The cat and the cock 猫和公鸡（中英）

A Cat pounced on a Cock, and cast about for some good excuse for making a meal off him, for Cats don’t as a rule eat Cocks, and she knew she ought not to. At last she said, “You make a great nuisance of yourself at night by crowing and keeping people awake: so I am going to make an end of you.” But the Cock defended himself by saying that he crowed in order that men might wake up and set about the day’s work in good time, and that they really couldn’t very well do without him. “That may be,” said the Cat, “but whether they can or not, I’m not going without my dinner”; and she killed and ate him.

一只猫抓到一只公鸡，并想方设法找出一个借口好吃掉他，因为不吃鸡是猫的一贯传统，而她也知道自己不应该吃鸡。最后，猫说：“你总在夜晚打鸣，让人们不能好好睡觉，所以，我要吃掉你。”但是，公鸡却辩解说，自己为了人们的利益而叫醒他们，可使人们按时起床工作，若是没有了鸡，人们就无法准时起床工作了。“有点道理，”猫回答说，“不过，不管他们能不能准时开始工作，我总不能没有饭吃。”于是，猫就吃掉了公鸡。