獅子和老鼠

⊙ From Aesop’s Fables

翻譯：藍藍

獅子和老鼠

⊙ From Aesop’s Fables

翻譯：藍藍

The Lion and the Mouse

勿以善小而不為。哪怕只是舉手之勞，善意從來不會白費……

適合泛讀

建議時間：2分鐘

A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws[爪]. A timid[膽小的]little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright[受驚]and haste[匆忙]to get away, ran across the Lion’s nose. Roused from his nap[小睡], the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

“Spare[饒恕]me!” begged the poor Mouse. “Please let me go and some day I will surely repay[報答]you.”

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking[追蹤]his prey[獵物]in the forest, the Lion was caught in the hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring[吼聲]. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed[咬]it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

“You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said the Mouse. “Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion.”

A kindness is never wasted.

見招拆招

詞組：come upon

Come upon在這里的意思是“碰上，偶然遇到”，它在其他語境中還可以表示“沖向，襲擊，降落在，影響”，所以我們在理解詞組時需要結合上下文，如：

● While walking down the road, I came upon a strange old house.（我沿著大路一直走，突然遇到一棟古怪的老房子。）

● Fear came upon her as she waited. （她在等待時感到一陣恐懼。）

一頭獅子用爪子墊著他那尊貴的獅頭，在森林里呼呼大睡。一只膽怯的小老鼠無意中撞見獅子，她嚇了一大跳，趕緊逃跑，結果從獅子的鼻子翻了過去。從睡夢中驚醒的獅子生氣了，他用巨大的爪子壓住這個小東西，想一把弄死她。

“放過我吧！”可憐的老鼠乞求道。“請讓我走吧，將來我一定會報答您。”

獅子覺得這也太可笑了：一只老鼠怎么可能幫上他的忙。不過他也沒計較，最后還是把老鼠放走了。

幾天后，獅子在森林里面追蹤獵物，卻一下子被獵人布下的羅網困住了。無力掙脫圈套的獅子憤怒地咆哮起來，吼聲響徹森林。老鼠認出了獅子的聲音，馬上跑來，發現獅子還在網中掙扎。她跑到綁住獅子的其中一根粗繩跟前不停地咬，直到將繩子咬開，獅子很快便掙脫出來了。

“我說過會報答你，你那時嗤之以鼻，”老鼠說。“現在你瞧，哪怕是一只小老鼠，也可以給一頭大獅子幫上忙呢。”

善良從來不會白費。