伊索寓言：牛和蛙（The Frog and the Ox）

The Frog and the Ox
　牛和蛙

　　"Oh Father," said a little Frog to the big one sitting by the side of a pool, "I have seen such a terrible monster! It was as big as a mountain, with horns on its head, and a long tail, and it had hoofs divided in two."

　　"Tush, child, tush," said the old Frog, "that was only Farmer White's Ox. It isn't so big either; he may be a little bit taller than I, but I could easily make myself quite as broad; just you see." So he blew himself out, and blew himself out, and blew himself out. "Was he as big as that?" asked he.

　　"Oh, much bigger than that," said the young Frog.

　　Again the old one blew himself out, and asked the young one if the Ox was as big as that.

　　"Bigger, father, bigger," was the reply.

　　So the Frog took a deep breath, and blew and blew and blew, and swelled and swelled and swelled. And then he said: "I'm sure the Ox is not as big as But at this moment he burst.

　　Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction.

　　一頭牛到水潭邊去喝水，踩著了一群小蛙，并踩死了其中一只。小蛙媽媽回來(lái)后，見(jiàn)到少了一個(gè)兒子，便問(wèn)他的兄弟們，他到哪里去了。一只小蛙說(shuō)：「親愛(ài)的媽媽?zhuān)懒?。剛才有一頭巨大的四足獸來(lái)到潭邊，用他的蹄子踩死了我們的兄弟?！雇軏寢屢贿叡M力鼓氣，一邊問(wèn)道：「那野獸是不是這個(gè)樣子，這般大小呢？」小蛙說(shuō)：「媽媽?zhuān)鷦e再鼓氣了。我想您不可能和那怪物一樣大小，再鼓氣就會(huì)把肚子脹破?！?/p>

　　這個(gè)故事帶出的啟示就是：渺小無(wú)論如何也不能與偉大相比。