英語童話故事:The Crab and the Monkey
There was once a crab who lived in a hole on the shady side of a mountain. She was a very good housewife, and so careful and industrious that there was no creature in the whole country whose hole was so neat and clean as hers, and she took great pride in it.
One day she saw lying near the mouth of her hole a handful of cooked rice which some pilgrim must have let fall when he was stopping to eat his dinner. Delighted at this discovery, she hastened to the spot, and was carrying the rice back to her hole when a monkey, who lived in some trees near by, came down to see what the crab was doing. His eyes shone at the sight of the rice, for it was his favourite food, and like the sly fellow he was, he proposed a bargain to the crab. She was to give him half the rice in exchange for the kernel of a sweet red kaki fruit which he had just eaten. He half expected that the crab would laugh in his face at this impudent proposal, but instead of doing so she only looked at him for a moment with her head on one side and then said that she would agree to the exchange. So the monkey went off with his rice, and the crab returned to her hole with the kernel.
For some time the crab saw no more of the monkey, who had gone to pay a visit on the sunny side of the mountain; but one morning he happened to pass by her hole, and found her sitting under the shadow of a beautiful kaki tree.
'Good day,' he said politely, 'you have some very fine fruit there! I am very hungry, could you spare me one or two?'
'Oh, certainly,' replied the crab, 'but you must forgive me if I cannot get them for you myself. I am no tree-climber.'
'Pray do not apologise,' answered the monkey. 'Now that I have your permission I can get them myself quite easily.' And the crab consented to let him go up, merely saying that he must throw her down half the fruit.
In another moment he was swinging himself from branch to branch, eating all the ripest kakis and filling his pockets with the rest, and the poor crab saw to her disgust that the few he threw down to her were either not ripe at all or else quite rotten.
'You are a shocking rogue,' she called in a rage; but the monkey took no notice, and went on eating as fast as he could. The crab understood that it was no use her scolding, so she resolved to try what cunning would do.
'Sir Monkey,' she said, ' you are certainly a very good climber, but now that you have eaten so much, I am quite sure you would never be able to turn one of your somersaults.' The monkey prided himself on turning better somersaults than any of his family, so he instantly went head over heels three times on the bough on which he was sitting, and all the beautiful kakis that he had in his pockets rolled to the ground. Quick as lightning the crab picked them up and carried a quantity of them into her house, but when she came up for another the monkey sprang on her, and treated her so badly that he left her for dead. When he had beaten her till his arm ached he went his way.
It was a lucky thing for the poor crab that she had some friends to come to her help or she certainly would have died then and there. The wasp flew to her, and took her back to bed and looked after her, and then he consulted with a rice-mortar and an egg which had fallen out of a nest near by, and they agreed that when the monkey returned, as he was sure to do, to steal the rest of the fruit, that they would punish him severely for the manner in which he had behaved to the crab. So the mortar climbed up to the beam over the front door, and the egg lay quite still on the ground, while the wasp set down the water-bucket in a corner. Then the crab dug itself a deep hole in the ground, so that not even the tip of her claws might be seen.
Soon after everything was ready the monkey jumped down from his tree, and creeping to the door began a long hypocritical speech, asking pardon for all he had done. He waited for an answer of some sort, but none came. He listened, but all was still; then he peeped, and saw no one; then he went in. He peered about for the crab, but in vain; however, his eyes fell on the egg, which he snatched up and set on the fire. But in a moment the egg had burst into a thousand pieces, and its sharp shell struck him in the face and scratched him horribly. Smarting with pain he ran to the bucket and stooped down to throw some water over his head. As he stretched out his hand up started the wasp and stung him on the nose. The monkey shrieked and ran to the door, but as he passed through down fell the mortar and struck him dead. 'After that the crab lived happily for many years, and at length died in peace under her own kaki tree.
-
二年級睡前故事【四篇】
二年級睡前故事篇一:快樂的天使貝貝生長在一個甜蜜的家庭。爸爸愛媽媽,媽媽愛爸爸,他們都愛乖巧、可愛的小貝貝。街坊鄰居都說:貝貝是個快樂的天使!貝貝五歲的那年春天,媽媽生下了一個小妹妹──柔柔。貝貝不習慣妹妹的來臨,居然和妹妹搶奶瓶呢!一天傍晚,媽媽替小柔柔...
-
科學家故事:把上帝趕出宇宙的拉普拉斯
人類一直在思考自己生活的宇宙是如何形成的。直到二百多年前,才有一位叫康德的德國哲學家提出了第一個比較科學的太陽系形成假說,認為太陽系是由一團星雲發展演化而成。當時很多人不相信這個星雲之說,慢慢地也就遺忘了。50年以後,法國科學家拉普拉斯(1749—1827)重新...
-
國小生關於暑假防溺水安全故事
暑假期間,青少年兒童溺水身亡事故頻發,已經引起社會各界的高度重視。作為學校家長,如何預防青少年溺水已顯得尤為重要。瞭解一些預防溺水常識,就很有必要了。一、游泳安全要點:1.下水時切勿太餓、太飽,飯後一小時才能下水,以免肢體抽筋;2.下水前試試水溫,若水太冷,就不...
-
幼兒園短篇的少兒故事
【小猴和小熊的自行車】小猴小熊合買了一輛嶄新的自行車,他們商量好你一天我一天輪著騎。小猴騎著自行車四處遊玩,一天下來,車上沾滿了灰塵。他想,反正明天小熊騎,讓他去擦吧。這天輪到小熊騎自行車,天下起了毛毛雨。小熊冒雨騎著玩了一天,車上沾滿了泥,他想,反正明天小...
相關文章
- The Dog and the Oyster-英語寓言故事
- 英語腦筋急轉彎:The top ten reasons why the television is better than the World Wide Web
- 經典英文詩How do I love thee by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
- 英語勵志寓言:The Hare And The tortoise
- 英語情感故事:She Told Me It Was Okay to Cry
- Catch the Star that will Take You to Your Dream
- 勵志英語文章:The prime condition great secrets of success
- 英語腦筋急轉彎:The top ten reasons why the television is better than the World Wide Web
- 英文民間故事:The Jackal and the Pea-Hen
- 英語童話故事:The Boy and the Wolves