The Ungrateful Son

　　从前有一个人和他的女人坐在家门口，面前摆着一只烧鸡，正准备吃饭。

　　A man and his wife were once sitting by the door of their house,and they had a roasted chicken set before them, and were about to eat it together.

　　这时那人突然瞧见自己年迈的父亲向他们走来，便匆匆地把鸡收起来藏好，他不想与父亲分享这一顿美味佳肴呢！

　　Then the man saw that his aged father wascoming, and hastily took the chicken and hid it, for he wouldnot permit him to have any of it.

　　老人来了，只喝了口水便走了。儿子又去把烧鸡重新端上桌来，可当他去端时，发现鸡已变成了癞蛤蟆。

　　The old man came, took a drink,and went away. Now the son wanted to put the roasted chicken onthe table again, but when he took it up, it had become a great toad.

　　蛤蟆猛地跳上他的脸，便粘在那里不再动了，谁要去赶它，蛤蟆就会恶狠狠地盯着他，大有要跳到来者脸上之势，从此便无人胆敢再去碰它了。

　　Which jumped into his face and sat there and never wentaway again, and if any one wanted to take it off, it lookedvenomously at him as if it would jump in his face, so that noone would venture to touch it.

　　并且这个不肖之子还得每天好好犒劳这只蛤蟆，否则它就会咬他脸上的肉吃，这样这个忘恩负义的儿子再无安宁日子过了。

　　And the ungrateful son was forcedto feed the toad every day, or else it fed itself on his face;and thus he went about the world without knowing rest.

　　尊老爱幼是中华民族的传统美德，故事里的主人公连自己的父亲都不尊敬，遭受到了应有的惩罚，这是他应得的。这个故事告诉了我们，在生活中要有礼貌，尊重长辈，关爱家人，从现在做起，从小事做起，关心身边的每一位朋友与亲人，让自己的生命变的更加有意义，让这个世界更加美好。