天方夜谭英文故事：The Bull and The Ass

Long ago there lived a gifted farmer. He had a bull¹ and an ass² in his form. The former was able to understand what the animals spoke³. It was a gift by given god from his birth. The bull was used to plough the fields and the ass to carry the goods to the market for sale. So both the animals helped him very much. 

 

On a particular day the bull and the ass were taking their food in the garden. When they were eating their fodder⁴, the ass was talking to the bull in a low voice. At that time the farmer passed by. He heard the voice of the ass and quickly hid himself behind a big tree to listen to the talk. 

 

The ass pitied the bull for it was working hard all the day in the field. But the ass just carried very little load only in the evening. It also said, “I am eating food the whole day, but I work very little. But you work hard for the whole day with the same food I have".

 

The bull replied that it was right, but it could do nothing against the master farmer. The ass gave an idea to the bull that it should pretend as if it was sick. The bull also accepted it happily. The farmer heard all these and was ready to face the situation. 

 

The very next day the farmer went to the backyard with an idea. He went near the bull to take it to the fields. The bull quickly said in a low voice that he could not even move his legs. Now the farmer readily⁵ agreed and said, “Ok, you take rest today. I will take the ass today". 

 

So he moved towards the ass and dragged the ass with him to the filed to plough. That day the ass had to work in field very hard. The ass came back in the evening in a totally exhausted⁶ condition. The bull cheered the ass and said, “I shall act to be sick tomorrow also and take rest". 

 

“No, No" the quick voice came from the ass “don’t pretend further". 

 

The ass said, “The farmer was very angry with you today because. I couldn't satisfy him". Further the ass told the bull that the farmer was ready to sell it to a butcher if it acted further. So the ass asked the bull to get up early in the morning. “We should not hesitate to do our work the Ass said. 

 

The farmer heard the conversation He smiled and thought that the ass had learnt a lesson. It also advised the bull to work faithfully for its master. 

 

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 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

3 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。

4 fodder   

n.草料；炮灰

参考例句：

• Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
• Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料，保证盐的摄取。

5 readily   

adv.欣然地，容易地，很快地，立即

参考例句：

• I promise all costs will be readily returned.我保证所有的费用会迅速偿还。
• Most plastics do not readily conduct heat or electricity.大多数塑料不易传热或导电。

6 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。