黄鼠狼和人

　　A man once caught a weasel, which was always sneaking1 about the house, and was just going to drown it in a tub of water, when it begged hard for its life, and said to him, "Surely you haven't the heart to put me to death? Think how useful I have been in clearing your house of the mice and lizards2 which used to infest3 it, and show your gratitude4 by sparing my life." "You have not been altogether useless, I grant you," said the Man: "but who killed the fowls5? Who stole the meat? No no! You do much more harm than good, and die you shall."

　　从前，有一个人抓住了一只黄鼠狼，它总是在房子里偷偷摸摸。这人正要用一盆水淹死它时，黄鼠狼苦苦哀求人饶了自己的性命，并且对人说：“你一定不忍心杀了我!想想我对你们家做的贡献吧，我可是一只在清理你家里的老鼠和蜥蜴，为了显示你对我的感激之情，就饶我一命吧。”“我也承认，你并非完全无用，” 男人说， “但是，是谁杀了鸡?是谁偷了肉?不不!你做了太多坏事，理应去死。”

　　浑沌之死

　　Legends hold that Shu was the king of the south sea. Hu was the king of the North Sea, and Hun Dun was the king of the center.

　　Shu and Hu often visited Hun Dun's kingdom, and Hun Dun always gave them a feast. Shu and Hu decided1 to reciprocate(报答，互换) his hospitality. They consulted with each other, saying, "Every person has seven apertures4 (eyes, nose, ears and mouth) to see, hear, eat, and breathe, but Hun Dun does not have any. Let's drill the seven apertures(孔径，开口) for him."

　　Then they drilled an aperture3 each day, and on the seventh day, they completed the seven apertures but Hun Dun died.

　　传说故事中，南海的君王叫做“倏”，北海的君王叫做“忽”，中央的帝王叫做“浑沌”。

　　倏和忽经常在浑沌的国土上见面，浑沌总是很热情地款待它们。倏和忽准备报答浑沌，两人商量说：“人人都有七窍，用来听、吃饭、呼吸，唯独浑沌没有，我们试着给他凿出七窍来吧。”

　　于是它们一天凿出一个孔窍，到了第七天，七窍是凿成了，但浑沌也死了。