Bring a Wolf Home

◎供稿：王梓菲

“引狼入室”比喻把壞人或敵人招引進來，從而給自己帶來無法想象的麻煩。

Once there was a shepherd1)herdedsheep in mountains as usual. When he saw a wolf following his sheep far behind, he began to stay alert. However, after a few months, the wolf didn’t hurt any sheep at all. Instead, other wild animals didn’t dare to walk close to the2)flockbecause of the wolf. Seeing this, the shepherd thought, “It seems that the wolf is not as cruel and tricky as people said. If I can get the wolf to watch my sheep, other wild animals will not hurt my sheep anymore.” Then he took that wolf into the3)sheepfold.

One day, the shepherd had something to deal with in the town. Before leaving home, he told the wolf to take good care of the sheep. The wolf agreed happily. But soon after he left the sheepfold, the wolf4)howledand called out many wolves here. All the sheep were eaten by the wolves. When the shepherd came back, he found that all his sheep were gone. He was so regret. But he could do nothing to make up.

1) herd [h??d] v. 放牧

2) flock [fl?k] n. 羊群

3) sheepfold [??i?pf??ld] n. 羊圈

4) howl [ha?l] v. 嚎叫

詞組加油站

stay alert 保持警惕

make up 彌補

從前，有個牧羊人像往常一樣在山谷里放羊。他遠遠地看見一只狼總是跟在羊群后面，于是提高警惕。但是，一連幾個月過去了，那只狼并沒有傷害羊群，反而因為有狼的存在，其他野獸都不敢靠近羊群了。看到這種情況，牧羊人心想：看來狼并不像別人說的那么狠毒和詭計多端，如果能讓狼來幫我看管我的羊，其他野獸就不會再傷害它們了。然后，牧羊人就把這只狼帶進了羊圈。 有一天，牧羊人要進城辦事。離開家之前，他吩咐狼照顧家里的羊，狼開心地答應了。沒想到他剛剛離開羊圈，狼就嗥叫著并呼喚來了狼群，把牧羊人的羊全吃掉了。牧羊人回到家后，看到自己的羊全都不見了，悔恨得捶胸頓足，卻也于事無補了。

Questions:

1. Why did the shepherd begin to stay alert when he saw a wolf following his sheep far behind at first?

2. What happened at last in the story?

Know More

“引狼入室”出自元雜劇《羅李郎》。元雜劇是元代的代表性戲劇種類，其前身為宋代北方雜劇，它以北方民間流行的俚俗表演形式為基礎，吸收了金代諸宮調、院本的表演特點和舞臺經驗，經元初關漢卿等戲劇名家完善定型，最終形成了獨特的戲劇表演形式。元雜劇的腳色分為旦、末、凈、雜四大行當。