02 伊索寓言 城里老鼠和乡下老鼠 上：平凡又宁静的日子

Onceupon a time a country mouse who had a friend in town invited him, for the sakeof old times, to pay him a visit in the country.从前，一只乡下老鼠在城里有个朋友，为念旧时友谊，他邀请城里的老鼠到乡下去看他。

The invitation beingaccepted in due course, the country mouse, though plain and rough in his habitsof living, opened his heart in honour of an old friend. 城里的老鼠适时接受了邀请。尽管乡下老鼠的生活习惯平淡而粗糙，但他还是敞开心扉向这位老朋友表示敬意。

There was not acarefully stored-up morsel that he did not bring forth out of his larder—peasand barley, cheese-parings and nuts—hoping by quantity to make up what hefeared was wanting in quality. 他从储藏室里拿出豌豆、大麦、碎奶酪和坚果，没有一样不是精心存放起来的，他希望用数量来弥补他所担心的质量上的不足。

The town mouse, who wasused to more dainty fare, at first picked a bit here and a bit there, while thehost sat nibbling a blade of barley straw. 城里的老鼠，因为习惯了吃更美味的食物，所以一开始只是这样吃一点那样挖一口，而主人却坐在一边啃一片麦草。

At length he exclaimed,“How is it, my good friend, that you can endure the dullness of this life? You areliving like a toad in a hole. You can’t really preferthese lonely rocks and woods to streets filledwith shops and carriages and men! 最后他终于喊道：“我的好朋友，你怎么能忍受这样枯燥的生活呢？你活得像洞里的癞蛤蟆。你不可能真的喜欢这些孤零零的岩石和树林，而不喜欢满是商店、马车和人的街道！

Believe me, you arewasting your time here. We must make the most of life while it lasts. A mouse,you know, does not live for ever. So come with me, and I’ll show you life andthe town.”相信我，你在这里是浪费时间。我们必须充分利用生命！你知道，老鼠不会永远活下去。所以你跟我来，我带你去看看真正的生活和城市。”

These fine words weretoo much for the simple country mouse, and he agreed to go with his friend totown.这些漂亮话让这个单纯的乡下老鼠受了刺激，他同意和他的朋友去城里看看。

Phrase  or grammar  for this story本集词组分享

Prefer A to B喜欢A胜过B  

原文例句：You can’t really prefer these lonelyrocks and woods to streets filled with shops andcarriages and men!

 同义句：The townmouse prefers streets filled with shops and carriages and men to lonely rocks and woods.

翻译挑战：你喜欢美味佳肴胜过简朴的食物吗？比起简朴的食物，你是否更喜欢美味佳肴？