一条狗嘴里叼着一块肉，在穿过小河上的一个木板桥时，碰巧看见了水中自己的倒影。他以为是另一条狗叼着一块更大的肉，于是，他扑到水中，想去抢另一条狗嘴里那块更大的肉。然而，他最终什么也没有得到。因为水中那块肉本来就只是个影子，而原来的那块肉也被河水冲走了。
MERCURY AND THE TRADESMEN
墨丘利与商人
When Jupiter was creating man，he told Mercury to make an infusion of lies，and to add a little of it to the other ingredients which went to the making of the Tradesmen.Mercury did so，and introduced an equal amount into each in turn—the tallow-chandler，and the greengrocer，and the haberdasher，and all，till he came to the horse-dealer，who was last on the list，when，？nding that he had a quantity of the infusion still left，he put it all into him.This is why all Tradesmen lie more or less，but they none of them lie like a horse-dealer.
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朱庇特在创造人类时，吩咐墨丘利制造一点让人说谎的药，并添加到其他要素上，从而形成商人。墨丘利遵命研制好药之后，依次平均地添加到每种生意人身上——卖蜡烛的商贩、卖蔬菜瓜果的商贩、卖杂货的商贩等。最后轮到了马贩子，这是最后一个要添药的商人了，但是墨丘利却发现还剩下很多药，于是，他便将剩余的药全部加在了马贩子身上。这正是商人多少都会说谎的原因，尤其是马贩子更为厉害。
THE MICE AND THE WEASELS
老鼠和黄鼠狼
There was war between the Mice and the Weasels，in which the Mice always got the worst of it，numbers of them being killed and eaten by the Weasels.So they called a council of war，in which an old Mouse got up and said，“It’s no wonder we are always beaten，for we have no generals to plan our battles and direct our movements in the ？eld.”Acting on his advice，they chose the biggest Mice to be their leaders，and these，in order to be distinguished from the rank and ？le，provided themselves with helmets bearing large plumes of straw.They then led out the Mice to battle，con？dent of victory：but they were defeated as usual，and were soon scampering as fast as they could to their holes.All made their way to safety without dif？culty except the leaders，who were so hampered by the badges of their rank that they could not get into their holes，and fell easy victims to their pursuers.
Greatness carries its own penalties.
｛中文阅读｝
老鼠和黄鼠狼打起仗来，老鼠每次都处于劣势，大量老鼠都被黄鼠狼杀死并吃掉了。于是，他们召开了一次战事会议，其中，一个年长的老鼠站起来发言：“毫无疑问，我们总是被打败的一方，因为没有统领来规划我们的战斗，在战场上指挥我们的行动，所以才会屡次失败。”根据他的建议，老鼠们推选出那些个头大的老鼠作为带队将领，并且，为了在老鼠群中区分这些将领，还让他们戴上用草编成的头盔。然后，老鼠带着必胜的信心再次投入到战斗中。可是，他们依旧被打败了，鼠群纷纷逃回洞中。除了那些将领之外，所有老鼠都轻易地逃进了洞里，因为头盔妨碍他们钻进小小的老鼠洞，所以将领们都被黄鼠狼吃掉了。
伟大的形象也要付出代价。
THE PEACOCK AND JUNO
孔雀和朱诺
The Peacock was greatly discontented because he had not a beautiful voice like the nightingale，and he went and complained to Juno about it.“The nightingale’s song，”said he，“is the envy of all the birds；but whenever I utter a sound I become a laughing-stock.”The goddess tried to console him by saying，“You have not，it is true，the power of song，but then you far excel all the rest in beauty：your neck ？ashes like the emerald and your splendid tail is a marvel of gorgeous colour.”But the Peacock was not appeased.“What is the use，”said he，“of being beautiful，with a voice like mine？”Then Juno replied，with a shade of sternness in her tones，“Fate has allotted to all their destined gifts：to yourself beauty，to the eagle strength，to the nightingale song，and so on to all the rest in their degree；but you alone are dissatis？ed with your portion.Make，then，no more complaints.For，if your present wish were granted，you would quickly ？nd cause for fresh discontent.”
