關於英文童話故事精選

【狐狸和烏鴉】

The Fox and the Crow

A Fox once saw a Crow fly off with a piece of cheese in its beak and settle on a branch of a tree. ‘That’s for me, as I am a Fox,’ said Master Reynard, and he walked up to the foot of the tree. ‘Good-day, Mistress Crow,’ he cried. ‘How well you are looking to-day: how glossy your feathers; how bright your eye. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does; let me hear but one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.’ The Crow lifted up her head and began to caw her best, but the moment she opened her mouth the piece of cheese fell to the ground, only to be snapped up by Master Fox. ‘That will do,’ said he. ‘That was all I wanted. In exchange for your cheese I will give you a piece of advice for the future .’Do not trust flatterers.

一次，一個狐狸看到一隻烏鴉嘴裡銜著一塊乳酪飛過並停在了樹枝上。“那是給我的，因為我是一隻狐狸。”狐狸說道，然後便走到樹腳邊。“早安，烏鴉女主人,”他哭著說“你今天看上去很好，你的羽毛很有光澤，你的眼睛也閃著光芒，我相信你的歌喉一定比其他鳥兒都好，就像你的羽毛一樣;請讓我聆聽你的歌聲，僅僅一首，也許我會把你尊為鳥中之後。”烏鴉聽了很高興，於是就開始展現自己最棒的一面，但是正當她張開嘴，那塊乳酪就落到了地上，沒想到竟被狐狸搶走了。“行了,”他說道“那是我想要的。那就用這乳酪交換一條對你未來的建議吧。”不要相信奉承者。

【The Old Cat】

An old woman had a cat. The cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it.

Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. She began to hit the cat. The cat said, "Do not hit your old servant. I have worked for you for many years, and I would work for you still, but I am too old. Do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young."

【譯文】

老貓

一位老婦有隻貓，這隻貓很老，它跑不快了，也咬不了東西，因為它年紀太大了。一天，老貓發現一隻老鼠，它跳過去抓這隻老鼠，然而，它咬不住這隻老鼠。因此，老鼠從它的嘴邊溜掉了，因為老貓咬不了它。

於是，老婦很生氣，因為老貓沒有把老鼠咬死。她開始打這隻貓，貓說：“不要打你的老僕人，我已經為你服務了很多年，而且還願意為你效勞，但是，我實在太老了，對年紀大的不要這麼無情，要記住老年人在年青時所做過的有益的事情。”