【www.jianqiaoenglish.com--英语故事】
The Old Cat
An old woman had a cat. The cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it.
Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. She began to hit the cat. The cat said, "Do not hit your old servant. I have worked for you for many years, and I would work for you still, but I am too old. Do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young."
A man was going to the house of some rich person. As he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road. He said, "I do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat." Then he took the apples and threw them away into the dust.
He went on and came to a river. The river had become very big; so he could not go over it. He waited for some time; then he said, "I cannot go to the rich man"s house today, for I cannot get over the river."
He began to go home. He had eaten no food that day. He began to want food. He came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them.
Do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time.
The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city."
The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid.
After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid."
Teacher:Why are you late for school every morning?
Tom:Every time I come to the corner,a sign says,"School-Go slow".
A Good Boy
Little Robert asked his mother for two cents. "What did you do with the money I gave you yesterday?"
"I gave it to a poor old woman," he answered.
"You"re a good boy," said the mother proudly. "Here are two cents more. But why are you so interested in the old woman?"
"She is the one who sells the candy."
Drunk
One day, a father and his little son were going home. At this age, the boy was interested in all kinds of things and was always asking questions. Now, he asked, "What"s the meaning of the word "Drunk", dad?" "Well, my son," his father replied, "look, there are standing two policemen. If I regard the two policemen as four then I am drunk."
"But, dad," the boy said, " there"s only ONE policeman!"
【译文】
老猫
一位老妇有只猫，这只猫很老，它跑不快了，也咬不了东西，因为它年纪太大了。一天，老猫发现一只老鼠，它跳过去抓这只老鼠，然而，它咬不住这只老鼠。因此，老鼠从它的嘴边溜掉了，因为老猫咬不了它。
于是，老妇很生气，因为老猫没有把老鼠咬死。她开始打这只猫，猫说：“不要打你的老仆人，我已经为你服务了很多年，而且还愿意为你效劳，但是，我实在太老了，对年纪大的不要这么无情，要记住老年人在年青时所做过的有益的事情。”
【译文】
一个人正朝着一个富人的房子走去，当他沿着路走时，在路的一边他发现一箱好苹果，他说：“我不打算吃那些苹果，因为富人会给我更多的食物，他会给我很好吃的东西。”然后他拿起苹果，一把扔到土里去。
他继续走，来到河边，河涨水了，因此，他到不了河对岸，他等了一会儿，然后他说：“今天我去不了富人家了，因为我不能渡过河。”
他开始回家，那天他没有吃东西。他就开始去找吃的，他找到苹果，很高兴地把它们从尘土中翻出来吃了。
不要把好东西扔掉，换个时候你会觉得它们大有用处。【译文】
城里老鼠和乡下老鼠
从前，有两只老鼠，它们是好朋友。一只老鼠居住在乡村，另一只住在城里。很多年以后，乡下老鼠碰到城里老鼠，它说：“你一定要来我乡下的家看看。”于是，城里老鼠就去了。乡下老鼠领着它到了一块田地上它自己的家里。它把所有最精美食物都找出来给城里老鼠。城里老鼠说：“这东西不好吃，你的家也不好，你为什么住在田野的地洞里呢？你应该搬到城里去住，你能住上用石头造的漂亮房子，还会吃上美味佳肴，你应该到我城里的家看看。”
乡下老鼠就到城里老鼠的家去。房子十分漂亮，好吃的东西也为他们摆好了。可是正当他们要开始吃的时候，听见很大的一阵响声，城里的老鼠叫喊起来：“快跑！快跑！猫来了！”他们飞快地跑开躲藏起来。
过了一会儿，他们出来了。当他们出来时，乡下老鼠说：“我不喜欢住在城里，我喜欢住在田野我的洞里。因为这样虽然贫穷但是快乐自在，比起虽然富有却要过着提心吊胆的生活来说，要好些。”老师:为什么你每天早晨都迟到?
汤姆:每当我经过学校的拐角处,就看见一个牌子上写着"学校----慢行".好孩子
小罗伯特向妈妈要两分钱。
“昨天给你的钱干什么了？”
“我给了一个可怜的老太婆，”他回答说。 “你真是个好孩子，”妈妈骄傲地说。“再给你两分钱。可你为什么对那位老太太那么感兴趣呢？”
“她是个卖糖果的。”
醉酒
一天， 父亲与小儿子一道回家。这个孩子正处于那种对什么事都很感兴趣的年龄，老是有提不完的问题。他向父亲发问道：“爸爸，‘醉’字是什么意思？” “唔，孩子，”父亲回答说，“你瞧那儿站着两个警察。如果我把他们看成了四个，那么我就算醉了。” “可是，爸爸， ”孩子说，“那儿只有一个警察呀！”
Deep below the sea was another world. That was where the sea king lived. It was a wonderful place.