｛中文阅读｝
因为自己没有夜莺那悠扬动听的歌声，孔雀大为不悦，于是跑到朱诺面前抱怨。“所有的鸟都羡慕夜莺的歌声，”她说，“但是，只要我一开口发声，就成了大家的笑料。”女神朱诺为了尽量安慰她，说道：“你的确没有唱歌的优势，但是你却有着超凡的美丽外表。你的脖子闪耀着绿宝石一样的光辉，你那开屏的尾巴更是华丽富贵、光彩照人。”然而，孔雀仍旧不满足。“我的声音那么难听，”孔雀说，“美丽又有什么用呀？”朱诺接着回答说：“命运赋予了每个人不同的礼物——赋予了你无比的美丽，赋予了老鹰强大的力量，赋予了夜莺优美的歌声，以此类推下去，所有生命都有着各自的特征，而你却不满足于自己所拥有的。不要再抱怨了，因为如果你当下的愿望得到了满足，很快你又会找到另一个不满足的借口。”
THE BEAR AND THE FOX
熊与狐狸
A Bear was once bragging about his generous feelings，and saying how re？ned he was compared with other animals.(There is，in fact，a tradition that a Bear will never touch a dead body.)A Fox，who heard him talking in this strain，smiled and said，“My friend，when you are hungry，I only wish you would con？ne your attention to the dead and leave the living alone.”
A hypocrite deceives no one but himself.
｛中文阅读｝
有一只熊曾经大肆鼓吹自己多么仁慈，与其它动物相比，自己是多么文雅。（其实，绝不碰死人是熊的一贯传统。）一只狐狸听到这些话，面带微笑地对熊说：“我的朋友，当你饥饿难耐时，我希望你也能将注意力集中在死人身上，不再吃活人了！”
骗子只会掩耳盗铃似的欺骗自己。
THE ASS AND THE OLD PEASANT
驴和老农夫
An old Peasant was sitting in a meadow watching his Ass，which was grazing close by，when all of a sudden he caught sight of armed men stealthily approaching.He jumped up in a moment，and begged the Ass to ？y with him as fast as he could，“Or else，”said he，“we shall both be captured by the enemy.”But the Ass just looked round lazily and said，“And if so，do you think they’ll make me carry heavier loads than I have to now？”“No，”said his master.“Oh，well，then，”said the Ass，“I don’t mind if they do take me，for I shan’t be any worse off.”
｛中文阅读｝
一位老农民正坐在草地上看驴，驴被紧紧盯着。突然农民看到全副武装的人们走近，便立刻跳了起来，恳请驴跟他一起尽快飞走。“否则，”他说，“我们便会被敌人逮住。”驴只是懒懒地看了看，便说：“如果这样的话，你不认为他们会让我驮更重的东西？”“不，”主人说。“哦，那么，”驴说，“我不介意他们把我抓走，我再也不会比现在更糟了。”
THE OX AND THE FROG
牛和青蛙
Two little Frogs were playing about at the edge of a pool when an Ox came down to the water to drink，and by accident trod on one of them and crushed the life out of him.When the old Frog missed him，she asked his brother where he was.“He is dead，mother，”said the little Frog；“an enormous big creature with four legs came to our pool this morning and trampled him down in the mud.”“Enormous，was he？Was he as big as this？”said the Frog，puf？ng herself out to look as bigas possible.“Oh！yes，much bigger，”was the answer.The Frog puffedherself out still more.“Was he as big as this？”said she.“Oh！yes，yes，mother，MUCH bigger，”said the little Frog.And yet again she puffed and puffed herself out till she was almost as round as a ball.“As big as...？”she began—but then she burst.
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