雙語·《伊索寓言》 牛棚里的雄鹿

THE STAG IN THE OX-STALL

A Stag, chased from his lair by the hounds, took refuge in a farmyard, and, entering a stable where a number of oxen were stalled, thrust himself under a pile of hay in a vacant stall, where he lay concealed, all but the tips of his horns. Presently one of the Oxen said to him, “What has induced you to come in here? Aren't you aware of the risk you are running of being captured by the herdsmen?” To which he replied, “Pray let me stay for the present. When night comes I shall easily escape under cover of the dark.” In the course of the afternoon more than one of the farm-hands came in, to attend to the wants of the cattle, but not one of them noticed the presence of the Stag, who accordingly began to congratulate himself on his escape and to express his gratitude to the Oxen. “We wish you well,” said the one who had spoken before, “but you are not out of danger yet. If the master comes, you will certainly be found out, for nothing ever escapes his keen eyes.” Presently, sure enough, in he came, and made a great to-do about the way the Oxen were kept. “The beasts are starving,” he cried, “here, give them more hay, and put plenty of litter under them.” As he spoke, he seized an armful himself from the pile where the Stag lay concealed, and at once detected him. Calling his men, he had him seized at once and killed for the table.

牛棚里的雄鹿

一只雄鹿被獵狗追蹤，他從自己的藏身處跑出來，躲到了一處農(nóng)家宅院，藏進(jìn)一間牛棚。他看到一個(gè)空牛欄中堆了一堆干草，便一頭扎了進(jìn)去，藏了起來，只是鹿角的尖還露在外面。不久，一頭公牛對(duì)他說：“你是怎么跑到這里來的呀？你不知道你這么做可能會(huì)被牧人抓住嗎？”雄鹿說：“求求你讓我先在這兒躲一會(huì)兒吧。等天黑了，我就能趁著黑暗逃跑了?！蹦翘煜挛?，好幾個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)里的人進(jìn)了牛棚，照料牲口，但是都沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)雄鹿。雄鹿心中慶幸自己逃脫了厄運(yùn)，于是向公牛表示感謝。之前跟他說話的那頭?；卮鹫f：“我們很希望你能平安，不過你還沒有脫離危險(xiǎn)呢。如果主人來了，你肯定會(huì)被發(fā)現(xiàn)的，什么東西都逃不過他敏銳的眼睛?！辈灰粫?huì)兒，主人來了，因?yàn)楣５臓顩r折騰了一大通。他大叫道：“牲口們?nèi)拣I了，快來給他們添草，給他們身下多放些褥草。”他說話的時(shí)候，離雄鹿藏身的草垛只有一步之遙，他很快就發(fā)現(xiàn)了雄鹿，馬上叫來了人，抓住了鹿并將鹿殺了，把鹿肉當(dāng)作了晚餐。