3.The young thief and his mother

　　A young man was caught stealing, and sentenced to death three days later.

　　He wanted to speak with his mother before the execution. Of course this was granted.

　　When his mother came to him, he said, "I want to tell you something." He said something but she could not hear. He whispered again, and when she came close to him, she put her ear to his mouth. He nearly bit off her ear. All the bystanders were horrified.

　　"It is to punish her," he said. "When I was young I began stealing little things, and brought them home to mother. "Instead of punishing me, she laughed and said, 'It will not be noticed.' It is because of her that I am here today."

　　小偷和他的母亲

　　●一个小偷被抓住了，被判处死刑，三天后执行。 ●他想在行刑前与他的母亲话别，得到了允许。

　　●当他妈妈来到他的面前，他说："告诉你一件事。"他轻轻说了一遍，但是她听不到;等她走近些，小偷又轻声说了一遍。母亲将耳朵贴近时，儿子突然咬住母亲的耳朵，差点撕下来，周围的人都惊呆了。

　　●"这是对她的惩罚，"小偷说，"我小时候小偷小摸，把偷的东西带回家时，她不但不惩罚我，反而笑着说'别让人看见。'就是因为她我才落个今天这样的下场。"

　　4.The eagle and the arrow

　　An eagle was flying in the sky. As soon as it saw a rabbit, it swooped down on its prey. Suddenly it was hit by an arrow.

　　It fluttered slowly down to the earth, and blood was pouring from the wound.

　　When the eagle looked down, he found that the shaft of the arrow was feathered with one of its own plumes."Alas!"it cried."We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction."

　　鹰和箭

　　●鹰在天空中飞翔，当他看见一只野兔时，就俯冲下来捕捉猎物。 ●突然，有人一箭射中了它。

　　●鹰扇着翅膀降落在地面上。鲜血从伤口中喷涌而出。

　　●它低头看到箭尾竟是由一根它自己的羽毛制成的，就痛苦地说："唉，我们总是给敌人提供毁灭我们自己的工具!　　5.The fox and the lion

　　When the fox first saw the lion he was terribly frightened. He ran away, and hid himself in the woods.

　　The second time, however, he came near the lion. He stopped at a safe distance, and watched him pass by.

　　The third time they came near one another.

　　The fox went straight up to the lion, and stayed the whole day with him. He asked the lion how his family was, and when they would meet again. They soon became good friends.

　　狐狸和狮子

　　●狐狸第一次见到狮子时非常害怕，赶紧藏到森林里。 ●当他第二次遇到狮子时，则站在附近看狮子经过。

　　●第三次遇到狮子时，他竟有胆量，走了上去，与狮子进行十分亲切的谈话。 ●不久，他们变成了好朋友。