23.亡羊补牢（下）It is never too late to mend

亡羊补牢 It is never too late to mend

In the past, there was a man who kept thirty sheep.

    从前，有一个人，养了三十只羊。

    One morning, he discovered that one sheep was missing. Where had it gone? Upon examination, he found that his sheepfold was damaged. During the night a wolf had broken into the sheepfold and devoured the sheep.

    一天早上，他发现少了一只羊。这只羊到哪儿去了呢?再一查看，原来是他的羊圈坏了。夜里狼闯进羊圈，羊是被狼吃掉的。

    His friend said to him:

    他的朋友对他说:

    "You had better mend the sheepfold quickly."

    “快把羊圈修理修理吧!”

      He said:他说:

    "The sheep had already been devoured by the wolf. What is the use of mending the sheepfold?"

    “羊已经被狼吃了，修理羊圈还有什么用呢?”

    He did not listen to his friend's advice.

他没有听取朋友的意见。

    The following morning, he discovered that during the night the wolf had again broken into the sheepfold and devoured another sheep. Not until then did he realize that his friend was right.

第二天早上，他发现夜里狼又闯进羊圈，又吃掉了一只羊。这时候，他才明白，朋友的意见是对的。

    Consequently, he mended the sheepfold at once, and thereafter no more sheep were devoured by the wolf.  

于是，他马上把羊圈修理好。从此，他的羊再也没有被狼吃掉过。