狐狸和乌鸦

9.THE FOX AND THE CROW狐狸和乌鸦A Crow was sitting on a branch of a tree with a piece of cheese in herbeak when a Fox observed her and set his wits to work to discover some wayof getting the cheese. Coming and standing under the tree he looked up andsaid, "What a noble bird I see above me! Her beauty is without equal, the hueof her plumage exquisite. If only her voice is as sweet as her looks are fair,she ought without doubt to be Queen of the Birds." The Crow was hugelyflattered by this, and just to show the Fox that she could sing she gave a loudcaw. Down came the cheese, of course, and the Fox, snatching it up, said,"You have a voice, madam, I see: what you want is wits."｛中文阅读｝乌鸦坐在树枝上，嘴里叼着一块奶酪。这时，狐狸在观察乌鸦，转动鬼脑筋想得到那块奶酪。于是，狐狸走过去，站在树下，仰起头说道：“我的头上有一只多么高贵的鸟儿呀！她的美貌天下无双，她的羽毛精致纤美。要是她的声音也像外貌和羽毛那样美好，毫无疑问，她真该成为鸟类的女王！”听到这番恭维，乌鸦简直受宠若惊，一心只想着向狐狸炫耀一下自己的歌喉，就“呱”地大叫了一声。理所当然，她嘴里的那块奶酪就掉了下去，狐狸立刻抓起奶酪，说：“乌鸦夫人，我知道你的歌喉很不错，可你需要的是智慧。”