这单元学“狼来了”，补充几个其他简单的寓言。<br> 1. The Hare And The Tortoise Tired of the bragging of a speedy hare, a tortoise challenges it to a race. The overconfident hare accepts the competition and runs as fast as it can after the race begins. Soon it gets tired and decides to rest, thinking that there’s plenty of time to relax before tortoise can catch up with it. Meanwhile, the tortoise continues to walk slowly, until it reaches the finish line. The overslept hare wakes up, only to be shocked that a slow moving tortoise beat it in the race. Moral: Slow and steady wins the race. 2. The Two Goats One day, two goats try to cross a weak and narrow bridge across the river. The goats are at either end of the bridge, but neither is ready to make way for the other. They come to the centre of the bridge and begin fighting about who should cross first. As they fight mindlessly, the bridge gives in, taking both the goats down into the river with it. Moral: It is better to yield than to come to misfortune through stubbornness. 3. The Ugly Duckling A farmer had a duck, which laid ten eggs. Soon, they all hatched. Of the ten, nine ducklings looked like the mom. The tenth one was big, gray and ugly. All the other ducklings made fun of the ugly one. Unhappy in the farm, the poor duckling ran away to a river nearby. There he sees white, beautiful swans. Afraid and lost, he wanted to drown in the river. But when he looked at his reflection in the river, he realized that he was not an ugly duckling, but a beautiful swan! Moral: You are beautiful just the way you are. 4. The Fox And The Goat Walking alone in the forest, an unlucky fox falls into a well one day. Unable to get out, he waits for help. A passing goat sees the fox and asks him why he is in the well. The cunning fox responds, “there is going to be a great drought, and I am here to make sure I have water.” The gullible goat believes this and jumps into the well. The fox swiftly jumps on the goat and uses its horns to reach the top, leaving the goat in the well. Moral: Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties. 5. The Fox And The Grapes On a hot summer day, a fox comes upon an orchard and sees a bunch of ripened grapes. It thinks: “Just what I need to quench my thirst.” It moves back a few paces, runs, and jumps but falls short of reaching the grapes. It tries in different ways to reach the bunch of grapes, but in vain. It finally gives up, and says to himself “I am sure they are sour anyway.” Moral: It is easy to despise what you cannot get your hands on. 6. The Ant And The Grasshopper It was a pleasant day and the grasshopper was in a gay mood, singing and dancing around. He sees an ant carrying a heavy corn kernel to its nest. The grasshopper asks the ant to join him for some fun, instead of toiling away like that. The ant tells him that it is preparing for winter when food would be scarce. The grasshopper brushes the thought and says why bother when the present is good. Winter soon begins, and the grasshopper has no food to survive, while the ants enjoy the corn in the warmth of their nest. Moral: It is best to prepare for days of necessity. 7. Two Cats And A Monkey After a feast, two cats see a piece of cake and start fighting for it. A monkey sees this as an opportunity for gain and offers to help them. The monkey divides the cake into two parts but shakes its head saying they are unequal. He takes a bite of one piece and then the other, but still finds them unequal. He continues doing so until there is no more cake left, leaving the poor little cats disappointed.