自作聰明的驢子

Once upon a time， a donkey thought he was very clever. Every day， his master made him draw a cart loaded with goods. They always went the same way to the village: along a wide path through the wood， down a gentle slope into farmland， then along the river to the ford and over the plain to the village.

Since the route was always the same， the donkey's master had got into the habit of having a snooze on top of the cart while the donkey， who knew the way by heart plodded on.

Feeling unwell one day， the man decided to risk sending the donkey by himself with a load for urgent delivery. When the animal returned， he was given a double ration of oats as reward.

\"Since you're so clever at remembering the way，\" the man said， \"I'm going to send you alone always， then I can do other jobs!\" And from then on， in all kinds of weather， the donkey traveled to the village by himself. His master was delighted.

However， one morning， when the donkey reached the river， he decided to shorten his journey by wading across the water. But he entered the river at a deep spot， much deeper than the donkey expected， so he had to swim hard.

Luckily， he was carrying a load of salt that day， and some of it dissolved in the water， easing the donkey's load， so that he reached the other side without much difficulty. \"I am clever，\" said the donkey， pleased with himself. \"I've found short cut.\"

Next day， the man loaded the cart with sponges， and the donkey set off as usual. When he arrived at the river， he again thought he would take the short cut， and entered the water as he had done the day before. But this time， the sponges soaked up a lot of water and made the cart rather heavy， so that the poor animal could not keep his head above water. And in spite of all his efforts， the donkey that thought he was so clever， sank below the surface of the water together with his load.

從前，有一頭自以為很聰明的驢子。每天他的主人都叫他拉一輛滿載貨物的大車。他們總是走同樣的路線到那個村子去：穿過森林里一條寬闊的道路，順著平緩的下坡進(jìn)入農(nóng)場，再沿著小河走入淺灘，經(jīng)過草原，最后就到了那個村莊。

因為路線總是不變，驢子的主人養(yǎng)成了在車頂打盹兒的習(xí)慣，而驢子認(rèn)路，就自己緩步前行。

一天，驢子的主人感覺身體很不舒服，決定冒一回險，讓驢子自己運(yùn)送一批緊急的貨物。驢子回來后，主人就獎給他雙份的燕麥。

主人對驢子說：“既然你這么善于記路，以后就自己去送貨吧。我去忙點(diǎn)別的事?！睆拇耍还芄物L(fēng)下雨，都是驢子自己去送貨。驢子的主人對此很高興。

然而有一天早晨，驢子走到河邊的時候，決定趟過小河以縮短路程。但他下水的地方很深，比他想像得深多了，他只好奮力地游。

幸運(yùn)的是，那天驢子運(yùn)的是一車鹽，有一部分鹽溶解在水里，減輕了負(fù)擔(dān)，他沒費(fèi)多少氣力就游到了河的對岸?！拔艺媛斆?，”驢子沾沾自喜，“我找到捷徑了?！?/p>

第二天，驢子的主人裝了一車海綿。驢子像往常一樣出發(fā)了。到了河邊時，他又想下水走捷徑，就像前一天那樣，他下水了。然而這一次，海綿吸入了大量的水，這使貨車沉重不堪，可憐的驢子甚至無法把頭浮出水面。一番掙扎后，自認(rèn)為聰明的驢子連同貨物一起沉到水里了。