นิทานอีสป ภาษาอังกฤษง่าย ๆ (1)

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1. Trouble Tests Your Friends

Kim and Choi were traveling together.
A bear suddenly met them on the path.
Kim quickly climbed into a tree and hid.
Choi fell flat on the ground.
The bear sniffed Choi all over his body.
He held his breath and pretended to be dead.
The bear went away, because bears will not touch a dead body.
Kim came down from the tree, and made a joke.
Kim asked Choi "what did the bear whisper in your ear?"
Choi frowned. 
He said, "the bear told me never to travel with a friend
   who runs away when danger comes".

 

2. One Good Turn Deserves Another

An ant went to the river bank for a drink.
The unlucky ant fell into the water and almost drowned.
A dove was sitting in a tree hanging over the river.
She plucked a leaf, and let it fall into the water near the ant.
The ant climbed onto the leaf and floated back to the river bank.
Later, a hunter arrived and began to make a trap for the dove.
The ant came and stung the hunter on the foot.
The painful sting made the hunter cry out.
Then the dove was warned of danger and flew away.

3. The Dog in the Manger

A dog who wanted to sleep jumped into the manger of an ox.
The dog felt very comfortable in the soft straw.
Soon the ox came home from working and wanted to eat the straw.
The dog was very angry, barked at the ox and tried to bite him.
At last the unhappy ox went away muttering:
"That dog can't eat straw!
Often people won't give others what they can't enjoy themselves".

4. Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention.

A crow, dying of thirst, suddenly saw a flask under a tree.
He hoped to find water, and happily flew down.
However, there was only a little water in the bottom of the flask.
The crow tried very hard to reach the water, but he could not.
At last he had an idea.
The crow collected stones one by one with his beak.
Then he dropped the stones one by one into the flask.
Soon the water came up to the top of the flask where he could drink it.

5. True Nature Can't Be Hidden

A cat fell in love with a handsome young man.
The cat asked Venus, the Goddess of Love, to change her into a woman.
Venus agreed, and changed the cat into a beautiful woman.
The young man saw the cat-woman and fell in love.
He asked to marry her.
Later they were lying together in bed. 
However, the goddess wanted to test if the cat-woman 
had really changed her nature.
Venus put a mouse in the middle of the bedroom.
The cat-woman immediately forgot her lover and chased the mouse.
Venus was very disappointed.
She turned the beautiful woman back into a cat.

 

6.You Can't Please Everyone

A man had two daughters, Amy and Mary.
Amy married a gardener and Mary married a brick-maker.
One day the man asked his daughters if they were happy.
Amy said, "Everything is fine, except we need rain for the plants".
Mary said, "Everything is fine, except we need fine weather 
for the bricks to dry."
The man sighed. One daughter would have to be unhappy soon.

7. Be Content With Your Natural Abilities

One day an ass heard some grasshoppers chirping and loved the melody.
The ass wished he could sing in the same way.
He asked the grasshoppers what sort of food they lived on.
The ass thought grasshopper food was the secret of their beautiful voices.
The grasshoppers told the ass that they lived on dew. 
After that the ass decided that he would only eat dew.
A short time later he died of hunger.

8. No Excuse Will Satisfy A Tyrant

A wolf came upon an unprotected lamb, but didn't eat her immediately.
The wolf decided to find a good excuse to eat the lamb.
He said, "last year you insulted me very much."
The frightened lamb pleaded, "last year I wasn't yet born."
Then the wolf complained, " you feed from my grass".
The lamb trembled, but said, " I have not yet eaten grass".
"Well," snarled the wolf, "you drink from my well."
"Oh no!," bleated the lamb. "I drink only my mother's milk."
The wolf lost patience. 
"I must have my supper, whatever you say," he snapped.
Then the wolf grabbed the lamb and ate her

9. You Never Know Who Might Help You In The Future

A lion woke up when a mouse ran over his face.
The angry lion caught the mouse and was about to kill him.
The terrified mouse pleaded with the lion.
He said, "if you spare my life, I am sure I can help you in the future",
The lion laughed at this idea, but let the mouse go.
Not long after, the lion was caught by hunters and tied to the ground.
Then the mouse heard the lion roaring.
He came and gnawed through the ropes holding the lion captive.
"You laughed at the idea I could help you," sighed the mouse.
"Now you can see that even a mouse can help a lion sometimes."

