两只小青蛙在池塘边玩耍时，一头公牛走到水边去喝水，结果不小心踩扁了其中一只小青蛙，使其当场毙命。青蛙妈妈发现小青蛙不见了，便问另一只小青蛙，他的兄弟到哪里去了。“妈妈，他死了。”小青蛙说，“今天上午有一个长着四只脚的巨型怪物来到水塘边，把我的兄弟踩进了泥巴里。”“巨型兽？是不是这么大？”青蛙妈妈一边问，一边尽力鼓气，让自己尽量变大一些。“嗯，是的，比这还要大。”小青蛙说。青蛙妈妈再鼓了鼓气，问道：“是不是这般大小呢？”“对，妈妈，比这个还要再大一些。”小青蛙说。于是，青蛙妈妈又使劲鼓气，几乎快成了一个圆球。“有这么大……”还没等她说完，就把肚子胀破了。
THE MAN AND THE IMAGE
人和神像
A poor Man had a wooden Image of a god，to which he used to pray daily for riches.He did this for a long time，but remained as poor as ever，till one day he caught up the Image in disgust and hurled it with all his strength against the wall.The force of the blow split open the head and a quantity of gold coins fell out upon the ？oor.The Man gathered them up greedily，and said，“O you old fraud，you！When I honoured you，you did me no good whatever：but no sooner do I treat you to insults and violence than you make a rich man of me！”
｛中文阅读｝
一个穷人在家里供奉了一尊木头神像，天天对着神像祈祷让自己发财。持续了相当一段时间后，他依旧像过去那样贫穷。有一天，这个人带着极度的愤怒抓起神像，用尽全力冲着墙壁扔过去。强大的撞击力打破了神像的头，一些金币纷纷掉在了地板上。这个人贪婪地抓起金币，说：“哦，你这个大骗子！我好好供奉你的时候，你却什么都不给我；等我用暴力对待你的时候，你却让我成了富翁！”
HERCULES AND THE WAGGONER
赫刺克勒斯和车夫
A Waggoner was driving his team along a muddy lane with a full load behind them，when the wheels of his waggon sank so deep in the mire that no efforts of his horses could move them.As he stood there，looking helplessly on，and calling loudly at intervals upon Hercules for assistance，the god himself appeared，and said to him，“Put your shoulder to the wheel，man，and goad on your horses，and then you may call on Hercules to assist you.If you won’t lift a ？nger to help yourself，you can’t expect Hercules or any one else to come to your aid.”
Heaven helps those who help themselves.
｛中文阅读｝
有一个车夫驾着一辆载着货物的马车，正当他沿着乡间小路前进时，车轮突然深陷入泥坑中，拉车的马无论如何也挪不出车轮来。车夫站在那里，无助地四处观望，大声呼喊着大力神前来帮忙。大力神赫刺克勒斯终于出现了，对他说：“先用你的肩膀顶住车轮，再用鞭子赶你的马，试着这样做了之后，再来祈求我的帮助。如果你不能先自助，就不能期望大力神或其他人来帮你了。”
自助者，天助之。
THE POMEGRANATE，THE APPLE-TREE，AND THE BRAMBLE石榴树、苹果树和野蔷薇A Pomegranate and an Apple-tree were disputing about the quality of their fruits，and each claimed that its own was the better of the two.High words passed between them，and a violent quarrel was imminent，when a Bramble impudently poked its head out of a neighbouring hedge and said，“There，that’s enough，my friends；don’t let us quarrel.”