Many special plants grew there. Large and small fishes swam around the plants. They looked like birds in trees. Blue light shone on everything there. In this special place mermen and mermaids were always happy.
The sea king"s castle was in the deepest place. It was very large and fancy. Its walls were made of coral, and the roof was made of shells. There were many windows. Fish swam in and out of the windows. The sea king had no wife. His mother took care of the house. She was wise and proud.
The sea king had six daughters. Each princess was very pretty, but the youngest was the prettiest.
She had clear skin and blue eyes. She had no feet, though. All sea people have fish tails, not feet. She didn"t talk as much as her sisters. She was very polite, and everybody liked her.
The six mermaids were happy. All day, they played in the castle and its garden. They played with the fish like we play with dogs. The garden was very pretty. It had many red and blue flowers. There was fruit on the plants. The fruit shone like gold. On clear days, you could see the sun. It looked like a purple flower far above the sea floor.
Each princess had her own spot in the garden. They put flowers and other pretty things into their spots. Each one was different. The oldest sister made hers into a whale shape. The second sister made hers look like a mermaid. The little mermaid made hers into the shape of a sun. All of her flowers were red, like rays of the sun.
One day, a statue fell to the bottom of the sea. It was the statue of a prince. The statue looked very handsome, and the little mermaid was very curious about it. She put the statue into her garden under a pink plant. The plant could protect the statue from bad weather. Winter storms were very scary under the sea.
What did the prince"s world look like? The little mermaid wanted to know. Her grandmother told her about it. She told her about towns and people and animals. She said the little mermaid could go up and look around. First, she had to wait for her fifteenth birthday. The little mermaid wasn"t happy because she didn"t want to wait. Every night she looked up at the surface of the sea and dreamed.
The next year, the oldest sister turned fifteen. She swam to the surface of the sea and was amazed by everything she saw. Later, she told her other sisters about the people, who walked on two legs. She also told them about their music and their songs. The voices of people were strange to her. She said mermaids sang much better than people.
A year passed. The second sister had her fifteenth birthday. She could now leave the water kingdom to look around. She was very curious about the sun. She tried to touch it, but it was behind some clouds. Each year, a different sister turned fifteen, but the little mermaid still wasn"t fifteen. She always listened carefully to her sisters" stories. The world above the sea seemed like a great place.
Finally, the little mermaid"s fifteenth birthday came, and she was very excited. Now she could look around the world above the sea. Her grandmother put a few white flowers into her hair, and eight shells on her tail. She was ready to swim away. She waved to her family as she swam upwards.
The little mermaid looked out of the water for the first time. It was night. She saw the black sky full of stars. Nearby, there was a big boat. It was very bright and the people on it were wearing nice clothes. Then she saw a handsome prince. He looked like the statue in her little garden. She quickly fell in love with him.
She followed the boat as it sailed away. The wind began to blow harder. A storm was coming. The waves grew bigger and bigger. The boat was in trouble! The waves turned it over, and everyone fell out! Quickly, the little mermaid dived under the water. She found the prince, and took him up to the surface. He couldn"t swim very well, so she helped him.
The storm was over in the morning. The little mermaid took the prince to shore. On the beach, she held his head and kissed him. There was a church near the beach. The bells rang and some girls ran out to play. The little mermaid swam to some rocks near the beach. When the girls saw the prince, they ran to him and helped him stand up. The prince thanked the girls. The little mermaid wasn"t happy. "Why didn"t the prince thank me?" she thought.
Every day, the little mermaid returned to the beach. She wanted to see the handsome prince. He was never there, so she was unhappy. She went back to her home and cried. Her older sisters were worried about her. She told them about the prince. One of them knew where he lived. She could take the little mermaid there. Together, the six mermaids went to find the prince.
The prince lived in a beautiful palace. It had beautiful paintings on its walls. There were silk curtains in its windows and a big fountain in its garden. Each night, the little mermaid swam near the palace. She swam to the shore and hid behind the rocks. There, she could watch the prince in his garden. She wanted to talk with him, but she couldn"t. She was a mermaid, not a girl.
The little mermaid asked her sisters and grandmother many questions. She wanted to know more about people and they told her what they knew. Her grandmother knew the most about people. "Humans don"t live as long as sea people. We can live happily for three hundred years," she said. "When we die, we melt into the sea. There is no heaven for sea people. Good humans can go to heaven." The little mermaid wanted more than ever to be human. She wanted to marry the prince and go to heaven.
The next night, the sea king had a big ball. Many mermen and mermaids went to the ball. The sea king, the grandmother and the six sisters were all wearing beautiful clothes. Everyone danced, sang, and had fun. The little mermaid sang a song. Her voice sounded very pretty. Everyone loved to hear her sing.
