短篇英语美文欣赏：The Fox and the Horse
一个农夫有一匹勤勤恳恳、任劳任怨为他干活的马，但这匹马现在已经老了，干活也不行了，所以，农夫不想再给马吃东西。他对马说：“我再也用不着你了，你自己离开马厩走吧，到你比一头狮子更强壮时，我自然会把你牵回来的。”说完，他打开门，让马自己去谋生去了。
A peasant had a faithful horse which had grown old and could do no more
work, so his master no longer wanted to give him anything to eat and said, "I
can certainly make no more use of you, but still I mean well by you, and if you
prove yourself still strong enough to bring me a lion here, I will maintain you.
But for now get out of my stable." And with that he chased him into the open
field.
The horse was sad, and went to the forest to seek a little protection there
from the weather. There the fox met him and said, "Why do you hang your head so,
and go about all alone?"
"Alas," replied the horse, "greed and loyalty do not dwell together in one
house. My master has forgotten what services I have performed for him for so
many years, and because I can no longer plow well, he will give me no more food,
and has driven me out."
"Without giving you a chance?" asked the fox.
"The chance was a bad one. He said, if I were still strong enough to bring
him a lion, he would keep me, but he well knows that I cannot do that."
The fox said, "I will help you. Just lie down, stretch out as if you were
dead, and do not stir."
The horse did what the fox asked, and then the fox went to the lion, who
had his den not far off, and said, "A dead horse is lying out there. Just come
with me, and you can have a rich meal."
The lion went with him, and when they were both standing by the horse the
fox said, "After all, it is not very comfortable for you here - I tell you what
-I will fasten it to you by the tail, and then you can drag it into your cave
and eat it in peace."
This advice pleased the lion. He positioned himself, and in order that the
fox might tie the horse fast to him, he kept completely quiet. But the fox tied
the lion's legs together with the horse's tail, and twisted and fastened
everything so well and so strongly that no amount of strength could pull it
loose. When he had finished his work, he tapped the horse on the shoulder and
said, "Pull, white horse, pull!"
Then up sprang the horse at once, and pulled the lion away with him. The
lion began to roar so that all the birds in the forest flew up in terror, but
the horse let him roar, and drew him and dragged him across the field to his
master's door. When the master saw the lion, he was of a better mind, and said
to the horse, "You shall stay with me and fare well." And he gave him plenty to
eat until he died.
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