The Fox Who Had Lost His Tail

 　　The Fox Who Had Lost His Tail

A FOX caught in a trap escaped, but in so doing lost his tail.

　　Thereafter, feeling his life a burden from the shame and ridicule¹ to which he was exposed, he schemed to convince all the otherFoxes that being tailless was much more attractive, thus making up for his own deprivation².

　　He assembled a good many Foxes and publicly advised them to cut off their tails, saying that they would not only look much better without them, but that they wouldget rid of the weight of the brush, which was a very great inconvenience.

　　One of them interrupting him said, "If you hadnot yourself lost your tail, my friend, you would not thus counsel us."

1 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

2 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。