The little mermaid felt happy for a short time. Then, she remembered the prince. Her heart wanted to be with him. She left the ball and went to see the sea witch. The sea witch lived in a scary place. No flowers or grass would grow there. The path to her house was dark and chilling. Ugly plants were on either side. They had arms like snakes. They grabbed anything they could touch.
The little mermaid was scared. She felt like turning around. Then, she saw the prince"s face. "I must be brave," she told herself. "If I am human, I can marry the prince." She closed her eyes and swam quickly past the ugly plants.
The little mermaid came to a house. The sea witch was sitting in front of the house. The sea witch knew about the little mermaid"s dream, but she didn"t understand why the little mermaid loved the prince so much. The sea witch could make a special drink. This was a magic potion. It would give the mermaid legs and make her human.
The sea witch told the mermaid, "If the prince marries another woman, you will die the next morning. You will become foam on the sea."
The little mermaid turned pale. She didn"t want to die, but she wanted to be with the prince. She told the sea witch that she wanted the magic potion. Then, the sea witch told her the drink was not free. The little mermaid had to give the sea witch her lovely voice! She could never sing again!
The witch began to make the magic potion. She put worms, snakes and other scary things into a pot. She cooked the potion for ten minutes. There was a lot of smoke, and the pot sounded like an alligator crying. Then, the sea witch put the magic potion into a bottle. The little mermaid took the bottle and swam through the dark forest of ugly plants. She felt bad to leave her family, but now she could live with her handsome prince.
The little mermaid swam to the prince"s palace. She lifted the bottle and drank the magic potion. Suddenly, her tail disappeared. Now, she had feet! They felt very strange, though. The prince was taking a walk in the moonlight. He saw her standing on the shore, and asked her who she was. She couldn"t speak because she didn"t have a voice.
The prince took her into his castle. The little mermaid"s feet hurt. It was painful to walk to the palace. There were many servants in the palace. They gave her a nice new dress to wear. Everyone in the castle was curious about the new girl. The little mermaid couldn"t talk or sing, but she danced very well. The prince liked his new friend, so he wanted her to stay with him always.
The prince and the little mermaid had fun together. They rode horses, climbed mountains and listened to the birds sing. The little mermaid loved the prince, but her feet hurt very much. Each night, she went to the sea and cooled her feet in the water. One night her sisters came. "We miss you, little sister," they said. After that, the little mermaid met her sisters every night. Far away, the little mermaid could see the sea king and her grandmother. They both looked very sad.
One day, the prince put his arms around the little mermaid. He said to her, "I like you very much, my quiet friend. You look like a girl who once saved my life. But I can only love that girl." He didn"t know the truth: the little mermaid WAS that girl. The little mermaid felt very sad. Then, the prince said that he had to marry a princess from another place. He would go there in a boat soon. He wanted the little mermaid to come to his wedding.
The prince, his family, and the little mermaid sailed to the princess"s country. They traveled on the sea for one day and one night. The princess"s castle was very pretty. The bells of the church rang. Soon, there would be a wedding in the church. The prince looked for his bride. Then, everyone saw her. She was a beautiful girl. The prince looked very happy.
That evening, they had a party on the ship. The little mermaid danced for the new couple. Everyone liked her graceful dancing. Soon, the prince and his bride were tired. They went into their cabin, and everyone on the boat went to sleep.
The little mermaid didn"t go to sleep. Sadly, she looked at the water. Suddenly, she saw her sisters. They had short hair. "We gave our hair to the sea witch, and she gave us this magic knife," they said. "We don"t want you to die. If you put this knife into the prince"s heart, you can live."
It was almost morning. The sun was coming up. Soon, the little mermaid would die. She went into the prince"s cabin. The prince and his bride were still sleeping. She looked at the prince, who looked happy. She couldn"t kill him. She threw away the knife and jumped into the sea. Slowly, she melted into the water.
She didn"t feel dead. The sun shone on her face, and she felt warm. Then, she could see beautiful figures flying around her. The little mermaid rose out of the sea. Her body was just like the other beautiful figures. "Am I dead?" she asked. She had a beautiful voice again. " No, dear. You are a daughter of the air now," replied one of the figures. "You will live with us now, and one day you will go to heaven."
The little mermaid floated up to a cloud, and she and her new family flew away.
Snow-white
Once there was a Queen. She was sitting at the window. There was snow outside in the garden-snow on the hill and in the lane, snow on the hunts and on the trees: all things were white with snow.
The Queen was making a coat for a little child. She said, "I want my child to be white as this cloth, white as the snow. And I shall call her Snow-white."
Some days after that the Queen had a child. The child was white as snow. The Queen called her Snow-white.
But the Queen was very ill, and after some days she died. Snow-white lived, and was a very happy and beautiful child.
