英文幽默故事：The Lamb and The Wolf

Once there was a naughty lamb. His mother always loved her child so much that she worried about the safety of the child. His mother always warned him, “Be careful! You must not go into the forest. Wild animals live in there. They may threaten you. Sometimes they would eat you." But the mischievous¹ lamb never listened. The lamb casually² went into the forest and played there for a long time till it turned dark in the evening. 

 

One day, as usual the lamb wandered far off into the forest. There he saw a spring. “I am thirsty. Let me drink some water," he thought. He decided³ to take water from the spring for his thirsty. While the lamb was drinking water in the spring, a wolf watched from behind a tree. 

 

“A lamb! My lucky day!" the wolf thought, approaching the lamb. The lamb was not aware of the wolf for some time. There was no one besides these two animals to save the lamb from the wolf. 

 

“You know this forest belongs only to wild animals like me. Why have you come in here to take water from this spring?" asked the wolf. 

 

The lamb knew that wolves were dangerous animals. “Mother has warned me about wolves. I am sure this fellow wants to eat me for his lunch. This fellow is ferocious⁴. I must escape from this animal," he thought. 

 

The wolf continued, “You are also dirtying water. How will I drink this polluted water now?" 

 

“But the spring flows from where you are standing⁵ down to where I am standing, Sir!" said the lamb, in a meek⁶ voice. The wolf was surprised to hear such an intelligent answer from the lamb. But the wolf was just looking for an excuse to kill the lamb. “How dare you argue with me? I think you are the same lamb who had abused me last year," the wolf shouted. 

 

“Last year? Bur Sir, I was not even born then!" the lamb squeaked⁷. The lamb feared that the wolf was looking after a pretext⁸ to kill the lamb. The lamb became cautious of its words and gestures. This way both the lamb and the wolf talked to each other cautiously.

 

The lamb heard some woodcutters. They were coming the way in which the lamb and the wolf were standing. “"If I can keep talking to this wolf for a little while longer, the woodcutters will be here. They will chase him away," thought the clever lamb. So, he said, “Mr. Wolf, you are right. I have dirtied the water. But, I did not mean to upset you."

 

This way the lamb kept on talking for few more minutes. As the lamb spoke⁹, the woodcutters arrived. They saw both the lamb and the wolf. 

 

They caught the wolf and beat him before letting him go. The lamb was relieved to be safe. He ran back to his mother. He told her his mother what had happened in the forest with the wolf and the woodcutter. And then he promised his mother never to wander into the forest again.  

1 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

2 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

7 squeaked   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The radio squeaked five. 收音机里嘟嘟地发出五点钟报时讯号。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Amy's shoes squeaked on the tiles as she walked down the corridor. 埃米走过走廊时，鞋子踩在地砖上嘎吱作响。 来自辞典例句

8 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。