寓言三則

The Oxen and the Axletrees

公牛與車軸

A heavy wagon was being dragged along a country lane by a team of Oxen. The Axletrees groaned and creaked terribly; whereupon the Oxen, turning round, thus addressed the wheels, “Hullo there! Why do you make so much noise? We bear all the labor, and we, not you, ought to cry out.”

Moral: Those who suffer most cry out the least.

一隊公牛拉著載滿貨物的車子行走在鄉間的小路上。這時貨車的輪子開始哀號，不斷地發出嘎吱聲；于是公牛們扭頭對輪子說：“喂，你們干嗎發出這樣的聲音？是我們在拉著貨物呀，不是你們，要抱怨也是應該我們，輪不著你們。”

寓言：那些最任勞任怨的人反倒是抱怨最少的人。

The One-Eyed Doe

獨眼雌鹿

A doe blind in one eye was accustomed to graze as near to the edge of the cliff as she possibly could, in the hope of securing her greater safety. She turned her sound eye towards the land that she might get the earliest tidings of the approach of hunter or hound, and her injured eye towards the sea, from whence she entertained no anticipation of danger.

Some boatmen sailing by saw her, and taking a successful aim, mortally wounded her. Yielding up her last breath, she gasped forth this lament, “O wretched creature that I am! To take such precaution against the land, and after all to find this seashore, to which I had come for safety, so much more perilous.”

Moral: Trouble comes from the direction we least expect it.

有一頭瞎了一只眼睛的雌鹿為了保護自己，總喜歡在最接近懸崖邊緣的地方吃草。她將那只完好的眼睛對著陸地，這樣每當有獵戶或獵狗來襲時，她就能得到最快的消息；她將那只受傷的眼睛面朝大海，她預感在那個方向不會有任何危險。

一些船夫經過看到了站在懸崖邊上的她，成功地瞄準并重重地射傷了她。臨死之前，她抓住僅有的最后一口氣哀嘆道：“唉，我真可憐！為了應對來自陸地上的危險，我才做了這么多的預防措施。好不容易來到海邊，以為能確保自己的安全，到頭來卻發現海邊更危險。”

寓意：麻煩總是不期而至。

The Lark Burying Its Mother

百靈鳥葬母

The lark, according to an ancient legend, was created before the earth itself; and when her mother died by a fell disease, as there was no earth, she could find for her no place of burial. She left her mother lie uninterred for five days. On the sixth day, she had no way out and bury her mother in her own head. So she got her crest, which is popularly said to be her mothers grave-hillock.

Moral: Youths first duty is to show their respect to parents.

據古代傳說，百靈鳥誕生于地球未成形以前；其母死于一場重病，那時因為沒有泥土，她找不到地方葬母，于是就停喪五天。到了第六天，她仍一籌莫展，就將母親葬在自己的頭上，因此，她就得到了冠毛，大家都說這是她母親的墳山。

寓意：青年人的第一責任就是孝敬父母。

Vocabulary

drag? v. (常指費力地)拖，拉，拽，扯

suffer? v. 遭受，經受；感到(痛苦) ；受挫

respect? v. 尊敬；敬重；尊重

accustomed? v. 習慣的；適應的

secure? v. 使……免遭攻擊(或傷害)；保衛；保護 ；取得，實現

sound? adj. (身體)健康的；(心智)健全的

entertain? v. 考慮，心存，懷有（主意、建議等）