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。

　　阿佩莱斯和小毛驴

　　Apelles meeting with the little ass1 invited him to tea that very right. The little ass was trembling with delight. He prances2 through the wood; he pesters3 all who pass: 'Apelles bores me so. He will not let me be, you know! Whenever him I see, he asks me in to tea. I'm sure he wants to paint a Pegasus from me.'

　　'Oh no!' Apelles said as he happened to be near, 'I am painting the judgment4 of King Midas. I'm acquainting with you because you seem to boast the proper length of ear. So if you'll come to tea, most happy I shall be. For long-eared asses5 are not rare, but with the ears that you can show, no little or big ass either ever could compare!'

　　Consumed with vanity, the fool admires himself for that which others ridicule6, and often makes a boast of that which ought to shame him most.

　　阿佩莱斯遇到一只小小的毛驴，当晚就请它去喝茶。这小驴子高兴得全身颤抖，它在森林里高视阔步，和所有路过的人唠唠叨叨地说：“阿佩莱斯烦死我了，你知道，他死缠着我不放，不论什么时候遇到她，他总是叫我去喝茶，我想他一定是要按我的模样画一匹天上的飞马呢。”

　　“不，哪有那么回事!”阿佩莱斯说道(他正好在旁边)，“我画的是国王米达斯的审判，我认识你，是因为你似乎在吹嘘你的耳朵长度合适。所以如果你来喝茶，我高兴之至。长耳朵的驴子并不稀奇，可是你生的那副耳朵，无论大小驴子都不能和你相比!”

　　蠢才妄自尊大。他自鸣得意，恰恰是受人嘲笑奚落的短处，而且常常把应该引以为奇耻大辱的事情大吹大擂。