TheOldCat

　　Anoldwomanhadacat.Thecatwasveryold;shecouldnotrunquickly,andshecouldnotbite,becauseshewassoold.Onedaytheoldcatsawamouse;shejumpedandcaughtthemouse.Butshecouldnotbiteit;sothemousegotoutofhermouthandranaway,becausethecatcouldnotbiteit.

　　Thentheoldwomanbecameveryangrybecausethecathadnotkilledthemouse.Shebegantohitthecat.Thecatsaid,"Donothityouroldservant.Ihaveworkedforyouformanyyears,andIwouldworkforyoustill,butIamtooold.Donotbeunkindtotheold,butrememberwhatgoodworktheolddidwhentheywereyoung."

　　【译文】

　　老猫

　　一位老妇有只猫,这只猫很老,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,老妇很生气,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,我已经为你服务了很多年,而且还愿意为你效劳,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.”

　　TheThirstyPigeon口渴的鸽子APIGEON,oppressedbyexcessivethirst,sawagobletofwaterpaintedonasignboard.Notsupposingittobeonlyapicture,sheflewtowardsitwithaloudwhirandunwittinglydashedagainstthesignboard,jarringherselfterribly.Havingbrokenherwingsbytheblow,shefelltotheground,andwascaughtbyoneofthebystanders.Zealshouldnotoutrundiscretion.有只鸽子口渴得很难受，看见画板上画着一个水瓶，以为是真的。他立刻呼呼地猛飞过去，不料一头碰撞在画板上，折断了翅膀，摔在地上，被人轻易地捉住了。这是说，有些人想急于得到所需的东西，一时冲动，草率从事，就会身遭不幸。TheRavenandtheSwan乌鸦和天鹅ARAVENsawaSwananddesiredtosecureforhimselfthesamebeautifulplumage.SupposingthattheSwan'ssplendidwhitecolorarosefromhiswashinginthewaterinwhichheswam,theRavenleftthealtarsintheneighborhoodwherehepickeduphisliving,andtookupresidenceinthelakesandpools.Butcleansinghisfeathersasoftenashewould,hecouldnotchangetheircolor,whilethroughwantoffoodheperished.ChangeofhabitcannotalterNature.乌鸦非常羡慕天鹅洁白的羽毛。他猜想天鹅一定是经常洗澡，羽毛才变得如此洁白无瑕。于是，他毅然离开了他赖以生存的祭坛，来到江湖边。他天天洗刷自己的羽毛，不但一点都没洗白，反而因缺少食物饥饿而死。这故事是说，人的本性不会随着生活方式的改变而改变。