The Frog in the Shallow Well（井底之蛙）
Have you heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? It said to a turtle that lived in the East Sea, \"I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing beside the mouth of the well. When I come home, I rest in the holes on the broken wall of the well. If I jump into the water,it comes up to my armpits and holds up my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers up my feet. I look around at the wriggly worms, crabs and tadpoles, and none of them can compare with me. I am lord of this trough of water and I stand up tall in this shallow well. I’m happy. My dear sir, why don\"t you come over and look around my place?\"
Before the turtle from the East Sea could get its left foot in the well, its right knee got stuck. It hesitated and retreated. The turtle told the frog about the East Sea.
\"Even a distance of a thousand li cannot give you an idea of the sea\"s width; even a height of a thousand ren cannot give you an idea of its depth. In the time of King Yu of the Xia dynasty, there were floods nine years out of ten, but the waters in the sea did not increase. In the time of King Tang of the Shang dynasty there were droughts seven years out of eight, but the waters in the sea did not decrease. The sea does not change with the passage of time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that falls. The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea.\"
After listening to these words, the frog of the shallow well was shocked into
1
realization of his own insignificance and became very ill at ease.
The Sick Lion （生病的狮子）
A lion had come to the end of his days. He lay helpless under a tree.
The animals came around him. When they saw that he was going to die, they thought to themselves, \"Now is the time to pay him back.\"
So the boar came up and rushed at him with his tusks.
Then a bull gored him with his horns. The lion still lay helpless before them.
So the ass felt quite safe. He turned his tail to the lion and kicked up his heels into his face.
\"This is a double death.\" growled the lion.
The Ass and His Purchaser(驴和买驴的人)
A man wanted to buy an ass. He went to the market, and saw a likely one. But he wanted to test him first.
So he took the ass home, and put him into the stable with the other asses. The new ass looked around, and immediately went to choose a place next to the laziest ass in the stable.
2
When the man saw this he put a halter on the ass at once, and gave him back to his owner.
The owner felt quite surprised. He asked the man, \"Why are you back so soon? Have you tested him already?\" \"I don't want to test him any more,\" replied the man, \"From the companion he chose for himself, I could see what sort of animal he is.\"
A man wanted to buy an ass. He went to the market, and saw a likely one. But he wanted to test him first.
So he took the ass home, and put him into the stable with the other asses. The new ass looked around, and immediately went to choose a place next to the laziest ass in the stable.
When the man saw this he put a halter on the ass at once, and gave him back to his owner.
The owner felt quite surprised. He asked the man, \"Why are you back so soon? Have you tested him already?\" \"I don't want to test him any more,\" replied the man, \"From the companion he chose for himself, I could see what sort of animal he is.\"
The Crow and the Fox（狐狸和乌鸦）
A fox was running after a crow because there was a piece of meat in his mouth. As the crow stopped in a tree and was going to enjoy his meal, the cunning fox
3
yelled, “Have I told you that your feather are beautiful? I think you are the most beautiful bird. But I wonder how your voice sounds like. If your voice is as beautiful as your feathers, I think you should be the king of birds. Can you sing a song for me? I do hope you could become the king of birds.”
Flattered by the fox, the crow felt proud and wanted to prove that he also had a beautiful voice. Thus, he started to sing. However, just when he opened his mouth, the meat dropped. The fox went up to eat it and said, “If you know how to think, you would be the king of birds.”
The Mice and the Cat（老鼠开会）
Many mice lived in a farmer's barn. They stole grains and broke into the kitchen. The farmer couldn't stand it any longer, so he bought a big cat to catch the mice. The cat was good at hunting; he caught many mice.
The mice were scared to death, so they held a meeting to come up with a plan.
One mouse said, \"We can hang a bell around the cat's neck. When we hear the bell, we know that the cat is near and we can hide ourselves in advance.\"
After he finished, all the mice thought it was the best idea.
Thus, they decided to do this plan.
4
At the end of the meeting, another mouse asked, \"But who is going to hang the bell?\"
On hearing this, all the mice started to find their own excuse.
Some said they were timid, and others said they would rather die.
In the end, the plan didn't work out because no one would do it.
