忘恩负义的鳄鱼

The Ungrateful Crocodile




Once upon a time, a crocodile who lived in the Nile came out of the water and lost his way in the heart of the desert. He was dying¹ of exhaustion² and thirst.


Soon he saw an Arabian passing by with a camel. He said to the Arabian, “Will you please take me back to the Nile? In return I'll carry you to the other side of the river.”


When the Arabian heard this, he tied the crocodile onto the back of his camel, and carried him to the Nile.


In spite³ of the crocodile's promise, when he was put on the ground at the bank of the river, he suddenly jumped at the Arabian and tried to bite him. But the Arabian quickly jumped aside.


Just then a fox happened to come along, and the Arabian said to the fox, “I saved this crocodile in the desert, but he tried to bite me.”


And the crocodile said, “He tied me firmly to the back of the camel, and I almost died.”


The fox heard both sides and said, “Now, let's try it again. I'll come along this time.”


Then, the Arabian tied the crocodile to the back of the camel once more and took him to the desert. As soon as they reached the desert, the Arabian left the crocodile in the middle of the desert, and went away.

1 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

2 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

3 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。