The Lion and The Mouse

THE LION AND THE MOUSE

A lion asleep in his lair was awakened by a mouse runningover his face.  Losing his temper, heseized it with his paw and was about to kill it.  The Mouse, terrified, piteously begged him tospare its life.

“Please let me go,” it cried, “and one day I will repay youfor your kindness.”  The idea of soinsignificant a creature ever being able to do anything for him amused the Lionso much that he laughed aloud and good-humoredly let it go.  But the Mouse’s chance came, after all.

One day the Lion got entangled in a net which had been spreadfor game by some hunters, and the Mouse heard and recognized his roars of angerand ran to the spot.  Without more ado,it set to work to gnaw the ropes with its teeth and succeeded before long insetting the Lion free.

“There!” said the Mouse. “You laughed at me when I promised I would repay you: but now you see,even a Mouse can help a lion.”

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A lion asleep in his lair was awakened by a mouse runningover his face. 

一头狮子在洞穴熟睡时被一只老鼠爬到它的脸上时弄醒了。Lair：兽穴

Losing his temper, he seized it with his paw and was about tokill it. 

狮子很生气，它用爪子抓住小老鼠，想杀死它。

Lose temper：忍不住发脾气            Seize： 抓住，逮住   Paw：动物的爪子

The Mouse, terrified, piteously begged to him to spare itslife.

老鼠十分恐惧。可怜巴巴地乞求狮子饶它一命。Terrified：惊恐万分  Piteous：可怜的，令人怜悯的.  Spare：饶恕。

“Please let me go,” it cried, 老鼠哭着乞求狮子：“大王，饶我一命，放我走吧!”

“and one day I will repay you for your kindness.”  ”将来我会回报您的恩典！“

The idea of so insignificant a creature ever being able to doanything for him amused the Lion so much that he laughed aloud andgood-humoredly let it go. 

这样一个小动物竟然说日后能帮我这位万兽之王，真是太好笑了！老鼠的话逗得狮子大笑起来，笑声之余，狮子饶了小老鼠一命，放它走了。

Insignificant：无关紧要的，微不足道的。            Creature：动物

amused：被逗乐的，感到有趣的               good-humored:  高兴，心情好。

But the Mouse’s chance came, after all.  可是，老鼠回报狮子的机会真的来了。

One day the Lion got entangled in a net which had been spreadfor game by some hunters,

一天，狮子被猎人撒下的捕猎网缠住了。Entangled： 被。。。 缠住了   

net： 网               spread： 撒，传播，散布。

and the Mouse heard and recognized his roars of anger and ranto the spot. 

老鼠听到狮子的怒吼，识别出那是饶它一命的狮子的吼叫声！老鼠飞快跑到受难的狮子跟前。 Recognize： 识别。     Roar：吼叫。Spot：地点

Without more ado, it set to work to gnaw the ropes with itsteeth and succeeded before long in setting the Lion free.                老鼠立即投入工作 – 不一会儿，老鼠就将缠住狮子的绳子咬断，使狮子重获自由。Without more ado：立即。二话没说，立即。。。            gnaw：咬，啃。

“There!” said the Mouse. “You laughed at me when I promised， I would repay you: but now yousee, even a Mouse can help a lion.”

“好啦！”老鼠说。“在我保证将来回报你时，你笑我。现在你看，甚至一只老鼠能帮助狮子！”                 Promise:  保证            even：甚至

                                 善良的行为，无论多么小，都不会浪费。