中國(guó)成語(yǔ)故事中英對(duì)照 井底之蛙

Have you not heard of the frog that lived in a shallow well? It said to a turtle(海龜) that lived in the East Sea, "I am so happy! When I go out, I jump about on the railing(欄桿，扶手) beside the mouth of the well. When I come home, I rest in the holes on the broken wall of the well. If I jump into the water, it comes up to my armpits(腋窩) and holds up my cheeks. If I walk in the mud, it covers up my feet. I look around at the wriggly(蠕動(dòng)地，回避地) worms, crabs and tadpoles(蝌蚪) , and none of them can compare with me. Moreover, I am lord of this trough(水槽) of water and I stand up tall in this shallow well. My happiness is full. My dear sir, why don't you come often and look around my place?"

一口廢井里住著一只青蛙。有一天，青蛙在井邊碰上了一只從海里來(lái)的大龜。 青蛙就對(duì)海龜夸口說(shuō)： “你看，我住在這里多快樂(lè)!有時(shí)高興了，就在井欄邊跳躍一陣;疲倦了，就回到井里，睡在磚洞邊一回?；蛘咧涣舫鲱^和嘴巴，安安靜靜地把全身泡在水里：或者在軟綿綿的泥漿里散一回步，也很舒適?？纯茨切┪r，誰(shuí)也比不上我。而且，我是這個(gè)井里的主人，在這井里極自由自在，你為什么不常到井里來(lái)游賞呢!”

Before the turtle from the East Sea could get its left foot in the well, its right knee got stuck.

那海龜聽(tīng)了青蛙的話，倒真想進(jìn)去看看。但它的左腳還沒(méi)有整個(gè)伸進(jìn)去，右腳就已經(jīng)絆住了。

It hesitated(躊躇，猶豫) and retreated. The turtle told the frog about the East Sea."Even a distance of a thousand li cannot give you an idea of the sea's width; even a height of a thousand ren cannot give you an idea of its depth. In the time of King Yu of the Xia dynasty, there were floods nine years out of ten, but the waters in the sea did not increase. ln the time of King Tang of the Shang dynasty there were droughts(干旱) seven years out of eight, but the waters in the sea did not decrease. The sea does not change along with the passage of time and its level does not rise or fall according to the amount of rain that falls. The greatest happiness is to live in the East Sea."

它連忙后退了兩步，把大海的情形告訴青蛙說(shuō)： “你看過(guò)海嗎?海的廣大，哪止千里;海的深度，哪只千來(lái)丈。古時(shí)候，十年有九年大水，海里的水，并不漲了多少;后來(lái)，八年里有七年大早，海里的水，也不見(jiàn)得淺了多少?？梢?jiàn)大海是不受旱澇影響的。住在那樣的大海里，才是真的快樂(lè)呢!”

After listening to these words, the frog of the shallow well was shocked into realization of his own insignificance and became very ill at ease(不安的，拘束的).

井蛙聽(tīng)了海龜?shù)囊环挘泽@地呆在那里，再?zèng)]有話可說(shuō)了。