短篇外國童話故事

　　 會跳舞的熊

　　A bear, who had made his living by dancing for a long time, at length escaped from his master, and returned to his former companions in the woods.

　　His brothers welcomed him with most friendly growls1. The traveler now told what he had seen foreign countries, told a long history of his adventures, and, to exhibit his wonderful feats2, began, in an erect3 position, to dance the Polonaise. His brothers, who were watching the performance, were astonished at his grace, and tried to imitate his ballet steps. It was in vain, hardly were they raised on two legs when they fell again upon all fours. Seeing their awkwardness, the bear went on exhibiting some higher displays of his art, which, at length, aroused the envy of the others, and so they drove him from their society.

　　有隻熊以跳舞謀生很有一段日子了最後逃離了他的主人回到從林中回到了從前的老朋友們的身邊。

　　他的同胞兄弟們發出親暱的嚎叫歡迎他落難歸來。這隻走南闖北的熊向兄弟們講述了在國外的所見所聞講述了自己的漂流歷險記接著又展示了他那令人眼花繚亂的技藝—直立起來跳波蘭舞。觀看錶演的大熊小熊們看著他那優美的舞姿竟驚詫得目瞪口呆。又都想模仿他的波蘭舞步可一個個都心有餘而力不足。他們兩腿一直立就摔個嘴啃泥。看見他們剛剛面露尷尬之色熊先生繼續表演更高難的動作這一下可撩發了同伴們的一腔妒火嫉妒他非凡的技藝於是就將他趕出了熊群。

　　 騙獵遭黑

　　The deer feared the leopard1 cat, the leopard cat feared the tiger, and the tiger the brown bear.

　　The brown bear resembled the fox but was bigger in size. It had long fur on its head, and could stand up like man. It had great strength and would devour2 man.

　　In the south of the State of Chu, there was a hunter good at ventriloquy. With a bamboo pipe he could imitate the cries of various kinds of wild animals.

　　Once, carrying his bow, arrows and firearms, he quietly went hunting in the mountain.

　　Up on the mountain, he first imitated the cries of the deer to lure3 the horde4 of deer to come over, so that he could shoot at them with the firearms. The leopard cat heard the cries of the deer and came running to devour the deer. The hunter was afraid of the leopard cat, so he hurriedly imitated the roar of the tiger to scare away the leopard cat. Hardly had the leopard cat been scared away when the tiger heard the roar and came. At this moment, the hunter was even more frightened, so he imitated the cries of the brown bear. As a result, the tiger was scared away like the leopard cat.

　　Then, when the brown bear heard the cries, it came to look for its companions. Seeing that it was a man, the brown bear at once struck him with its front paws, and tore him up with its teeth. In a short while, the hunter was torn to pieces and devoured5 by the brown bear.

　　鹿害怕驅驅害怕老虎老虎害怕黑。

　　黑像狐狸但是體形比較大。它頭上披著長毛能夠像人一樣站立起來力氣很大要吃人。

　　楚國南方有一個獵人口技很好。他會用竹管來模仿各種野獸的叫聲。

　　有一次他拿著弓箭和火器悄悄上山打獵。

　　上山以後他先學鹿的叫聲想引誘鹿群過來再用火器射獵。驅一聽是鹿叫就快步跑來想吃鹿。獵人害怕急忙又學虎嘯來嚇走它。驅剛剛被虎嘯嚇跑可是老虎卻聞聲趕到了。這時候獵人更加害怕於是就學黑叫。結果老虎也像驅一樣逃跑了。

　　後來黑聽見叫聲就來尋找同伴。剛走到前面它一看是一個人就立刻用前爪打他用牙齒撕他不一會兒把獵人撕成碎塊吃掉了。

　　 群蟻觀鰲

　　In the vast East China Sea, there was a huge turtle. It carried the Penglai Fairy Mountain on its head, floated and swam in the great sea, sometimes soaring into the sky and sometimes diving to the bottom of the sea.

　　A red ant on land heard of the huge turtle's magnificent feat1 and was pleasantly surprised. Thereupon, it called together a big swarm2 of ants to come to the seashore to have a good look to broaden their minds. They waited for over a month, but the huge turtle did not appear on the sea. When they were about to return, the sea wind suddenly sprang up and great waves surged up, shaking the land like thunder. The swarm of ants exclaimed: "Ah, now the huge turtle is about to come out."

　　A few days afterwards, the wind abated3, the waves calmed down, and the sea wastranquil4 again. A mountain as high as the sky could be faintly seen rising from the surface of the water and sometimes moving westward5. The swarm of ants stretched their heads to watch it for a while, and then expressed their opinions: "Why, what's the difference between its carrying a high mountain on its head and our carrying grains of rice on ours? We crawl along the ants' hill leisurely6 and freely, and return to our hole to rest. That is: Each has a role to play. Why should we waste our energy and cover several hundred li to watch it?"

　　浩瀚的東海里有一隻大鰲它頭頂著蓬萊仙山在大海中浮游有時飛騰躍上雲霄有時下潛沉人海底。

　　陸地上一隻紅螞蟻聽說大鰲有如此壯舉非常驚喜於是約了一大群螞蟻來到海岸邊想好好看看開開眼界。可是它們等了一個多月大鰲還沒浮出海面。群蟻將要回去的時候突然海風激盪波濤萬丈雷鳴般地震撼著大地。這群螞蟻喊道“啊這回大鰲就要出來了。”

　　幾天以後風平浪靜大海平靜了下來隱隱約約看到水平面上升起一座齊天的高山時而還向西遊動。這群螞蟻伸頭探腦一陣大發議論道“嘿嘿它頭頂高山與我們頭頂米粒有什麼兩樣呢我們逍遙自在地在蟻山上爬行回到洞裡歇息。這叫各得其所。何必白費力氣奔波數百里來看它呢”