中国故事45 | The Mysterious Animal 黔驴技穷

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45、The Mysterious Animal

黔驴技穷

从前，贵州没有驴，有一人从外地带了一头驴来到贵州，将驴拴在家旁边的树上。第二天，一只饥饿的老虎看到了这头驴，老虎从未见过驴，觉得驴看上去十分强壮，于是不敢轻举妄动，偷偷躲在树后观望。老虎一步步靠近驴，试探驴的反应，逐渐发现驴没有任何强大的技能。那天夜里，老虎饱餐一顿，扬长而去。

A very long time ago, there were no donkeys in the province of Guizhou. Most people there did not know what a donkey looked like or what a donkey could do.

One day, a government official returned to Guizhou from a trip. With him, he had a donkey that he had bought to carry his luggage. He didn’t have a stable at his house for the donkey. His house was next to the woods at the bottom of a mountain. So instead of a stable, he used a rope to tie the donkey to a tree near his house.

The next day, a hungry tiger crept out of the woods. He was looking for his next meal and saw the donkey. At first the tiger thought it was a horse. But as he got closer, he realized that it wasn’t.

“What is this strange, gray animal?” he said to himself. “I have never seen one before!” Curious, he crept a little closer.

“Oh my, it looks delicious!” he cried. He was happy to have found something to eat. But he was also afraid. The animal looked big and strong, and the tiger was afraid that it would hurt him.

So, he decided to hide behind a tree and spy on the donkey. He wanted to see what it did. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so scary after all!

Soon, the tiger’s stomach started to growl with hunger. “If I do not eat soon, I will faint!” he thought.

He quickly decided that it was safe to go out. The donkey hadn’t done much. All it had done was eat some grass around the tree.

The moment the tiger took a step forward, however, the donkey reacted. It brayed loudly. It screeched.

The tiger immediately jumped back behind the tree. He was terrified! He had never heard such a noise before. “I’m too young to die!” he shouted.

His stomach growled again. He needed to eat something! So again, he waited and spied on the donkey. Perhaps it wouldn’t turn out to be so bad after all.

The tiger quickly got used to the donkey’s brays. He realized that they were merely sounds. They didn’t mean anything, and the donkey wasn’t doing anything else. So, he came out again.

This time, he walked in circles around the donkey to look at it more carefully. When it still didn’t do anything scary, he decided to do something else. He wanted to see what it would do when it was angry. So, he used one paw and touched the donkey.

Immediately, the donkey kicked its two back legs. Its back legs were very strong, and those kicks probably would have hurt—a lot. At first, the tiger was surprised. He had not expected those kicks. But quickly his surprise turned into a smile. The donkey couldn’t do anything else. All it knew how to do was bray and kick! It was not a scary animal after all.

That night, the tiger went to bed with a full stomach.

The End

The idiom “the donkey from Guizhou has run out of tricks” comes from this story. Today, people use it to describe someone who has no skills left. Someone who has done everything they can.

Question: Have you ever been afraid of an animal?

核心词汇

luggage n. 行李

stable n. 马厩，牛棚，羊棚

creep (crept) v. 爬行，匍匐; 缓慢地行进

spy v. 暗中监视（或窥视、侦探、刺探）

growl v. 作隆隆声; 嘟哝; 愤愤不平地抱怨; 低声咆哮着说; 粗鲁地说出

faint v. 头晕，昏过去

react v. 做出反应，反应

bray v. 发出驴叫似的声音; 发嘟嘟声

screech v. 发出尖叫声，发出尖锐刺耳的声音

immediately adv. 立即，马上

merely adv. 仅仅，只，不过

paw n. 爪子; 手

All it had done was eat some grass around the tree. 它所做的一切不过是在树周围吃吃草。本句的主语为all，it had done为修饰它的定语从句。

The moment the tiger took a step forward, however, the donkey reacted. 然而就在老虎向前一步的那一刻，驴子反抗了。本句中the tiger took a step forward为修饰the moment的状语从句。

I’m too young to die! 我太年轻了，不能死！too…to…句式的含义为“太……而不能……”。

Perhaps it wouldn’t turn out to be so bad after all. 也许情况最终也不会那么糟糕。本句为虚拟语气，用过去时表示对于将来的推测。句中turn out的含义为“结果是……”。

All it knew how to do was bray and kick! 它会做的事不过是驴叫和踢腿。本句的主语为all，修饰它的定语从句为it knew how to do。

以下翻译来自百度翻译：

很久以前，贵州省没有驴。那里的大多数人不知道驴子长什么样，也不知道驴子能做什么。

一天，一位政府官员从贵州回来。和他一起，他有一头他买来的驴子来搬运他的行李。他家里没有养驴的马厩。他的房子紧挨着山脚下的树林。因此，他用绳子把驴子拴在房子附近的一棵树上，而不是用马厩。

第二天，一只饥饿的老虎从树林里爬出来。他正在寻找下一顿饭，看见了那头驴。起初，老虎以为它是一匹马。但当他走近时，他意识到那不是。

“这只奇怪的灰色动物是什么？”他自言自语道。“我以前从未见过！”他好奇地爬近一点。

“哦，天哪，看起来很好吃！”他喊道。他很高兴找到了吃的东西。但他也很害怕。这只动物看起来又大又壮，老虎害怕它会伤害他。

于是，他决定躲在一棵树后监视这头驴。他想看看它做了什么。也许它终究不会那么可怕！

很快，老虎的肚子开始饿得咕噜咕噜。“如果我不快点吃，我会晕倒的！”他想。

他很快决定出去是安全的。驴子没做什么。它所做的只是吃了树周围的草。

然而，当老虎向前迈出一步时，驴子做出了反应。它大声嘶叫。它尖叫着。

老虎立即跳回树后。他吓坏了！他以前从未听到过这样的声音。“我太年轻了，死不了！”他喊道。

他的肚子又咕噜了。他需要吃点东西！于是，他又一次等着，监视着那头驴。也许它终究不会那么糟糕。

老虎很快就习惯了驴子的叫声。他意识到这些只是声音。它们没有任何意义，驴子也没有做任何其他事情。于是，他又出来了。

这一次，他绕着驴子转了一圈，以便更仔细地观察它。当它仍然没有做任何可怕的事情时，他决定做些别的事情。他想看看它生气时会怎么做。于是，他用一只爪子摸了摸驴。

马上，驴子踢了踢它的两条后腿。它的后腿非常强壮，那些踢腿可能会很疼。起初，老虎很惊讶。他没有料到会有这样的踢腿。但很快他的惊讶变成了微笑。这头驴子什么也做不了。它所知道的只是叫喊和踢！它毕竟不是一种可怕的动物。

那天晚上，老虎吃饱了就上床睡觉了。

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