中國寓言故事雙語版 第106期:黔驢技窮

As the legend goes, in the area of Qian (now Guizhou Province) there were no donkeys.

相傳，黔(現貴州)一帶沒有驢子。

Later, a meddlesome man transported one by boat from somewhere else, but he found it of no use.

後來，有個喜歡多事的人，用船從外地運來了一頭驢子，可是派不了什麼用場。

So he left the donkey at the foot of a mountain and let it do as it pleased.

這個人只好把它放在山下，隨它去了。

A tiger in the mountain, which had never seen a donkey before, thought this huge monster was a divine beast and was rather scared.

山中，有隻老虎，初次看到驢子，以爲這個龐然大物是頭神獸，很害怕。

Hence, the tiger hid itself in the woods and observed the donkey covertly. After a while, seeing the donkey stand there without movement,

於是，它躲在樹林裏偷偷地觀察。過了一些時候，

the tiger came out of the woods slowly, approached it cautiously, but couldn’t figure out yet what monster it was.

它見驢子沒有什麼舉動，就慢慢地走出樹林，小合翼翼地向驢子靠近，可是還是沒有弄清楚它是個什麼怪物。

One day, while the tiger was observing, the donkey suddenly gave a loud cry, which frightened the tiger so much that it took to its heels, for fear that the donkey would devour it.

有一天，老虎正在觀察它，驢子突然大聲嘶叫，嚇得老虎拔腿就逃，以爲驢子要吃它。

Yet when turning its head, it discovered that the donkey was still at the same place, without stirring a bit.

然而回過頭來，卻發現驢子還在原地，沒有什麼動靜。於是，老虎就慢慢地靠近驢子。

The tiger again slowly approached the donkey, gradually got used to its neighs and felt it wasn’t frightful at all.

漸漸地，老虎習慣了驢子的嘶叫聲，覺得並沒有什麼可怕.

The tiger came nearer and nearer, and even tried to tease the donkey at times with its paws.

老虎越靠越近，還試着用爪子不時去戲弄驢子。

Being very much annoyed, the donkey gave the tiger a good kick. Thus, the tiger felt very pleased and said to itself:

驢子很氣憤，就狠狠地踢了老虎一腳。老虎因而十分高興，心裏暗暗地說:

So that’s all the tricks it has.

“原來，這傢伙只有這麼一點本事。”

The tiger gave a big roar, jumped up and pounced ferociously upon the donkey, bit into its throat, devoured its flesh, and went away satisfied.

老虎大吼一聲，跳起來，猛撲到驢子身上，咬斷了它的喉嚨，吃掉了它的肉，心滿意足地離去了。