The Lion and the Rabbit

獅子和兔子

A cruel lion lived in the forest. Every day, he killed and ate a lot of animals. The other animals were afraid the lion would kill them all.

森林里住著一只兇殘的獅子，它每天都要捕殺大量動物當做食物。森林里所有動物都戰戰兢兢。

The animals told the lion, “Let’s make a deal. If you promise to eat only one animal each day, then one of us will come to you every day. Then you don’t have to hunt and kill us.”

他們對獅子說：“我們來做個交易吧。如果你保證每天只捕殺一只動物，那么我們每天都會給你送來一只當食物，你也不用自己追殺我們了。”

The plan sounded well thought-out to the lion, so he agreed, but he also said, “If you don’t come every day, I promise to kill all of you the next day!”

獅子認為這是一個好辦法，所以同意了。但它威脅道：“如果你們沒有每天都送一只動物上門，那我第二天就把你們統統吃掉！”

Each day after that, one animal went to the lion so that the lion could eat it. Then, all the other animals were safe.

之后的每一天，都會有一只動物送上門去給獅子充當食物。這樣其它的動物就得以生存下來。

Finally, it was the rabbit’s turn to go to the lion. The rabbit went very slowly that day, so the lion was angry when the rabbit finally arrived.

終于有一天，輪到小兔子送上門去當食物。它一路上走得很慢，所以當它到達時，獅子勃然大怒。

The lion angrily asked the rabbit, “Why are you late?”

獅子生氣的問：“你為什么遲到？”

I was hiding from another lion in the forest. That lion said he was the king, so I was afraid.

“我在躲避另一只獅子的追殺，它說它是森林的王者，把我嚇壞了。”

The lion told the rabbit, “I am the only king here! Take me to that other lion, and I will kill him.”

獅子說道：“我才是這里唯一的王者！你帶我去找他，我要殺死它。”

The rabbit replied, “I will be happy to show you where he lives.”

兔子回答：“我愿意為您帶路。”

The rabbit led the lion to an old well in the middle of the forest. The well was very deep with water at the bottom. The rabbit told the lion, “Look in there. The lion lives at the bottom.”

兔子領著獅子來到森林深處的一口古井旁。這口井深不見底，但能看到井水。兔子對獅子說道：“看，那只獅子就住在井底。”

When the lion looked in the well, he could see his own face in the water. He thought that was the other lion. Without waiting another moment, the lion jumped into the well to attack the other lion. He never came out.

獅子探頭看向井里，水面倒映著它自己，但它認為那就是兔子所說的另一只獅子。它毫不猶豫跳進了井里進行廝殺。但再也沒有出來。

All of the other animals in the forest were very pleased with the rabbit’s clever trick.

森林里所有的動物都因為兔子的聰明伶俐而開心不已。

單詞表

afraid adj. 害怕的

agree v. 同意

angry adj. 生氣的

arrive v. 到達

attack v. 攻擊

bottom n. 底部

clever adj. 聰明的

cruel adj. 殘忍的，使人痛苦的

finally adv. 終于，最后

hide v. 隱藏

hunt v. 打獵，搜索

lot n. 份額，許多

middle n. 中間，中央

moment n. 時刻，片刻，瞬間

pleased adj. 高興的

promise v. 承諾

reply v. 回復

safe adj. 安全的

trick n. 詭計，惡作劇

well adv. 很好地，良好地