井底之蛙

　　A frog lived in a shallow well.

　　One day, it met beside the well a large soft-shelled turtle which had just crawled up from the sea.

　　The frog bragged[1 ]to the turtle: "Look, how happy I am to live here! When I feel glad, I would bounce for a while near the well; and when I am tired, I would return to the well to sleep and rest for a while by the brick hole. Sometimes, I would quietly soak my whole body in the water, showing only my head and mouth. Sometimes, I would stroll in the soft mud, which is very comfortable. None of those tiny crabs[2] and tadpoles[3] can compare with me. I am the master of this well, free and unrestrained. Why don't you come often to play in the well?"

　　Hearing this, the turtle was itching[4] to go down to take a look. But before he put his left foot into the well, his right foot stumbled. He quickly retreated two steps and told the frog about the sea: "Have you ever seen the sea? The sea is very, very wide, over 1,000 1i. The sea is very, very deep, over 1,000 zhang (3'/3 metres). In ancient times, in nine years out of ten there were floods, but the water in the sea did not rise much. Later, in seven years out of eight there were droughts, but the water in the sea did not drop much. Neither big floods nor big droughts can affect the sea. Only living in the sea can you feel real happiness!"

　　Amazed at what the big turtle had said, the frog was dumbstruck.

　　一隻青蛙住在一口淺井裡。

　　有一天，青蛙在井邊碰上了一隻剛從海里爬上來的大鱉。

　　青蛙對大鱉誇口說：“你看，我住在這裡多麼快樂!高興了，就在井邊跳躍一陣子;疲倦了，就回到井裡，睡在磚洞邊上休息一會兒。有時候，我靜靜地把全身泡在水裡，只露出頭和嘴巴;有時候，在軟綿綿的泥漿裡散散步，也很舒服。那些螃琪和蛾鮮，它們誰也比不上我。我是這個井的主人，自由自在，你為什麼不常到井裡來遊玩遊玩呢?”

　　大鱉聽了青蛙的話，心裡癢癢的，準備下去看看。但是它的左腳還沒伸進去，右腳就已經絆住了。它連忙後退了兩步，把大海的情形告訴青蛙，說：“你見過大海嗎?海很大很大，哪止千里;海很深很深，哪止千丈。古時候，十年裡有九年發大水。但是海里的水漲高不了多少。後來，八年裡有七年要大旱，可是海里的水也不見得淺了多少。大澇和大旱都影響不了大海。住在大海里，才是真正的快樂呢!”

　　聽了大鱉的這一番話，青蛙非常吃驚，呆在那裡，無話可說了。

　　1 bragged

　　v.自誇，吹噓( brag的過去式和過去分詞 )

　　參考例句：

　　He bragged to his friends about the crime. 他向朋友炫耀他的罪行。

　　Mary bragged that she could run faster than Jack. 瑪麗誇口說她比傑克跑得快。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

　　2 crabs

　　n.蟹( crab的名詞複數 );陰蝨寄生病;蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人稱單數 )

　　參考例句：

　　As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我們在海岸上散步時看到很多小蟹。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

　　The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 魚和蟹搜尋腐爛的組織為食。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

　　3 tadpoles

　　n.蝌蚪( tadpole的名詞複數 )

　　參考例句：

　　The pond teemed with tadpoles. 池子裡有很多蝌蚪。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

　　Both fish and tadpoles have gills. 魚和蝌蚪都有鰓。 來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

　　4 itching

　　adj.貪得的，癢的，渴望的v.發癢( itch的現在分詞 )

　　參考例句：

　　The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他癢得幾乎忍不住了。 來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

　　My nose is itching. 我的鼻子發癢。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》