A bear，with which a piedmontese earned his living，was trying out on two feet a dance which he had not learned very well．Wishing to act like a man，he said to a monkey，“How is it？”The monkey，who was a connoisseur，answered，“Very bad．”
“I believe，”replied the bear，“that you are not very kind to me．What，my appearance is not graceful？I do not do the step accurately？”
The pig was present and said，“Bravo！You are doing well．Amore excellent dancer has never been seen，nor will be seen．”
The bear，on hearing this，took stock of himself，and in a modest manner，exclaimed thus：
“When the monkey disapproved of me，I began to doubt；but since the pig praised me，I must have danced very badly．”
Let an author keep this maxim as his gift：If the wise man does not approve，bad！If the fool applauds，worse！
Exercises：
回答下列问题：
① What did the bear want to do？
② What did the monkey think about his dancing？
③ What did the pig think about his dancing？
④ What did the bear think of his dancing after he heard what the pig and the monkey said？ |