小学英语 安徒生童话系列(二)This Fable is Intended for You阅读素材

This Fable is Intended for You
Wise men of ancient times ingeniously discoveredhow to tell people the truth w ithout being blunt totheir faces. You see，they held a magic mirrorbefore the pe ople，in which all sorts of animals andvarious wondrous things appeared，producin gamusing as well as instructive pictures. They calledthese fables，and whatever wi
se or foolish deedsthe animals performed，the people were to imaginethemselves in their places and thereby think，
“Thisfable is intended for you！”In this way no one'sfeelings were hurt. Let u
s give you an example.
there were two high mountains，and at the top of each stood a castle. In the
valley belowran a hungry dog，sniffing along the ground as if in search of mice or quail. Suddenly atrumpet sounded from one of the castles，to announce that mealtime was approaching. Thedog immediately started running up the mountain，hopin
g to get his share；but when he washalfway up，the trumpeter ceased blowing，
and a trumpet from the other castlecommenced. “Up here，”thought the dog，
“they will have finished eating before I arrive，butover there they are just ge
tting ready to eat.”So he ran down，and up the other mountain.But now the fi
rst trumpet started again，while the second stopped. The dog ran down again，
and up again；and this he continued until both trumpets stopped blowing，and th
e mealswere over in both castles.
Now guess what the wise men of ancient times would have said about this fable，and whothe fool could be who runs himself ragged without gaining anything，eith
er here or there？
1 / 1。