英语小故事短文：男孩和钉子

Once there was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence.

从前，有一个小男孩，他的脾气很坏。他的父亲送给他一袋钉子。告诉他说，他每发一次火，就必须将一颗钉子钉在栅栏上。

The first day the boy hammered 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

第一天，男孩将37颗钉子钉进了栅栏。又过了几周，随着他学会控制自己的怒火，钉子的数目日益减少。他发现控制自己的脾气要比往栅栏上钉那些钉子容易。

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and his father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

最后，男孩再也不发火的日子终于来了。他把这件事告诉了他的父亲。他的父亲建议他现在每天能控制住自己的脾气，就拔掉一颗钉子。

The days passed and one day the young boy told his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. The fence would never be the same. “When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like those nails,” his father said.

又过去了好几天。有一天，男孩对他的父亲说，所有的钉子都没有了。男孩的父亲拉住他的手，将他领到了栅栏边。栅栏再也不是从前的样子了。“当你生气的说出事情时，它们就像那些钉子一样留下了伤疤。”他的父亲说。

袋鼠与笼子

(Kangaroos and the Cage) 

One day the staff members of a zoo called a meeting to discuss the problem--how to deal with the kangaroos that were found out of the cage. They came to the conclusion that the cage was placed too low and decided to raise it from one to two meters high. But the next day the kangaroos were still at large and they again raised the cage to three meters.

有一天，动物园的管理员们发现袋鼠从笼子里跑出来了， 于是开会讨论，一致认为是笼子的高度过低，所以他们决定将笼子的高度由原来的1米加高到2米。结果第二天他们发现，袋鼠还是跑到外面来，所以他们又决定再将高度加高到3米。

Quite beyond their expectation the next morning they saw the kangaroos still free to go about. They were alarmed and determined to go to all the length by raising the cage to the height of ten meters.

没想到隔天居然又看到袋鼠全跑到外面，于是管理 员们大为紧张，决定一不做二不休，将笼子的高度加高到10米。

Later a giraffe, while chatting with some kangaroos, asked them, “Do you think they will go on raising your cage?”

一天，长颈鹿和几只袋鼠在闲聊，“你们看，这些人 会不会再继续加高你们的笼子?”长颈鹿问。

“Hard to say,” said a kangaroo, “if they continue forgetting to fasten the cage door.”

“很难说。”袋鼠说，“如果他们再继续忘记关门的话!”

风和太阳

(The Wind And The Sun) 

One day the wind said to the sun, “Look at that man walking along the road. I can get his cloak off more quickly than you can.” 

(有一天风跟太阳说: “看看那个沿着路上走的人.我可以比你快让他把披风脱下来.) 

“We will see about that,” said the sun. “I will let you try first.” 

(“我们等着看吧,”太阳说, “我让你先试.) 

So the wind tried to make the man take off his cloak. He blew and blew, but the man only pulled his cloak more closely around himself. 

(因此风尝试让那个人把披风脱下来.他用力地吹,可是那个人把披风拉得更紧.) 

“I give up,” said the wind at last. “I cannot get his cloak off.” Then the sun tried. He shone as hard as he could. The man soon became hot and took off his cloak. 

(“我放弃了,”风最后说, “我无法让他把披风脱下来.”然后由太阳试试看.他尽可能地晒他.不久,那个人很热就把披风脱下来了.)

The Fox and the Crow
One day a crow stood on a branch near his nest and felt very happy with the meat in his mouth. At that time, a fox saw the crow with the meat, so he swallowed and eagerly thought of a plan to get the meat. However, whatever the fox said to the crow, the crow just kept silent. Until the fox thought highly of the crow’s beautiful voice, the crow felt flattered and opened his mouth to sing. As soon as the meat fell down to the ground, the fox took the meat and went into his hole.
“狐狸和乌鸦”
有一天,一只乌鸦站在窝旁的树枝上嘴里叼着一片肉，心里非常高兴。这时候，一只狐狸看见了乌鸦，馋得直流口水，非常想得到那片肉。但是，无论狐狸说什么，乌鸦就是不理睬狐狸。最后，狐狸赞美乌鸦的嗓音最优美，并要求乌鸦唱几句让他欣赏欣赏。乌鸦听了狐狸赞美的话，得意极了，就唱起歌来。没想到，肉一掉下来，狐狸就叼起肉，钻回了洞

英语幽默小故事：Prowling Cat

A lady had a beautiful black cat, Midnight, who spent his days outside and came indoors at night.

一位女士拥有一只非常美丽的黑猫，叫做子夜，它会在晚上跑出去玩一阵，再回家来。

One crisp fall evening he disappeared.

然而在一个凉爽的傍晚，它消失了。

The lady searched for him in vain.

女士苦苦找寻而徒劳无功。

The following spring, however, Mdnight reappeared, looking healthy and clean. She figured he'd been sowing his wild oats.

第二年春天，子夜又回来了，看上去干净又健康的样子。。女士想着：它大概在外面种了燕麦吧。

Everything was back to normal, until that fall, when Midnight disappeared again.

一切如旧，直到这年秋天，子夜又消失了。

The next spring, he returned. Perplexed the lady went door to door questioning others in the area.

再接下来的春天，它又回来了。女士感到十分困惑，一家一家地询问附近的邻居。

Finally she rang the bell of an older couple.

最终她按响了一对老夫妇的门铃。

"A black cat?" the old woman said, "Oh yes, My husband and I hated to see him out in the cold, so we bought a cat carrier. We take him to Florida every winter."

“一只黑猫？”老妇人说，“啊，是的。我们夫妇俩不想让它在外面挨冻，于是我们就买了一个猫笼，每年冬天都带它去弗洛里达。”

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