The Born in Throat

向紅

Once upon a time， there was a lazy wolf living in a jungle1. Near his house was a pond2. Many animals came to the pond to drink water. The wolf was always in search of food.

從前，有一只比較懶的狼，它生活在叢林里。它家附近有一個(gè)池塘，許多動(dòng)物都會(huì)到池塘邊喝水，所以狼總是在池邊尋找食物。

One day， he was sitting near the pond and hoped to get something to eat. When suddenly he spotted3 a dead bull. “Aha！What a luck！Now I can eat all I want，” he thought and his mouth started watering.

有一天，它坐在池塘附近，希望能找到點(diǎn)東西吃，突然間它發(fā)現(xiàn)了一頭死牛?！鞍」?！真是運(yùn)氣好！現(xiàn)在我終于可以大吃一頓了！”它邊想，嘴里邊不停流著口水。

He began to eat the bull. A thought struck4 him， “If another beast comes this way， he will ask for a share. What should I do？ So I had better eat fast.” “Grub！Grub！Grub！Grub！” he chewed， faster and faster.

它開始享用獵物。突然，它想到：“如果有其它野獸過來要和我分享這個(gè)獵物，我該怎么辦？所以我最好快點(diǎn)吃完?！彼锣愿锣缘鼐捉乐?，而且吃得越來越快。

In his hurry， a piece of bone got stuck in his throat. “Ohh！ Errk！” cried the wolf. He tried to bring it out of his mouth. He tried to cough it out but in vain. Next， he tried to swallow5 it down but he failed.

匆忙之中，一塊骨頭卡在它的喉嚨里了。“喔！呃！”狼哭嚎道。它試圖把骨頭從嘴里拿出來，也試圖把它咳出來，但卻徒勞無功。然后，它又試圖把它吞下去，但是也失敗了。

“The bone will hurt my throat if I cannot put it out. What shall I do now？” thought the wolf. Suddenly he remembered that a crane6 lived on the nearby riverbank.

這只狼心里想：“如果我再不把骨頭取出來，它一定會(huì)刮傷我的喉嚨的。我現(xiàn)在該怎么辦？”突然，它想起有一只鶴住在附近的河岸上。

The wolf went to the cranes home and pleaded7， “My dear Crane！I have got a bone stuck in my throat. I will give you a present for thanks， if you pull it out of my throat with your long beak8.”

狼跑到鶴的家里，懇求道：“親愛的鶴！我的喉嚨里有一塊骨頭。如果你用長嘴將它從我喉嚨里取出來，我會(huì)送你一份禮物作為感謝。”

The crane took pity on the wolf suffered. He asked the wolf to look up with his mouth open. The crane then put its head into the wolfs mouth and pulled out the bone.

鶴對狼的遭遇表示同情。它讓狼抬起頭來，把嘴張開，然后將頭伸入狼的嘴里，銜出了骨頭。

“Oh！What a luck！” the wolf sighed9.

“哦！太幸運(yùn)了！“狼嘆了口氣。

“Now where is my present？” asked the crane.

我的禮物在哪里？”鶴問道。

“What present？” the wolf replied， pretending not aware of its promise.

“什么禮物？”狼答道，假裝沒有意識到它的承諾。

“You said that you would give me a present if I remove the bone from your throat，” said the crane humbly.

“你說過，如果我從你的喉嚨里取出骨頭，你會(huì)送我一份禮物。”鶴謙卑地說道。

“Hah！Is it not a present that you put your head into my mouth and got out alive？ I could have easily crushed your head while your beak was inside my mouth， but I did not，” said the ungrateful10 wolf and went away.

“哈！你把頭伸進(jìn)我的嘴里，還能活著拿出來，這難道不算是禮物嗎？當(dāng)你把你的嘴伸進(jìn)我的嘴里時(shí)，我本可以很容易咬碎你的頭，但是我并沒有這么做?！崩峭髫?fù)義地說道，然后就走了。

The crane felt helpless and decided not to help any ungrateful creature like the wolf in the future.

鶴覺得很無助，決定從此再也不幫助任何像狼這般忘恩負(fù)義的動(dòng)物了。

Notes

1. jungle [? ? ? ] n. 叢林，密林 2. pond [? ? ??] n. 池塘

3. spot [? ? ??] v. 認(rèn)出;弄臟;用燈光照射

4. strike [? ? ??] v. 打，打擊;敲，敲擊;抓;打動(dòng) 5. swallow [? ? ??] v. 吞下;咽下

6. crane [? ? ??] n. 鶴 7. plead [? ? ??] v. 懇求;辯護(hù)

8. beak [? ? ??] n. [鳥] 鳥嘴;鷹鉤鼻子 9. sigh [? ? ??] v. 嘆息，嘆氣

10. ungrateful [? ? ??] adj. 忘恩負(fù)義的;不領(lǐng)情的;討厭的