10. Unity Is Strength

A father had sons who were always quarrelling.
They would not listen when he told them about the danger of disagreement.
This father decided to give his sons a practical lesson.
He took a bundle of sticks and asked each son in turn to break the bundle.
None of his sons were able to do this.
Then the father opened the bundle and gave his sons separate sticks.
Of course the sons could break these sticks easily.
The father said, "Our family is like this bundle of sticks.
While we are together, nothing can break us.
When we are divided, our enemies will break us as easily as these sticks."

11. Don't Make An Enemy Carelessly

A boy was hunting for locusts.
He caught many locusts, but then almost picked up a scorpion by mistake.
The scorpion showed his sting, and warned the boy.
"If you picked me up," said the scorpion, "you would lose everything."

12. Where There Is No Need, There Is No Value

A cock was scratching for food for himself and his hens. 
Suddenly he found a precious stone, then sighed.
"If a man found this jewel," said the cock, "he would pick it up and be rich.
However, I have found something useless.
I would rather have piece of grain than all the jewels in the world."

13. Fine Words Are Not Equal To Fine Deeds

Once a very good lion was king of all the animals in the fields and the forests.
He was not angry or cruel or unfair, but only kind and gentle.
During his reign he made a royal proclamation to all the animals.
He laid out rules for a Universal League of animals.
In this League, the wolf would not harm the lamb, nor would the panther harm the kid.
The tiger would not hurt the deer, and the dog would not hurt the hare.
Everyone should live in perfect peace and friendship.
When the hare saw this proclamation, she said, "Oh how I have waited for this day.
How wonderful it is that the weak will stand alongside the strong without fear."
After she said this, the hare ran away for her life.

 14. Slow But Steady Wins The Race

One day a hare mocked the short feet and slow walk of a tortoise.
The tortoise laughed and said, "you might be as swift as the wind, but I will beat you in a race."
The hare thought this was a crazy idea, so she immediately agreed to race.
Their friend, the fox, chose the course and fixed the finishing line.
When the race began, the tortoise began a slow, steady walk, and didn't stop for a moment until the end.
The hare ran far ahead, but was sure she had lots of extra time, so stopped for a rest.
It was a nice day, and the hare fell asleep under a bush.
At last when the hare woke up, she raced quickly to the end.
However, the tortoise had already finished.
The hare lost the race in spite of her speed.

15. Don't Lose What You Have For Imaginary Gains

A dog with some meat in his mouth was crossing a bridge.
He looked down and saw his reflection in the water.
This foolish dog mistook his reflection for another dog with a much larger piece of meat.
He immediately dropped his own meat and attacked the other dog.
Of course, the reflection was only in the water, and his supper was washed away.

 16. Never Expect Payment From The Wicked

A wolf had a bone stuck in his throat.
He promised a crane a lot of money to put her head in his mouth and pull out the bone.
When the crane had extracted the bone, she asked for payment.
The wolf bared his teeth at the crane and growled, "Think yourself lucky.
You were paid enough when I let you take your head from my jaws without biting it off."

17. Don't Overlook What You Have, 
Hoping For What You Want

A mole said to his mother, "I am sure that I can see, mother."
Now moles are blind from birth, but have a wonderful sense of smell.
The mole's mother put a little bit of an expensive herb near the her son.
"What is it?" she asked.
The young mole was too eager to prove that he could see.
He said, "it is a stone."
"Oh dear," said his mother, "I am afraid that you are not only blind, but have lost your sense of smell."

18. The Gods Help Those Who Help Themselves

A farmer was driving his bullock wagon along a country road when the wheels sank deep into some mud.

The farmer stood looking stupidly at the waggon.

He did nothing but call out to the god, Hercules, to come and help him.

At last Hercules appeared, and spoke sternly to the farmer.

Hercules commanded, "put your shoulder to the wheel of the cart.

Make your bullocks pull while you push.

Never pray to me for help until you have done everything to help yourself first.

Otherwise, I will never come to help you again."

 

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