雙語·《伊索寓言》 青蛙求國王

THE FROGS ASKING FOR A KING

Time was when the Frogs were discontented because they had no one to rule over them: so they sent a deputation to Jupiter to ask him to give them a King. Jupiter, despising the folly of their request, cast a log into the pool where they lived, and said that that should be their King. The Frogs were terrified at first by the splash, and scuttled away into the deepest parts of the pool; but by and by, when they saw that the log remained motionless, one by one they ventured to the surface again, and before long, growing bolder, they began to feel such contempt for it that they even took to sitting upon it. Thinking that a King of that sort was an insult to their dignity, they sent to Jupiter a second time, and begged him to take away the sluggish King he had given them, and to give them another and a better one. Jupiter, annoyed at being pestered in this way, sent a Stork to rule over them, who no sooner arrived among them than he began to catch and eat the Frogs as fast as he could.

青蛙求國王

從前，青蛙們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的族群沒有統(tǒng)治者，很不滿，于是他們便派了一個(gè)使團(tuán)去見朱庇特，讓他給他們一個(gè)國王。朱庇特很看不起他們的愚蠢要求，于是投了一根木頭到青蛙生活的池塘，說那便是他們的國王。青蛙起初被木頭濺起的水花嚇了一跳，都躲進(jìn)了池塘深處。但過了一會兒，他們看到木頭一動(dòng)不動(dòng)，便一個(gè)個(gè)地回到了水面上。他們膽子越來越大，很快便看不起那木頭，甚至坐到了木頭上。他們覺得這樣的國王是對他們尊嚴(yán)的侮辱，便又去見朱庇特，求他把這沒有精神的國王弄走，給他們一個(gè)更好的。他們這樣糾纏不休令朱庇特很惱怒，于是他便派了一只鸛去管理青蛙，鸛一到青蛙中間，便開始用它最快的速度捕食青蛙。