of which the crew and passengers were all drowned. He inveighed

against the injustice of Providence, which would for the sake of



one criminalperchance sailing in the ship allow so many innocent

persons to perish. As he was indulging in these reflections, he



found himself surrounded by a whole army of Ants, near whose nest

he was standing. One of them climbed up and stung him, and he



immediately trampled them all to death with his foot. Mercury

presented himself, and striking the Philosopher with his wand,



said, "And are you indeed to make yourself a judge of the

dealings of Providence, who hast thyself in a similar manner



treated these poor Ants?'

The Mouse and the Bull



A BULL was bitten by a Mouse and, angered by the wound, tried to

capture him. But the Mouse reached his hole in safety. Though



the Bull dug into the walls with his horns, he tired before he

could rout out the Mouse, and crouching down, went to sleep



outside the hole. The Mouse peeped out, crept furtively up his

flank, and again biting him, retreated to his hole. The Bull



rising up, and not knowing what to do, was sadly perplexed. At

which the Mouse said, "The great do not always prevail. There



are times when the small and lowly are the strongest to do

mischief."



The Lion and the Hare

A LION came across a Hare, who was fast asleep. He was just in



the act of seizing her, when a fine young Hart trotted by, and he

left the Hare to follow him. The Hare, scared by the noise,



awoke and scudded away. The Lion was unable after a long chase

to catch the Hart, and returned to feed upon the Hare. On



finding that the Hare also had run off, he said, "I am rightly

served, for having let go of the food that I had in my hand for



the chance of obtaining more."

The Peasant and the Eagle



A PEASANT found an Eagle captured in a trap, and much admiring

the bird, set him free. The Eagle did not prove ungrateful to



his deliverer, for seeing the Peasant sitting under a wall which

was not safe, he flew toward him and with his talons snatched a



bundle from his head. When the Peasant rose in pursuit, the

Eagle let the bundle fall again. Taking it up, the man returned



to the same place, to find that the wall under which he had been

sitting had fallen to pieces; and he marveled at the service



rendered him by the Eagle.

The Image of Mercury and the Carpenter



A VERY POOR MAN, a Carpenter by trade, had a wooden image of

Mercury, before which he made offerings day by day, and begged



the idol to make him rich, but in spite of his entreaties he

became poorer and poorer. At last, being very angry, he took his



image down from its pedestal and dashed it against the wall.

When its head was knocked off, out came a stream of gold, which



the Carpenter quickly picked up and said, "Well, I think thou art

altogether contradictory and unreasonable; for when I paid you



honor, I reaped no benefits: but now that I maltreat you I am

loaded with an abundance of riches."



The Bull and the Goat

A BULL, escaping from a Lion, hid in a cave which some shepherds



had recently occupied. As soon as he entered, a He-Goat left in

the cave sharply attacked him with his horns. The Bull quietly



addressed him: "Butt away as much as you will. I have no fear of

you, but of the Lion. Let that monster go away and I will soon



let you know what is the respective strength of a Goat and a

Bull."



It shows an evil disposition to take advantage of a friend in

distress.



The Dancing Monkeys

A PRINCE had some Monkeys trained to dance. Being naturally



great mimics of men's actions, they showed themselves most apt

pupils, and when arrayed in their rich clothes and masks, they



danced as well as any of the courtiers. The spectacle was often

repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier,



bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and

threw them upon the stage. The Monkeys at the sight of the nuts



forgot their dancing and became (as indeed they were) Monkeys

instead of actors. Pulling off their masks and tearing their



robes, they fought with one another for the nuts. The dancing

spectacle thus came to an end amidst the laughter and ridicule of



the audience.

• learning [´lə:niŋ] n.学习；学问；知识 (初中英语单词)


• running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)


• monkey [´mʌŋki] n.猴子 v.乱弄；胡闹 (初中英语单词)


• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)


• assistance [ə´sistəns] n.协作；援助；帮助 (初中英语单词)


• descend [di´send] v.下来，下降 (初中英语单词)


• device [di´vais] n.装置；器具；策略 (初中英语单词)


• refuge [´refju:dʒ] v.&n.避难(所)；庇护 (初中英语单词)


• sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)


• deserve [di´zə:v] v.应受；值得 (初中英语单词)


• criminal [´kriminəl] a.犯罪的 n.罪犯 (初中英语单词)


• perish [´periʃ] v.灭亡；消灭；(使)死去 (初中英语单词)


• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)


