任麗珍

Why is the Cocks Face Red?

Long, long a-go, a cock, a rab-bit, a duck and a dog lived together in a forest.

One morning the rabbit came to

the cock and said, “Hello, Mr Cock. Im going to buy some vegetables. May I borrow your basket?”

“Sorry,” the cock said, “Im going to use it myself.”

At noon, the duck caught some fish. She came and said to the cock, “My dear friend, would you please help me carry the fish to my house?”

“Sorry,” the cock answered, “Cant you see Im having lunch?”

In the evening the dog came. “Good evening, my friend. Im going to town tomorrow morning. Please wake me up earlier.”

“No,” said the cock, “I cant do that. I am tired.”

At night, there suddenly came a strong wind and a heavy rain. The cocks house fell down. He cried for help. The rabbit, the duck and the dog ran up to help him without a word.

After the rain, they helped him build a new house. The cock felt very ashamed and his face turned red. He said, “Im sorry for what I have done. Ill learn from you.”

After that, the cocks face is red.

公雞的臉為什么是紅的？

從前，公雞、兔子、鴨子和狗一起住在森林里。

有一天早晨，兔子來(lái)到公雞跟前說(shuō)，“公雞先生，你好！我打算去買(mǎi)菜，可以借你的籃子用一下嗎？”

“對(duì)不起”，公雞說(shuō)，“我自己要用呢?！?/p>

中午，鴨子捉了一些魚(yú)。她過(guò)來(lái)對(duì)公雞說(shuō)，“我親愛(ài)的朋友，請(qǐng)幫我把魚(yú)搬到我家，好嗎？”

“對(duì)不起”，公雞回答說(shuō)，“難道你沒(méi)有看到我在吃午飯嗎？”

晚上，狗來(lái)了，“晚上好，我的朋友，我明早要去城里，請(qǐng)你早一點(diǎn)把我叫醒。”

“不行”，公雞說(shuō)，“我不能那樣做，我很累?！?/p>

夜里，突然刮起了一陣大風(fēng)，又下了一場(chǎng)大雨。公雞的房子倒了。他拼命喊救命。兔子、鴨子和狗二話沒(méi)說(shuō)，都跑過(guò)來(lái)幫他。

大雨過(guò)后，他們幫他蓋了一間新房子。公雞感到非常羞愧，他的臉變紅了。他說(shuō)，“我為我做過(guò)的事而感到抱歉，我要向你們學(xué)習(xí)?！?/p>

從那以后，公雞的臉就變成紅色的了。

Self-reliance

A baby sail asked his mother, “Why was I born with a shell that grew so hard and heavy?”

His mother said, “Because we dont have bones to support us. We can only crawl and move slowly, so weve got a shell to protect us.”

Her baby asked again, “The caterpillar has no bones either, nor can she move quickly; why can she do so without a shell?”

The mother snail answered, “Thats because a caterpillar will become a butterfly. She flies high to the sky which can protect her.”

Her baby had another question, “But the earthworm crawls like us. He has no bones nor can he turn into a butterfly. Why doesnt he carry a hard, heavy shell?”

His mother said, “He can drill a hole, get into the ground and be protected by it.”

The baby snail then burst into tears, “What a pity! We have no protection either from the sky or from the ground.”

His mother comforted him, “Thats why we are gifted with a shell. We neednt count on the sky or the ground for protection. We rely on our-selves.”

靠自己

小蝸牛問(wèn)媽媽：“為什么我從生下來(lái)就要背負(fù)這個(gè)又硬又重的殼呢？”

蝸牛媽媽答道：“因?yàn)槲覀兊纳眢w沒(méi)有骨骼的支撐，只能爬，又爬不快，所以要這個(gè)殼來(lái)保護(hù)我們呀！”

小蝸牛又問(wèn)：“毛蟲(chóng)沒(méi)有骨頭，也爬不快，為什么她卻不用背這個(gè)殼呢？”

蝸牛媽媽說(shuō)：“因?yàn)槊x(chóng)能變成蝴蝶，她可以飛上天空，天空會(huì)保護(hù)她啊。”

小蝸牛再次問(wèn)道：“可是蚯蚓和我們一樣，他也沒(méi)有骨頭，也不會(huì)變成蝴蝶，他為什么不背這個(gè)又硬又重的殼呢？”

蝸牛媽媽說(shuō)：“因?yàn)轵球緯?huì)打洞，鉆進(jìn)泥土里，大地會(huì)保護(hù)他啊?！?/p>

于是小蝸牛哭了起來(lái)：“我們好可憐哦！天空不保護(hù)我們，大地也不保護(hù)我們?！?/p>

蝸牛媽媽安慰他：“所以我們天生有殼啊!我們不靠天，也不靠地，我們靠自己。”