雙語(yǔ)·《伊索寓言》 驢和哈巴狗

THE ASS AND THE LAP-DOG

There was once a man who had an Ass and a Lap-dog. The Ass was housed in the stable with plenty of oats and hay to eat and was as well off as an ass could be. The little Dog was made a great pet of by his master, who fondled him and often let him lie in his lap; and if he went out to dinner, he would bring back a tit-bit or two to give him when he ran to meet him on his return. The Ass had, it is true, a good deal of work to do, carting or grinding the corn, or carrying the burdens of the farm: and ere long he became very jealous, contrasting his own life of labour with the ease and idleness of the Lap-dog. At last one day he broke his halter, and frisking into the house just as his master sat down to dinner, he pranced and capered about, mimicking the frolics of the little favourite, upsetting the table and smashing the crockery with his clumsy efforts. Not content with that, he even tried to jump on his master's lap, as he had so often seen the dog allowed to do. At that the servants, seeing the danger their master was in, belaboured the silly Ass with sticks and cudgels, and drove him back to his stable half dead with his beating. “Alas!” he cried, “all this I have brought on myself. Why could I not be satisfied with my natural and honourable position, without wishing to imitate the ridiculous antics of that useless little Lap-dog?”

驢和哈巴狗

從前有一個(gè)人，養(yǎng)了一頭驢和一只哈巴狗。驢被養(yǎng)在畜舍中，燕麥、干草充足，對(duì)于一頭驢來(lái)說(shuō)，可算是享盡了福。小狗很得主人寵愛(ài)，時(shí)時(shí)受到愛(ài)撫，主人還經(jīng)常讓他趴在自己腿上，如果主人出去吃飯，小狗聽到主人回家，總是跑出去迎接，而主人也總是會(huì)帶回來(lái)一兩樣美味佳肴給小狗。而驢有很多工作要做，要拉車，要推磨，或是馱運(yùn)農(nóng)場(chǎng)需要的重物，所以時(shí)間一長(zhǎng)，他就嫉妒起了小狗：他任勞任怨辛苦流汗，而小狗卻悠閑自在無(wú)所事事。終于有一天，驢掙脫了韁繩，蹦跳著沖向屋子。此時(shí)，主人正在屋中吃飯。驢歡騰跳躍，模仿起小狗來(lái)，結(jié)果卻掀翻了桌子，將桌上的陶瓷器皿全都給打碎了。即便如此，他還是不甘心，想要跳上主人的膝蓋，因?yàn)樗?jīng)常看到小狗這樣做。就在這時(shí)，家里的仆人看到主人身處危險(xiǎn)，便用棍棒狠狠地打向驢，把他打了個(gè)半死，趕回了畜舍。驢哀號(hào)：“唉！這全都是我咎由自取啊。我為什么不滿足于我本來(lái)的地位呢？我干嗎要學(xué)那無(wú)用的小哈巴狗的滑稽舉動(dòng)？”