｛中文阅读｝
石榴树与苹果树为谁的果实质量最好而争吵不休，双方都认为自己的更好。愤怒的话语相继从他们的嘴里脱口而出，激烈的争吵马上就要升级了，这时，野蔷薇嬉皮笑脸地从隔壁篱笆丛中探出头来，说：“够了，朋友们，我们不要再争吵了。”
THE LION，THE BEAR，AND THE FOX
狮子、熊和狐狸
A Lion and a Bear were ？ghting for possession of a kid，which they had both seized at the same moment.The battle was long and fierce，and at length both of them were exhausted，and lay upon the ground severely wounded and gasping for breath.A Fox had all the time been prowling round and watching the ？ght：and when he saw the combatants lying there too weak to move，he slipped in and seized the kid，and ran off with it.They looked on helplessly，and one said to the other，“Here we’ve been mauling each other all this while，and no one the better for it except the Fox！”
｛中文阅读｝
狮子和熊同时抓到了一只小羊羔，他们俩为争夺小羊羔凶狠地打了起来。经过一场苦斗，双方都受了重伤，有气无力地躺在地上。一只狐狸早已躲在远处观望着，一见他们俩都直挺挺地躺在地上虚弱地一动不动，他便溜过去抓起羊羔，一溜烟地跑掉了。狮子和熊眼睁睁地看着狐狸抢走了小羊羔，却也毫无办法，只能唉声叹气地说：“我们俩斗得两败俱伤，却让狐狸得到了好处！”
THE TWO SOLDIERS AND THE ROBBER
两个士兵和强盗
Two Soldiers travelling together were set upon by a Robber.One of them ran away，but the other stood his ground，and laid about him so lustily with his sword that the Robber was fain to ？y and leave him in peace.When the coast was clear the timid one ran back，and，？ourishing his weapon，cried in a threatening voice，“Where is he？Let me get at him，and I’ll soon let him know whom he’s got to deal with.”But the other replied，“You are a little late，my friend：I only wish you had backed me up just now，even if you had done no more than speak，for I should have been encouraged，believing your words to be true.As it is，calm yourself，and put up your sword：there is no further use for it.You may delude others into thinking you’re as brave as a lion：but I know that，at the ？rst sign of danger，you run away like a hare.”
｛中文阅读｝
两个士兵一起赶路，途中被一个强盗所劫。其中一个士兵马上逃跑了，另一个则勇敢地握着剑立在原地，强盗不得不弃他而逃。这时，那个胆小的士兵跑过来，抽出剑，壮着胆大喝一声：“他去哪里了？让我来对付他，我要让他知道面对的是什么人。”然而，那名勇敢的士兵说：“你来晚了，我的朋友。要是你刚才能来帮我就好了，即便只是嘴上这样说也好，因为我会受到你这番话的鼓舞，并且相信这些话都是真的。而现在，还是请你把剑收好，已经没有必要再用它了。你只能欺骗其他人，让人们以为你像雄狮一样勇敢；而我却知道，在遇到危险时，你会像兔子一样落荒而逃。”
THE LION AND THE WILD ASS
狮子和野驴
A Lion and a Wild Ass went out hunting together：the latter was to run down the prey by his superior speed，and the former would then come up and despatch it.They met with great success；and when it came to sharing the spoil the Lion divided it all into three equal portions.“I will take the ？rst，”said he，“because I am King of the beasts；I will also take the second，because，as your partner，I am entitled to half of what remains；and as for the third—well，unless you give it up to me and take yourself off pretty quick，the third，believe me，will make you feel very sorry for yourself！”
Might makes right.
｛中文阅读｝
一只狮子和一头野驴联合外出觅食——野驴能以超快的速度追赶猎物，而狮子则能迅速赶来捕获猎物。他们成功地抓获了猎物，然后，狮子把猎物分成了三份。“我来拿第一份，”狮子说，“因为我是百兽之王；第二份也归我，因为作为你的合作者，我理应分享剩下的一半；至于这第三份，除非你自愿让给我，然后乖乖地滚开，否则你一定会为此而抱憾终身！”
强者为王。
THE MAN AND THE SATYR
人与森林之神萨堤罗斯
A Man and a Satyr became friends，and determined to live together.All went well for a while，until one day in winter-time the Satyr saw the Man blowing on his hands.“Why do you do that？”he asked.“To warm my hands，”said the Man.That same day，when they sat down to supper together，they each had a steaming hot bowl of porridge，and the Man raised his bowl to his mouth and blew on it.“Why do you do that？”asked the Satyr.“To cool my porridge，”said the Man.The Satyr got up from the table.“Good-bye，”said he，“I’m going：I can’t be friends witha man who blows hot and cold with the same breath.”
｛中文阅读｝
