The Horse and the Stag

    A very long time ago horses lived freely all over the world．One of these horses used to feed every day in a grassy¹ meadow．No other animal used the meadow and the horse felt that it belonged completely to him．Then one day a stag came bounding over the hedge．He trampled² carelessly all over the field，leaving deep foot marks and damaging the growing grass．The horse was very angry．He could not think of away to get his own back at the stag himself so he asked the man who owned the field to help him．“Of course I will help you，”said the man．“If you just let me put this piece of metal（a bridle）in your mouth and let me sit up there on your back，I will get my bow and shoot him for you．”
    The horse agreed and the man mounted on his back．But instead of riding off after the stag as he had promised，the man took the horse into his yard and set him to work．Ever since that time horses have obeyed men and worked as his slaves．Revenge is dangerous：it may hurt you as well as your enemy．Exercises：
    回答下列问题：
    ①Why was the horse angry one day？
    ②What do you learn from the story？

1 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

2 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。