The Fox and the Crow
A free A2-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A cunning fox showers a crow with compliments about her beautiful voice — all to get her to open her beak and drop her cheese.
One bright morning a Crow sat in a tree with a fine piece of cheese in her beak.
一个晴朗的早晨，一只乌鸦栖息在树上，嘴里叼着一块上好的奶酪。
A Fox, passing below, caught the scent of the cheese and looked up hungrily.
一只狐狸从树下经过，闻到了奶酪的香味，馋涎欲滴地抬头张望。
"Good morning, mistress Crow," he cried. "How well you look today! How glossy your feathers, how bright your eye. I am sure your voice must be sweeter than that of any other bird. Let me hear just one song, and I shall greet you as the Queen of Birds."
“早上好啊，乌鸦夫人，”它喊道，“您今天看起来真是精神！您的羽毛多么光泽，眼睛多么明亮。我敢肯定您的嗓音一定比任何鸟儿都要动听。请让我听您唱一首歌吧，我一定尊您为鸟中之后。”
The Crow was so pleased by this flattery that she lifted up her head to sing. But the moment she opened her beak, the piece of cheese fell to the ground, and the Fox snapped it up at once.
乌鸦被这番奉承话说得心花怒放，便昂起头来准备歌唱。可她的嘴一张开，那块奶酪就掉到了地上，狐狸立刻一口叼起，抢先吃掉了。
"You have a voice, madam, I see," said the Fox. "What you lack is wit."
“夫人，我看您确实有副好嗓子，”狐狸说道，“您缺的是脑子。”
Do not trust those who flatter you.
不要相信那些奉承你的人。
