英文短故事：The Clever Frog

The Deep inside a forest, there was a pond. Many fishes, crabs¹ and frogs lived in the pond. Theirs was a happy and peaceful life. 

 

Among them lived two beautiful fishes named Sahasrabuddhi and Shatabuddhi. They were bigger than the other fishes in the pond. They were very proud of their good looks and intelligence. 

 

In the same pond lived a frog with his wife. His name was Ekkabuddhi. The fishes and frogs were good friends. They all led an undisturbed life. 

 

But one day two fishermen, returning from the river in the forest after fishing. came across the pond. It was late in the evening and as usual all the fishes and frogs were at play. Sahasrabuddhi, Shatabuddhi, Ekkabuddhi and many others joined the game. They leaped high into the air and chased² each other. 

 

Seeing the beautiful scene the fishermen were amazed³ and stopped in their tracks. 

 

“How beautiful they look?" said one fisherman. 

 

“Yes. And so many of them too," replied the other. 

 

“The pond does not look very deep," said the first fisherman. “Let us catch some of them." 

 

“It is already very late and we have a heavy load to carry a long way. Let’s come back tomorrow," suggested the other fisherman. 

 

Ekkabuddhi turned to the others in the pond and said, “Did you not hear what the fishermen said? We must leave this pond for a safer place." 

 

“Just because two fishermen said they would come back to catch us tomorrow, you want us to leave our home and flee. For all we know, they might not come back," said Sahasrabuddhi. 

 

“Even if they come back to catch us I know a thousand tricks to get away." 

 

“And even if your thousand ways fail, I know another hundred ways to escape," said Shatabuddhi. “ We will not let two fishermen scare us away from our me." All the others in the pond agreed with them. 

 

“Well! I know only one trick," said Ekkabuddhi. “To leave the place before danger strikes." Ekkabuddhi and his wife left the pond in search of a safer place. All the fishes, crabs and frogs laughed at them as they left. 

 

The next day the fishermen returned to the pond and cast their net. “Ouch! This net is too thick for me to bite through," cried Sahasrabuddhi. 

 

“For me too," cried Shatabuddhi. “Only if I could get out, I could do something. 

 

“We should have listened to Ekkabuddhi," cried a fish. “Now we are all doomed⁴." 

 

The fishermen caught them all and put all the fishes, frogs and crabs into a big basket and took them away. 

 

Ekkabuddhi, hiding behind a boulder⁵ with his wife turned to her and said, “If I had not acted in time, we would also be in that basket with the others."  

1 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 chased   

vt.追捕（chase的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy chased the decoys down to the place of ambush. 敌人将诱骗者一直追到伏兵所在地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

4 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

5 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。