A Gnat once went up to a Lion and said，“I am not in the least afraid of you：I don’t even allow that you are a match for me in strength.What does your strength amount to after all？That you can scratch with your claws and bite with your teeth—just like a woman in a temper—and nothing more.But I’m stronger than you：if you don’t believe it，let us ？ght and see.”So saying，the Gnat sounded his horn，and darted in and bit the Lion on the nose.When the Lion felt the sting，in his haste to crush him he scratched his nose badly，and made it bleed，but failedaltogether to hurt the Gnat，which buzzed off in triumph，elated by itsvictory.Presently，however，it got entangled in a spider’s web，and was caught and eaten by the spider，thus falling a prey to an insignificant insect after having triumphed over the King of the Beasts.
｛中文阅读｝
有只蚊子飞到狮子那里，说：“我一点儿也不害怕你，我甚至都不承认你我力量相当。你的力量究竟有多大？你只会用爪子抓、用牙齿咬，就像一个发脾气的女人一样，除此之外，就没有什么了。可是，我却比你厉害得多。若是你不相信，不妨来比试比试。”蚊子嗡嗡地吹着小喇叭，猛冲上前，在狮子的鼻子上咬了一口。狮子感觉到被蚊子叮了一口，马上就用爪子去抓，结果却划伤了自己的鼻子，流了好多血。狮子最终没能伤害到蚊子。于是，蚊子又嗡嗡叫着，兴高采烈地凯旋而归。然而，他很快就陷入了蜘蛛的网中，被一只蜘蛛抓住吃了，在战胜了百兽之王后，却被一只不起眼的蜘蛛消灭了。
THE FARMER AND HIS DOGS
农场主和他的狗
A Farmer was snowed up in his farmstead by a severe storm，and was unable to go out and procure provisions for himself and his family.So he ？rst killed his sheep and used them for food；then，as the storm still continued，he killed his goats；and，last of all，as the weather showed no signs of improving，he was compelled to kill his oxen and eat them.When his Dogs saw the various animals being killed and eaten in turn，they said to one another，“We had better get out of this or we shall be the next to go！”
｛中文阅读｝
一个农夫因持续而来的风暴被困在自己的农场里，无法外出为自己和家人寻获食物。迫于无奈，他杀死了自己的绵羊来充饥。可是，风暴依然持续不停，继而又杀死山羊。最后，因为风暴丝毫没有减弱的意思，他又被迫杀死了自己的牛来填饱肚子。那些狗看到不同的动物依次被杀、被吃掉后，便相互诉说：“我们最好快点离开这里，不然就会成为下一个被杀的对象！”
THE EAGLE AND THE FOX
老鹰和狐狸
An Eagle and a Fox became great friends and determined to live near one another：they thought that the more they saw of each other the better friends they would be.So the Eagle built a nest at the top of a high tree，while the Fox settled in a thicket at the foot of it and produced a litter of cubs.One day the Fox went out foraging for food，and the Eagle，who also wanted food for her young，flew down into the thicket，caught up the Fox’s cubs，and carried them up into the tree for a meal for herself and her family.When the Fox came back，and found out what had happened，she was not so much sorry for the loss of her cubs as furious because she couldn’t get at the Eagle and pay her out for her treachery.So she sat down not far off and cursed her.But it wasn’t long before she had her revenge.Some villagers happened to be sacrificing a goat on a neighbouring altar，and the Eagle flew down and carried off a piece of burning flesh to her nest.There was a strong wind blowing，and the nest caught fire，with the result that her fledglings fell half-roasted to the ground.Then the Fox ran to the spot and devoured them in full sight of the Eagle.
False faith may escape human punishment，but cannot escapethe divine.