• striking [´straikiŋ] a.显著的，明显的 (初中英语单词)


• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)


• prevail [pri´veil] vi.胜(过)；流行；普遍 (初中英语单词)


• unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)


• peasant [´pezənt] n.农民；庄稼人 (初中英语单词)


• pursuit [pə´sju:t] n.追踪；追击；事务 (初中英语单词)


• bundle [´bʌndl] n.包，捆；包袱(裹) (初中英语单词)


• mercury [´mə:kjuri] n.汞；水银柱 (初中英语单词)


• carpenter [´kɑ:pintə] n.木工 vi.做木工活 (初中英语单词)


• wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)


• stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)


• abundance [ə´bʌndəns] n.丰富，充裕 (初中英语单词)


• sharply [´ʃɑ:pli] ad.锋利地；剧烈地 (初中英语单词)


• monster [´mɔnstə] n.怪物 a.大得异常的 (初中英语单词)


• disposition [,dispə´ziʃən] n.安排；性情；倾向 (初中英语单词)


• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)


• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)


• spectacle [´spektəkəl] n.展览；表演；景象 (初中英语单词)


• mischief [´mistʃif] n.伤害；故障；调皮 (初中英语单词)


• laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)


• audience [´ɔ:diəns] n.听众；观众；接见 (初中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• lament [lə´ment] v.哀悼 n.哀悼；恸哭 (高中英语单词)


• partridge [´pɑ:tridʒ] n.鹧鸪；石鸡 (高中英语单词)


• earnestly [´ə:nistli] ad.认真地；急切地 (高中英语单词)


• hercules [´hə:kjuli:z] n.大力神 (高中英语单词)


• caution [´kɔ:ʃən] n.&vt.小心；告诫；警告 (高中英语单词)


• combat [´kɔmbæt] v.&n.斗争；战斗；争斗 (高中英语单词)


• fatigue [fə´ti:g] n.&vt.(使)疲劳(劳累) (高中英语单词)


• grudge [grʌdʒ] vt.&n.吝啬；怨恨 (高中英语单词)


• philosopher [fi´lɔsəfə] n.哲学家；思想家；哲人 (高中英语单词)


• injustice [in´dʒʌstis] n.不公正，不公平 (高中英语单词)


• applause [ə´plɔ:z] n.鼓掌；欢呼；称赞 (高中英语单词)


• handful [hændful] n.一把，少数，一小撮 (高中英语单词)


• swollen [´swəulən] swell的过去分词 (英语四级单词)


• huntsman [´hʌntsmən] n.猎人；管理猎犬的人 (英语四级单词)


• unexpectedly [´ʌniks´pektidli] ad.意外地；突然地 (英语四级单词)


• fishing [´fiʃiŋ] n.钓鱼；捕鱼；渔业 (英语四级单词)


• richly [´ritʃli] ad.富裕地；浓厚地 (英语四级单词)


• shipwreck [´ʃiprek] n.&v.(船)失事；毁灭 (英语四级单词)


• providence [´prɔvidəns] n.天意，天命，上帝 (英语四级单词)


• perchance [pə´tʃɑ:ns] ad.偶然；可能 (英语四级单词)


• bitten [´bitn] bite的过去分词 (英语四级单词)


• pedestal [´pedistl] n.垫座 vt.给…装上座 (英语四级单词)


• unreasonable [ʌn´ri:zənəbl] a.不合理的；荒唐的 (英语四级单词)


• respective [ri´spektiv] a.各自的，各个的 (英语四级单词)


• amidst [ə´midst] prep.=amid (英语四级单词)


• ridicule [´ridikju:l] vi.&n.嘲笑；奚落 (英语四级单词)


• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)


• departed [di´pɑ:tid] a.已往的；已故的 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• whereon [weər´ɔn] ad.在什么上面；因此 (英语六级单词)


• fervently [´fə:vəntli] ad.火热地，热烈地 (英语六级单词)


• narrowly [´nærəuli] ad.勉强地；严密地 (英语六级单词)


• treetop [´tri:tɔp] n.树顶，树梢 (英语六级单词)


• stealthily [´stelθili] ad.偷偷地，隐秘地 (英语六级单词)


• untouched [ʌn´tʌtʃt] a.原样的；未触动过的 (英语六级单词)


• biting [´baitiŋ] a.刺痛的；尖利的 (英语六级单词)


• deliverer [di´livərə] n.投递者；拯救者 (英语六级单词)