The Lion and the Bull

    A hungry lion sat watching a fat bull¹ feeding in a field“If only bulls² didn't have horns，”thought the lion greedily．“then I could soon finish him off．As it is he could toss³ me over the moon．”
    Then he had an idea．Sidling up to the bull he said in a friendly voice：
    “I was just admiring you，Mr Bull．I hope you don't mind．what a handsome head you have．What big，strong shoulders．What powerful legs and hooves．If I may say so，though，I don't see why you put up with those horns．They must have given you quite a headache and they do spoil⁴ your appearance you know．”
    “Do you think so？”said the bull．“I never thought about it．But now you mentioned it they do rather get in the way．Did you say they spoil my appearance？Hmm．”
    The lion slunk away and hid behind a tree to watch．The bull waited until he was out of sight，then began to hit his head violently against a rock First one horn splintered，then the other until soon the bull's head was smooth and bare．“Aha，”cried the lion，leaping out with a snarl⁵ ．“I've got you now．Thank you so much for getting rid of your horns．They were the only things that prevented me from attacking you before．”
    Don't believe in flatterers．Exercises：
    回答下列问题：
    ①How did the lion manage to kill the bull？
    ② What can we learn from the bull？

1 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

2 bulls   

n.公牛( bull的名词复数 )；法令；力大如牛的人；（象、鲸等动物的）雄兽

参考例句：

• Riding bulls is always an exciting event at a rodeo. 骑公牛总是放牧人竞技会上激动人心的表演。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Two white bulls were sacrificed and a feast was held. 献祭了两头白牛，并举行了盛宴。 来自辞典例句

3 toss   

n./v.突然抬起，摇摆，扔

参考例句：

• Let's toss to see who pays it.让我们来掷钱币决定谁付账吧。
• The matter made him toss in the bed.那件事使他在床上翻来覆去。

4 spoil   

n.战利品，赃物，奖品，掠夺，次品；vt.损坏，破坏，溺爱；vi.腐坏，掠夺

参考例句：

• Don't bunch the flowers up so tightly,you'll spoil them.别把花束得这么紧，会弄坏的。
• Overacting will only spoil the effect.表演过火，效果反而不好。

5 snarl   

v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮

参考例句：

• At the seaside we could hear the snarl of the waves.在海边我们可以听见波涛的咆哮。
• The traffic was all in a snarl near the accident.事故发生处附近交通一片混乱。