The Wolf And The Lion（骄傲的狼）
As a lion was bigger and stronger than a wolf, he often snatched the wolf's prey. Thus, the wolf always thought, \"If I could be stronger than him, I could fight against him.\"
One day, the wolf kept walking on grassland till sunset. Suddenly, he found his own shadow was long and big.
He thought he had become strong, so he happily said, \"Thank God. You make me stronger than the lion.\" So, he went to the lion and yelled, \"Come out. Let's fight. Now, I'm stronger than you. I'm not afraid of you any more.\"
The lion walked out and saw the wolf challenging him.
Thus, the lion roared and jumped onto the wolf. They had a big fight and the wolf was totally beaten and ran away quickly.
5
The Greedy Dog（贪心的狗）
One day, a dog found a bone, so he happily took it home.
On his way home, he walked on a bridge.
As he looked down at the river, he saw his reflection in the water.
He didn’t know that was himself. He thought that was another dog with a bigger bone.
He looked at the dog, and the dog looked at him, too.
The dog thought, “His bone seems to be bigger than mine. It would be great if I could get his bone.” Thus, he started to bark at the dog in the water.
However, just when he opened his mouth, his bone dropped and float away. Seeing that, the dog was upset. He kept jumping and barking, but it was too late.
The Farmer And The Eagle（农夫和老鹰）
A farmer found an eagle caught in a trap on his way home. As the eagle was in great pain, the farmer went up to set him free. As the eagle was saved, he was grateful to the farmer.
6
One day, the farmer was taking a rest beside a wall after he finished his work. However, he didn't know that the wall was going to fall down.
The eagle found the farmer was in danger, so he took away his headdress and flew away.To get back his headdress, the farmer got up and ran after the eagle.The eagle dropped the headdress when he saw the farmer was away from the wall.
As the farmer was picking up his headdress, he heard a big sound. When he turned around, he saw the wall fell down. At that time, he realized the eagle came to save his life.
The Goat and the Donkey（羊和驴）
A goat and a donkey lived together. As the donkey often carried heavy things, his master always fed him better food.
The goat was jealous of the donkey, so he wanted to set him up.
One day, he told the donkey, \"Oh, how poor you are. The master either wants you to pull the heavy grindstone or makes you carry heavy bags. You don't even have time to take a rest.\"
\"I know, but what can I do?\"The donkey said.
\"Here is an idea. Why don't you faint and fall over on purpose? Then, you
7
could take a rest.\"
Thus, the donkey pretended to faint and fall into a hole and got hurt.
When his master sent for a vet, the vet told the master, \"If you want him to get well soon, you have to feed him a goat's lung.\" On hearing this, to cure the donkey, the master killed the goat right away.
The Deer And The Hunter（鹿和葡萄树）
In a forest, a hunter was chasing a deer and almost shot him.
The deer was running for his life, and finally he hid himself in grape leaves. When the hunter came up, he couldn't find the deer. \"That's weird. I saw it run in this way, but I can't find it now,\" The hunter said. As he couldn't find the deer, he left disappointedly.
Seeing the hunter leave, the deer thought, \"That was close. I almost got killed. Now, I'm kind of hungry.\" Then, he looked up and saw the green grape leaves. Since the deer was so hungry, he ate the leaves right away.
However, he made a sound when he was eating. The hunter heard the sound because he hadn't gone too far. Thus, the hunter took out an arrow and shot the deer. When the deer was dying, he regretfully said, \"I asked for it. Those leaves saved my life and I shouldn't eat them.\"
8
The Fox without A Tail（断尾的狐狸）
A fox was caught in a trap by accident. After he finally got out of it, his tail was cut off.
When he went back to the forest, his friends saw him and said, “Look! What a weird fox. He doesn’t have a tail.” On hearing this, the fox felt ashamed.
Suddenly, he came up with an idea. He said, “In fact, that’s why I am smarter. Look! Without a long and heavy tail, it’s easier for me to hunt for food.”
Some foxes believed what he said and started to cut off their own tails. But a smart fox stopped them and said, “Don’t be silly. You can’t be willing to cut off your own tail. The reason you want us to do that is to make yourself feel better. But, we are not that stupid.”
9
因篇幅问题不能全部显示，请点此查看更多更全内容