翻譯寓言四則

　烏鴉與兔子

烏鴉站在高大的樹枝上，整天無所事事，悠哉遊哉好不快活。一隻小兔子看見了，心中非常羨慕，就問烏鴉：“烏鴉大哥，你這麼自在逍遙，真好呀，我能不能跟你一樣，也整天呆着不做事?”烏鴉回答：“當然行，爲什麼不呢?”

兔子聞言，立即鬆懈下來，躺在大樹底下睡起覺來。過了一會兒，一隻狐狸突然撲過來，把兔子叼進嘴裏。

這則寓言的寓意：要想豐衣足食而又無所事事，你的位置必須非常非常高。

火雞與公牛

一隻火雞對公牛說：“我真想飛到對面那棵大樹的頂端，可惜現在一點力氣也沒有。”公牛出主意道：“你爲何不吃一點我的糞便呢，裏面可是富含營養喲，呵呵。”火雞覺得有道理，啄食了一點，立即感覺有了力氣，便盡力飛到一根樹枝上。第二天，火雞又吃了幾口糞便，有了力氣，便飛到更高的樹枝上。兩週後，當火雞吃下足夠多的公牛糞便，終於飛上大樹的頂部。火雞極目遠眺，正在洋洋得意，被一名農夫發現了，迅速開槍將它射落在地。

這則寓言的寓意：舔別人的屁股是一條捷徑，能使你迅速獲取較高的位置，但卻不能保持長久。

小鳥、母牛和貓

嚴寒突至，小鳥在飛往南方的過程中摔落在地，被凍昏過去。一隻母牛路過，恰好把糞便撒到小鳥的身上，小鳥頓時感受到了熱量，漸漸甦醒過來。糞便中的小鳥開心極了，心說嚴冬裏竟有這樣暖和的地方，真是愜意呀!它禁不住鳴唱起來，開始感謝老天的恩賜。此時遠處有一隻貓正在捕食，聽到小鳥的歌唱，迅疾跑過來，用爪子慢慢地把小鳥從糞堆里拉出來，然後張大嘴巴，一口吃掉小鳥。

這則寓言的寓意：1)朝你身上潑髒水的，不一定都是敵人。

2)幫你洗刷髒水的，不一定都是朋友。

3)當你身處險惡環境，千萬不要吱聲。

　誰當老闆

上帝造人之始，人身初具規模。此時身體各個組成部分彼此不服，都想當老闆。大腦首先發表演講：“我具備智力，能控制全身的`活動，理所當然是老闆!”兩隻腳聽到了，不服氣地說：“大腦再聰明，也由我整天扛着東奔西走，我要是不動彈，哪裏也去不了，我應該當老闆。”雙手說道：“所有的工作都由我來完成，我是老闆。”接下來，肺、心臟、眼睛等都參與到辯論之中，一時吵鬧不休，分不出勝負。本來，誰也沒把最卑劣的屁眼放在眼裏，意想不到的是，屁眼也發表了競爭演說。這實在讓人忍俊不禁，所有的競爭者都嘲笑起來。屁眼受到刺激，於是決定罷工，死活不做任何事。很短的時間內，全身起了連鎖反應，眼睛模糊了，雙手開始僵硬，兩隻腳有些瘸，心臟和肺逐漸停止跳動，大腦也糊里糊塗起來。到了最後關頭，誰也堅持不下去，紛紛同意屁眼當老闆。在這之後，全身各部位埋頭工作，剩下屁眼閒呆着，唯一的職責就是整天瞎放臭屁。

這則寓言的寓意：當老闆的，往往是那些不幹正事，而整天瞎放臭屁的傢伙。

　英文原文

The crow and the rabbit(烏鴉與兔子):

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit

saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing

all day long?" The crow answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat

on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox

appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be

sitting very, very high up.

Turkey and the bull(火雞與公牛):

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to

the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the

energy.""Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the

bull "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of

dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the

first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung,

he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was

proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted

by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Moral of the story: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't

keep you there.

The bird, cow and cat(小鳥，母牛和貓):

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the

bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was

lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen

bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm

it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm

and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the

bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat

discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him

out and ate him!

The Morals of this story:

1) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy.

2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

3) And when you're in deep shit, keep your mouth shut!

Who's the boss(誰當老闆):

When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be boss. The brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions. " The feet said, " We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, " We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed. All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the shit! Moral of the story: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.