The Charcoal-Burner and the Fuller

　　燒炭人與漂布人

　　A CHARCOAL-BURNER carried on his trade in his own house.   One day he met a friend， a Fuller， and entreated him to come and   live with him， saying that they should be far better neighbors and  that their housekeeping expenses would be lessened. The Fuller  replied， “The arrangement is impossible as far as I am concerned，  for whatever I should whiten， you would immediately blacken again  with your charcoal.”

　　Like will draw like.

　　燒炭人在一所房子里干活，看見有一個(gè)漂布人搬遷到他的旁邊來住時(shí)，滿懷高興地走上 去勸他與自己同住，并解釋說這樣彼此更親密，更方便，還更省錢。漂布人卻回答說：“也 許你說的是真話，但完全不可能辦到，因?yàn)榉参宜椎模紝⒈荒闩凇！?/p>

　　這故事說明，不同類的人難相處。

　　The Father and His Sons 父親與爭吵的兒子們

　　A FATHER had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling  among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his  exhortations， he determined to give them a practical illustration  of the evils of disunion； and for this purpose he one day told  them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so， he  placed the faggot into the hands of each of them in succession，  and ordered them to break it in pieces. They tried with all their   strength， and were not able to do it. He next opened the faggot，   took the sticks separately， one by one， and again put them into his  sons' hands， upon which they broke them easily. He then addressed  them in these words： “My sons， if you are of one mind， and unite   to assist each other， you will be as this faggot， uninjured by all the   attempts of your enemies； but if you are divided among yourselves  ， you will be broken as easily as these sticks.”

　　有個(gè)父親的兒子們常常互相爭斗不休。他多次語重心長地勸說他們，盡管他苦口婆心， 仍無濟(jì)于事。他認(rèn)為應(yīng)該用事實(shí)來教育他們，便叫兒子們?nèi)ツ靡焕δ景魜怼Ｄ景裟脕砗螅?先把整捆木棒交給他們，叫他們折斷。兒子們一個(gè)個(gè)竭盡了全力都無法將它折斷。隨后他解 開了那捆木棒，給他們每人一根。他們都毫不費(fèi)力地將木棒折為兩段。這時(shí)，父親說：“孩 子們，你們要像木棒一樣，團(tuán)結(jié)一致，齊心協(xié)力，就不會被敵人征服；可你們互相爭斗不 休，便很容易被敵人打垮。”

　　這故事說明，團(tuán)結(jié)就是不可征服的力量，而內(nèi)訌卻只能耗損自己。

　　The Boy Hunting Locusts捉蚱蜢的小男孩

　　A BOY was hunting for locusts. He had caught a goodly number，  when he saw a Scorpion， and mistaking him for a locust， reached  out his hand to take him. The Scorpion， showing his sting， said：  If you had but touched me， my friend， you would have lost me，   and all your locusts too！“有個(gè)小孩在城墻前捉蚱蜢，一會兒就捉了許多。忽然看見一只蝎子，他以為也是蚱蜢， 便著兩手去捕捉他。蝎子舉起他的毒刺，說道：”來吧，如果你真敢這樣做，就連你捉的蚱蜢也會統(tǒng)統(tǒng)失掉。“

　　這故事告誡人們，要分辨清好人和壞人，區(qū)別對待他們。

　　The Cock and the Jewel公雞和寶玉

　　A COCK， scratching for food for himself and his hens， found a  precious stone and exclaimed： “If your owner had found thee， and  not I， he would have taken thee up， and have set thee in thy first   estate； but I have found thee for no purpose. I would rather have   one barleycorn than all the jewels in the world.”

　　一只公雞在田野里為自己和母雞們尋找食物。他發(fā)現(xiàn)了一塊寶玉，便對寶玉說：“若不 是我，而是你的主人找到了你，他會非常珍惜地把你撿起來；但我發(fā)現(xiàn)了你卻毫無用處。我 與其得到世界上一切寶玉，倒不如得到一顆麥子好。”

　　這是說自己需要的東西才是真正珍貴的。

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