The Old Cat An old woman had a cat.The cat was very old; she could not run quickly,and she could not bite[bait],because she was so old.One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught[kɔ:t] the mouse.But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away,because the cat could not bite it.Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse.She began to hit the cat.The cat said,"Do not hit your old servant['sə:vənt].I have worked for you for many years,and I would work for you still,but I am too old.Do not be unkind[ʌn'kaind] to the old,but remember what good work the old did when they were young." 【译文】 老猫 一位老妇有只猫,这只猫很老,它跑不快了,也咬不了东西,因为它年纪太大了.一天,老猫发现一只老鼠,它跳过去抓这只老鼠,然而,它咬不住这只老鼠.因此,老鼠从它的嘴边溜掉了,因为老猫咬不了它.于是,老妇很生气,因为老猫没有把老鼠咬死.她开始打这只猫,猫说：“不要打你的老仆人,我已经为你服务了很多年,而且还愿意为你效劳,但是,我实在太老了,对年纪大的不要这么无情,要记住老年人在年青时所做过的有益的事情.”
A man was going to the house of some rich person.As he went along the road,he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road.He said,"I do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat." Then he took the apples and threw them away into the dust.He went on and came to a river.The river had become very big; so he could not go over it.He waited for some time; then he said,"I cannot go to the rich man's house today,for I cannot get over the river." He began to go home.He had eaten no food that day.He began to want food.He came to the apples,and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them.Do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time.【译文】 一个人正朝着一个富人的房子走去,当他沿着路走时,在路的一边他发现一箱好苹果,他说：“我不打算吃那些苹果,因为富人会给我更多的食物,他会给我很好吃的东西.”然后他拿起苹果,一把扔到土里去.他继续走,来到河边,河涨水了,因此,他到不了河对岸,他等了一会儿,然后他说：“今天我去不了富人家了,因为我不能渡过河.” 他开始回家,那天他没有吃东西.他就开始去找吃的,他找到苹果,很高兴地把它们从尘土中翻出来吃了.不要把好东西扔掉,换个时候你会觉得它们大有用处.
An Awkward Situation One of the guests turned to a man by his side and criticized the woman who was singing."What a terrible vioce!Do you know she is?" "Yes," was the answer,"she is my wife." "Oh,l beg your pardon.Of course her vioce isn't bad.I wonder who wrote the awful song." "l did," was the answer.翻译：尴尬的处境 一位客人扭身对他旁边的一个男人批评正在唱歌的那个女人.“多糟糕的嗓子.你知道她是谁么?” “知道,”那人回答,“她是我妻子.” “噢,对不起.当然她的嗓子不坏,但歌曲写的不好.也不知道是谁写的这么蹩脚的歌曲.” “是我.”那人回答说.