正准备扶