Why the Bear is Stumpy-Tailed
A free B1-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
A cunning fox tricks a bear into fishing with his own tail through a hole in the ice, with a very cold and short-tailed result.
One day the Bear met the Fox, who came slinking along with a string of fish he had stolen.
一天，熊遇到了狐狸，狐狸正偷偷摸摸地拖着一串偷来的鱼走过来。
“Whence did you get those from?” asked the Bear.
“你这些鱼是从哪儿弄来的？”熊问道。
“Oh! my Lord Bruin, I’ve been out fishing and caught them”, said the Fox.
“哦，布鲁因老爷，我出去钓鱼，就钓到了这些，”狐狸说。
So the Bear had a mind to learn to fish too, and bade the Fox tell him how he was to set about it.
于是熊也起了学钓鱼的念头，便让狐狸教教它该怎么做。
“Oh! it’s an easy craft for you”, answered the Fox, “and soon learnt. You’ve only got to go upon the ice, and cut a hole and stick your tail down into it; and so you must go on holding it there as long as you can. You’re not to mind if your tail smarts a little; that’s when the fish bite. The longer you hold it there the more fish you’ll get; and then all at once out with it, with a cross pull sideways, and with a strong pull too.”
“哦，这对您来说是件容易事，”狐狸回答道，“很快就能学会。您只需要走到冰面上，凿一个洞，把尾巴伸进去；然后您得尽量长时间地把尾巴留在那儿。要是尾巴有点刺痛，您可别在意，那是鱼儿在咬钩呢。您把尾巴留在那儿的时间越长，钓到的鱼就越多；到时候猛地一使劲，往斜边一拉，用力拉出来就行了。”
Yes; the Bear did as the Fox had said, and held his tail a long, long time down in the hole, till it was fast frozen in. Then he pulled it out with a cross pull, and it snapped short off. That’s why Bruin goes about with a stumpy tail this very day.
好，熊照着狐狸说的做了，把尾巴留在洞里很久很久，结果都冻住了。然后它使劲一拉，尾巴就齐根断掉了。这就是为什么布鲁因直到今天还拖着一条短尾巴到处跑的缘故。
