老虎和柿子干

There was once a small and sleepy villagewith mountains all around. A tiger lived on themountain behind the village. Whenever heclimbed to the top of the mountain and shouted，people in the village were scared and trembled2.

On a winter night， when all the worldseemed to be covered with snow， the tigerclimbed down. He had not eaten for severaldays and was very， very hungry. As he waslooking for food， he came near the window of ahouse. Just then a baby began crying loudly.

Just as the tiger， looking around carefully，was about to get in the house， he heard the voiceof a woman， “Keep quiet. The fox... the bear isjust outside the window.”But the baby didn’tnotice the mother’s threats3 and went on crying.

Crouching4 down below the window ofthe house， the tiger thought，“That’s a strangebaby. I wonder5 what he looks like. He isnot afraid of a fox or even a bear.”Feelingvery hungry again， the tiger stood up. Thebaby was still crying.

“Oh， look， look...”came the mother’svoice， “here comes a tiger！ He’s there，just under the window...” But the babywent on crying.

The tiger was so shocked6 and scaredthat he fell on the ground and almostfainted7.“How on earth does she know thatI am here？” the tiger said to himself.Taking a breath after a while， the tigerlooked into the house again. The baby wasstill crying. He did not show any sign ofbeing afraid of a tiger， either.

The tiger had never seen an animalwhich wasn’t afraid of him. He had alwaysthought that all the animals of the worldcould not but tremble at the very mention8of his name. But this strange baby did notcare. Nothing seemed to make him afraid，even a tiger！

Now， the tiger began to feel worried. Atthat very moment， the mother’s voice washeard again， “Now， keep quiet. Here youare... dried persimmons！ ”The baby stoppedcrying at once. It was very silent9. Not eventhe sound of breathing was heard. The tigerwondered，“Who is Persimmons？ He must bemore powerful10 and ferocious11 than me.”The tiger was both worried and scared.

Just then something heavy fell on hisback. The tiger ran for his life， sure thatwhat had jumped on his back was none otherthan the terrible persimmon.

Actually， what had jumped on hisback was a thief12 who had come to steal13the cow. He had jumped from the top ofthe house， mistaking14 the tiger for a cowin the dark.

The thief was taken aback15， too. Hewas scared to death16 when he realized thatthe animal he was riding was not a cow，but a tiger.

The tiger ran fast to throw the“persimmon” off his back. But the thiefheld on tightly17 to the tiger’s back， as heknew that the moment he fell， the tigerwould tear18 him to pieces.

Luckily， on the road， there came a treehe could reach out to. So he caught it，climbed up， and hid himself in the tree. Hehad at last run away from the tiger’s back，to his great relief19.

The tiger was relieved20， too.“Great，”said he. “My life is saved. The persimmonis really a terrible animal.”So he ran backto his home in the mountains.

從前有一座安靜的小村莊，四面環山。一只老虎住在村子后面的山上。每當它爬到山頂大吼時，村里的人都嚇得發抖。

在一個冬天的晚上，當整個世界似乎都被雪覆蓋時，老虎下山了。它已經好幾天沒吃東西了，非常非常餓。在尋找食物時，它來到了一所房子的窗邊。就在這時，一個嬰兒開始大聲啼哭。

正當老虎小心地四處張望后準備進屋時，它聽到一個女人的聲音說：“安靜。有只狐貍……熊就在窗外。”但是嬰兒不在意媽媽的威脅，繼續哭。

老虎蹲在房子的窗戶下面，心想：“這是個奇怪的嬰兒。我想知道他長什么樣。他不怕狐貍，甚至不怕熊。”老虎又覺得很饑餓，就站了起來。嬰兒還在哭。

“哎呀，快看，快看……”母親的聲音傳來，“來了一只老虎！它在那兒，就在窗戶下面呢……”但是嬰兒繼續哭。

老虎又驚又怕，以至于摔倒在地上，差點暈倒。“她究竟是怎么知道我在這里的？”老虎自言自語道。過了一會兒，老虎深吸了一口氣，又往房子里看了看。嬰兒仍在哭，還是沒有表現出任何害怕老虎的跡象。

老虎從未見過不害怕它的動物。它一直認為，一提到它的名字，世界上所有的動物都不能不顫抖。但是這個奇怪的嬰兒不在乎。似乎沒有什么能讓它害怕，即使是一只老虎！

現在，老虎開始擔心了。

就在這時，母親的聲音再次響起：“現在，保持安靜。給你……干柿子！”嬰兒立刻停止了哭泣。里面非常安靜，甚至連呼吸的聲音也聽不見。老虎很納悶：“柿子是誰？他一定比我更強大，更兇殘。”老虎既擔心又害怕。

就在這時，一個沉重的東西落在了它的背上。老虎開始逃命，它確信跳到自己背上的不是別人，正是那個可怕的柿子。

實際上，跳到它背上的是一個來偷牛的小偷。他從屋頂上跳了下來，在黑暗中把老虎當成了一頭牛。

小偷也吃了一驚。當他意識到自己騎的動物不是牛而是一頭老虎時，嚇得要死。

老虎飛快地跑起來，想把背上的“柿子”甩下去。但是小偷緊緊地抓著老虎的背，因為他知道一摔下來，老虎就會把自己撕成碎片。

幸運的是，路邊有一棵他可以伸手夠到的樹。于是他抓住樹爬了上去，藏在了樹上。他終于逃離了老虎的后背，這讓他松了一大口氣。

老虎也松了口氣。“太好了。”它說，“總算撿回一條命。柿子真是一種可怕的動物。”于是它跑回了山里的家。

（英語原文選自：pitara.com）