｛中文阅读｝
一只鹰和一只狐狸成为了好朋友，并决定比邻而居，他们以为经常能见到对方，就会维持更好的友谊。于是，老鹰在一棵大树的顶端建巢育子，而狐狸则走进树下的灌木丛中扎窝，并在那里生儿育女。有一天，狐狸出去觅食，老鹰正好也想给小鹰寻找食物，他便飞入灌木丛中，抓起狐狸的幼崽，飞上高枝，与雏鹰一起饱餐了一顿。待狐狸回来后，发现了老鹰的所作所为，她既为儿女的亡命而悲痛，又因自己无法到老鹰的巢穴吃掉她的幼崽报仇而愤怒。因此，她只好坐在不远的地方诅咒敌人。没过多久，她就报了仇。一些村民碰巧在旁边的祭坛杀羊祭神，老鹰飞下来，从祭坛上抓起一块还带着火苗的羊肉，带回到自己的巢里。这时，一阵狂风吹来，鹰巢立刻起火了，结果，那些快要被烧焦了的小雏鹰也一并掉到了地上。接着，狐狸便跑了过去，在老鹰的眼前，吃掉了那些小鹰。
带有欺骗性的忠诚或许能逃过人的惩罚，但却逃不过神的惩罚。
THE BUTCHER AND HIS CUSTOMERS
屠夫和他的顾客
Two Men were buying meat at a Butcher’s stall in the market-place，and，while the Butcher’s back was turned for a moment，one of them snatched up a joint and hastily thrust it under the other’scloak，where it could not be seen.When the Butcher turned round，he missed the meat at once，and charged them with having stolen it：but the one who had taken it said he hadn’t got it，and the one who had got it said he hadn’t taken it.The Butcher felt sure they were deceiving him，but he only said，“You may cheat me with your lying，but you can’t cheat the gods，and they won’t let you off so lightly.”
Prevarication often amounts to perjury.
｛中文阅读｝
两个人正在市场里屠户的摊位上买肉，屠夫刚一转身背向他们，其中一人便抓起一块腱子肉，迅速放进另一人的斗篷里，谁也没看到他的举动。待屠夫转过身来，立刻注意到少了一块肉，便指控他们偷了肉。但是，拿了肉的那个人说自己没有偷，而得到肉的那个人也说自己没有拿。屠夫确信他们是在欺骗自己，但仅仅说了一句话：“你可以用谎言来欺骗我，但却骗不了神，他们不会这么轻易放过你的。”
相互推诿等同于欺骗。
HERCULES AND MINERVA
赫拉克勒斯和密涅瓦
Hercules was once travelling along a narrow road when he saw lying on the ground in front of him what appeared to be an apple，and ashe passed he stamped upon it with his heel.To his astonishment，insteadof being crushed it doubled in size；and，on his attacking it again and smiting it with his club，it swelled up to an enormous size and blocked up the whole road.Upon this he dropped his club，and stood looking at it in amazement.Just then Minerva appeared，and said to him，“Leave it alone，my friend；that which you see before you is the apple of discord：if you do not meddle with it，it remains small as it was at ？rst，but if you resort to violence it swells into the thing you see.”
｛中文阅读｝
赫拉克勒斯有一次经过一条狭窄的路时，见到前面的地上有一个类似苹果的东西，走到那里时，他便用脚去踩它。让他惊讶的是，那个东西不但没有碎，反而成倍增大了。他又去踩了一下，而且还用大木棒去打它。结果，那个东西迅速膨胀起来，堵住了整条路。他扔下木棒，不知所措地站在那里盯着看。这时，密涅瓦出现了，对他说：“朋友，随他去吧，你眼前看到的正是那个祸根。如果你不去理它，它就会依然小如苹果一样待在原地，可是，如果你采用暴力与之抗衡，它就会变成你看到的这个样子了。”
THE FOX WHO SERVED A LION
为狮子服务的狐狸
A Lion had a Fox to attend on him，and whenever they went hunting the Fox found the prey and the Lion fell upon it and killed it，and then they divided it between them in certain proportions.But the Lion always got a very large share，and the Fox a very small one，which didn’t please the latter at all；so he determined to set up on his own account.He began by trying to steal a lamb from a ？ock of sheep：but the shepherd saw him and set his dogs on him.The hunter was now the hunted，and was very soon caught and despatched by the dogs.
