讀點(diǎn)好英文:The Dog and the Cat 狗和貓

The Dog and the Cat 狗和貓

Long ago, only the cats had the ability to trace their prey by its odour, while the other animals used their vision to discover their prey.

The dog knew that was the best way to hunt a prey so he decided to visit the cat.

“Mr. Cat, can you teach me the skill to trace the prey by its odour?It is very efficient and convenient.”

The cat agreed to teach the dog and to let him stay in his house during the lessons. After a few days, the dog thought that he could use the skill and he wanted to go home.

“You have not learnt the skill yet，”said the cat.“You have to stay longer.”

“But I have to go home now，”the dog insisted.

“All right，”the cat said，“you may go back tomorrow but not today.”

The next morning, the cat said to his wife，“When the dog comes to bid farewell, tell him that I have gone out. When he asks where, tell him that you don't know.”

After a while, the dog came.“Where is the teacher?”he asked.

“He went out early in the morning and I don't know where he went，”the cat's wife answered.

Actually, the cat intended to test whether the dog had learnt how to trace any prey by its odour. The dog started by following the footprints of the cat.However, after a short distance, the cat had jump from one rock to another and then gone into a cave.Then he came out from the other side and leapt onto a tree.

The dog followed the seemingly vanishing footprints of the cat and he came to the two rocks. He entered the cave and managed to come out from the other side of it.At last, he came to the tree but he could not find any footprint.The dog could not trace the cat though he kept going round and round the tree.

The cat stayed on top of the tree watching every move of the dog. Finally, he said，“Look up！You have not completely learnt the skill and yet you are ready to leave.You can see now that you are still ignorant.”

Since then, the dog only knows how to trail its prey on the ground.

上古時(shí)期，只有貓有根據(jù)氣味來(lái)追尋獵物的本領(lǐng)，而別的動(dòng)物只能靠眼睛去發(fā)現(xiàn)獵物。

狗知道這是一種極好的狩獵方法。于是，狗決定去找貓。

“貓先生，根據(jù)氣味來(lái)追尋獵物這種方法既靈驗(yàn)又方便，你能傳授我這門(mén)本領(lǐng)嗎？”

貓答應(yīng)了狗的請(qǐng)求，并讓狗在學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)間住在自己的家里。過(guò)了幾天，狗認(rèn)為自己已經(jīng)掌握了這門(mén)本領(lǐng)，便想回家。

貓說(shuō)：“你還沒(méi)有學(xué)會(huì)全部的本事呢！你還得再待些日子！”

“但是我現(xiàn)在必須回家呀。”狗堅(jiān)持說(shuō)。

“那好吧！”貓說(shuō)，“但你今天別回，明天再回吧！”

第二天一早，貓對(duì)妻子說(shuō)：“狗來(lái)告別時(shí)，你就告訴它我出去了。它問(wèn)我到哪兒去了，你就說(shuō)不知道。”

不一會(huì)兒，狗來(lái)了?！袄蠋熌?？”狗問(wèn)道。

“它一早就出門(mén)了，我不知道它上哪兒去啦。”貓的妻子回答道。

其實(shí)貓是要考驗(yàn)一下狗是否已學(xué)會(huì)了根據(jù)氣味來(lái)尋找獵物的本領(lǐng)。于是，狗開(kāi)始順著貓的腳印去追蹤貓的去向?？墒?，貓離開(kāi)家走了一段路后，就沒(méi)有在地上行走了。它從一塊石頭跳到另一塊石頭上，然后跳進(jìn)一個(gè)山洞，又從另一個(gè)洞口爬出來(lái)，最后跳到了一棵大樹(shù)上。

狗根據(jù)貓那若隱若現(xiàn)的腳印，找到了兩塊石頭。它也進(jìn)了山洞，并竭力從另一個(gè)洞口出來(lái)。最后，當(dāng)狗走到樹(shù)下時(shí)，貓的腳印沒(méi)有了。狗找不到貓的痕跡，就繞著樹(shù)走來(lái)走去。

貓?jiān)跇?shù)上，把這一切情形看得清清楚楚。最后，貓說(shuō)：“往上看！你還沒(méi)有學(xué)好本事，就打算匆匆離去，結(jié)果還不是一只沒(méi)學(xué)問(wèn)的狗！”

直到今天，狗都只會(huì)在地面上追尋獵物。

Practising&Exercise 實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升篇

單詞注解

cave[keiv]n.洞穴；山洞

vanish['v?ni?]v.消失，消沒(méi)

trace[treis]v.跟蹤，追蹤

ignorant['ign?r?nt]a.無(wú)知的，愚昧的

實(shí)用句型

The badger happily carried the big fat hen into his cave while the fox quickly ran off.

獾興高采烈地把它叼進(jìn)洞穴里去了。狐貍飛快地逃走了。

You have not completely learnt the skill and yet you are ready to leave.

你還沒(méi)有學(xué)好本事，就打算匆匆離去。

智慧點(diǎn)津

An actual blessing may be misfortune.

福兮禍之所伏。

We need perseverance to learn something well.

學(xué)習(xí)要持之以恒。