One year after that, the King married another Queen. The new Queen was very beautiful; but she was not a good woman.
A wizard had given this Queen a glass. The glass could speak. It was on the wall in the Queen"s room. Every day the queen looked in the glass to see how beautiful she was. As she looked in the glass, she asked: "Tell me, glass upon the wall, who is most beautiful of all?" And the glass spoke and said: "The Queen is most beautiful of all."
Year went by. Snow-white grew up and became a little girl. every day the Queen looked in the glass and said, "Tell me, glass upon the wall, who is most beautiful of all?" And the glass said, "Snow-white is most beautiful of all."
When the Queen heard this, she was very angry. She said, "Snow-white is not more beautiful than I am. There is no one who is more beautiful than I am."
Then the Queen sat on her bed and cried.
After one hour the Queen went out of her room. She called one of the servants, and said, "Take Snow-white into the forest and kill her."
The servant took Snow-white to the forest, but he did not kill her, because she was so beautiful and so good. He said, "I shall not kill you; but do not go to the King"s house, because the Queen is angry and she will see you. If the Queen sees you, she will make some other man kill you. Wait here in the forest; some friends will help you." Then he went away.
Poor Snow-white sat at the foot of a tree and cried. Then she saw that night was coming. She said, "I will not cry. I will find some house where I can sleep tonight. I cannot wait here: the bears will eat me."
She went far into the forest. Then she saw a little hut. She opened the door of the hut, and went in. In the hut she saw seven little beds. There was a table, and on the table there were seven little loaves and seven little glasses. She ate one of the loaves. Then she said, "I want some water to drink." So she drank some water out of one of the glasses. Then she fell asleep on one of the seven little beds.
The hut was the home of seven Little Men. When it was night, the seven Little Men came to the hut. Each Little Man had a big beard, and a little blue coat. Each Little Man came into the hut, and took his little lamp. Then each Little Man sat down, and ate his little loaf, and drank his little glass of water.
But one Little Man said, "Someone has eaten my little loaf." And another Little Man said, "Someone has drunk my little glass of water." Then the seven Little Men went to bed, but one Little Man said, "Someone is sleeping on my little bed." All the seven Little Men came to look at Snow-white as she slept on the Little Men"s bed. They said, "She is very beautiful."
Snow-white awoke, and saw the seven Little Men with their big beards standing near her bed. She was afraid. The Little men said, "Do not be afraid. We are your friends. Tell us how you came here." Snow-white said, "I will tell you." Then she told them her story.
They said, "Do not be afraid. Live here with us. But see that the door shut when we are not in the house with you. Do not go out. If you go out, the bad Queen will find you. Then she will know that you are not dead, and will tell someone to kill you." So Snow-white lived in the hut with the seven Little Men.
After some days Snow-white went into the garden. One of the Queen"s servants was going through the forest, and he saw her. He went and told the Queen, "Snow-white is in a hut in the forest." The Queen was very angry when she heard that Snow-white was not dead.
The Queen took an apple. She made a hole in the red side of the apple, and put some powder into the hole. Then she put on old clothes and went to the hut. She called, "Is any one there?" Snow-white opened the door, and came out to her. The Queen said, "I have some pretty apples. Eat one of my pretty apples." Snow-white took the apple and said, "Is it good?" The Queen said, "See, I will eat this white side of the apple; you eat the red side. Then you will know that it is good."
Snow-white ate the red side of the apple. When the powder was in her mouth, she fell down dead. The Queen went back to her house. She went into her room. she looked into the glass and said, "Tell me, glass upon the wall, who is most beautiful of all?" The glass said, "The Queen is most beautiful of all." Then the Queen know that Snow-white was dead.
The Little Men came back to the hut. When they saw that Snow-white was dead, the poor Little Men cried. Then they put Snow-white in a box made of glass. They took the glass box to a hill and put it there, and said, "Everyone who goes by will see how beautiful she was." Then each Little Man put one white flower on the box, and they went away.
Just as they were going away, a Prince came by. He saw the glass box and said, "What is that?" Then he saw Snow-white in the box. He said, "She was very beautiful: but do not put her there. There is a hall in the garden of my father"s house. It is all made of white stone. We will take the glass box and put it in the hall of beautiful white stone."
The Little Men said, "Take her." Then the Prince told his servants to take up the box. They took up the box. Just then one of the servants fell down. The box fell, and Snow-white fell with the box. The bit of apple fell out of her mouth: she awoke, and sat up, and said, "Where am I?"
The Prince said, "You are with me. I never saw anyone as beautiful as you. Come with me and be my Queen."
The Prince married Snow-white, and she became his Queen.
A man went and told this to the bad Queen. When she heard it she was so angry that she fell down dead.
Snow-white lived and was very happy ever after. And the Little Men came to see her every year.
