The Mouse And The Weasel

老鼠和鼬

by Aesop

出自《伊索寓言》

A little hungry Mouse found his way one day into a basket of corn. He had to squeeze himself a good deal to get through the narrow opening between the strips of the basket. But the corn was tempting and the Mouse was determined to get in. When at last he had succeeded, he gorged himself to bursting. Indeed he he became about three times as big around the middle as he was when he went in.

一天，有一只饥饿的老鼠终于想到了办法钻进一篮子玉米里。他可是费了好大的劲才把自己从篮子间狭窄的缝隙挤进去，因为那玉米实在令人垂涎欲滴，让他下定了决心要钻进篮子里。终于，他成功了，一进去就开始暴食，以至于整个身子越来越大。真的，他的肚子比刚进来的时候变大了三倍左右。

At last he felt satisfied and dragged himself to the opening to get out again. But the best he could do was to get his head out. So there he sat groaning and moaning, both from the discomfort inside him and his anxiety to escape from the basket.

终于，他感觉吃饱了，就想拖着自己从原路返回。不过，他顶多只能把头给伸出去。于是，局促不安、无法逃脱的他就坐在那里哭天怨地。

Just then a Weasel came by. He understood the situation quickly.

就在这时，一只黄鼠狼碰巧经过。他瞬间就明白了这是个什么情况。

"My friend," he said, "I know what you've been doing. You've been stuffing. That's what you get. You will have to stay there till you feel just like you did when you went in. Good night, and good enough for you."

“朋友，”他说，“我知道你做了什么。你一直在胡吃海喝。这是你自找的。在你恢复到挤进篮子时的状态之前，都只有待在那里了。晚安了，还有就是，你应该学会知足。”

And that was all the sympathy the poor Mouse got.

那就是这只可怜的老鼠唯一得到的同情。

Greediness leads to misfortune.

寓意：贪婪导致灾祸。