張祖平

A rat looked through a crack1 in the wall and saw the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain？ He was shocked to discover that it was a rat trap. Returning to the farmyard， the rat warned， “There is a rat trap in the house， a rat trap in the house！”

一只老鼠透過墻縫看到農(nóng)夫和他的妻子打開了一個包裹。里面會是什么食物呢？老鼠心驚肉跳地發(fā)現(xiàn)是一個老鼠夾，它回到院子里警示大家：“房里有個老鼠夾，老鼠夾！”

The chicken raised her head and said， “Excuse me， Mr. Rat， this is a great concern to you， but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

一只小雞抬頭說道：“請問，老鼠先生，這對你來說是密切關(guān)注的大事兒，但對我來說，無關(guān)緊要，我不應(yīng)該被它所困擾。”

The rat turned to the pig and told him， “There is a rat trap in the house！”

老鼠跑去告訴豬，“房里有個老鼠夾！”

“I am very sorry， Mr. Rat，” the pig said， “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.”

“很抱歉，老鼠先生，”豬同情地說道，“但是對此我除了祈禱外，無能為力?！?/p>

The rat turned to the cow. She said， “Mr. Rat. A rat trap. I am in danger. Duh？”

老鼠來到母牛跟前，告訴它此事。母牛道：“老鼠先生，一個老鼠夾，我現(xiàn)在危險了，可能嗎？”

So the rat returned to the house， head down and dejected2， to face the farmers rat trap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house， like the sound of a rat trap catching a mouse. The farmers wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness， she did not see that it was a poison snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmers wife.

老鼠只能垂頭喪氣地回到房子里，獨自面對農(nóng)夫的老鼠夾。那天晚上，農(nóng)夫的妻子聽到一個類似老鼠夾逮住了老鼠的聲音，她趕過去看個明白。在黑暗中，她沒有看清那是一條毒蛇，毒蛇的尾巴被老鼠夾夾住了，它咬了農(nóng)夫的妻子。

The farmer rushed to send her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup， so the farmer took his hatchet3 to the farmyard for the soups ingredient4. Unluckily， his wifes sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them， the farmer butchered5 the pig.

農(nóng)夫趕緊把妻子送醫(yī)院，出院回來的時候，她發(fā)燒了。大家都知道用新鮮的雞湯治療發(fā)燒，于是農(nóng)夫拿著斧頭朝院子走去，準(zhǔn)備雞湯的食材。不幸的是，農(nóng)夫妻子的病不見好轉(zhuǎn)，于是他的鄰居和朋友都過來守著她。為了招待他們，農(nóng)夫把豬殺了。

The farmers wife did not get well. She died， and so many people came for her funeral6 that the farmer had the cow butchered to provide meat for all of them to eat.

農(nóng)夫的妻子依然沒有康復(fù)，她死了，很多人過來參加她的葬禮。農(nóng)夫宰了牛招待來賓。

So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it is not concerned with you， remember this story about a rat trap.

所以，下次你聽到某人面臨一個難題，而你認為與你無關(guān)時，請記住這個老鼠夾的故事。