英文幽默故事：The Greedy Dog

Once there lived a dog. He was very greedy. There were many times that he had to pay for his greed. Each time the dog promised himself, “I have learnt my lesson. Now I will never be greedy again." But he soon forgot his promises and was as greedy as ever. 

 

One afternoon, the dog was terribly hungry. He decided¹ to go look for something to eat. Just outside his house, there was a bridge. “I will go and look for food on the other side of the bridge. The food there is definitely better," he thought to himself. 

 

He walked across the wooden bridge and started sniffing² around for food. Suddenly, he spotted³ a bone lying at a distance. “Ah, I am in luck. This looks a delicious bone," he said. 

 

Without wasting any time, the hungry dog picked up the bone and was just about to eat it, when he thought, “Somebody might see here with this bone and then I will have to share it with them. So, I had better go home and eat it." Holding the bone in his mouth, he ran towards his house. 

 

While crossing the wooden bridge, the dog looked down into the river. There he saw his own reflection. The foolish dog mistook it for another dog. “There is another dog in the water with bone in its mouth," he thought. Greedy, as he was, he thought, “How nice it would be to snatch that piece of bone as well. Then, I will have two bones." 

 

So, the greedy dog looked at his reflection and growled⁴. The reflection growled back, too. This made the dog angry. He looked down at his reflection and barked, “Woof! Woof!" As he opened his mouth, the bone in his mouth fell into the river. It was only when the water splashed that the greedy dog realized that what he had seen was nothing but his own reflections and not another dog. But it was too late. He had lost the piece of bone because of his greed. Now he had to go hungry.  

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 sniffing   

n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。
• They all had colds and were sniffing and sneezing. 他们都伤风了，呼呼喘气而且打喷嚏。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》