The Rabbit The Weasel And The Cat

兔子、黃鼠狼和貓

by Aesop

出自《伊索寓言》

A Rabbit left his home one day for a dinner of clover. But he forgot to latch the door of his house and while he was gone a Weasel walked in and calmly made himself at home. When the Rabbit returned, there was the Weasel's nose sticking out of the Rabbit's own doorway, sniffing the fine air.

有一天，一隻兔子外出尋找三葉草當作晚宴。但他卻忘了把門閂上，而就在他不在的時候，一隻黃鼠狼走了進去，心安理得地把那裡當作了自己的家。當兔子回來的時候，卻發現那隻黃鼠狼的鼻子竟然還伸出了自家門口，呼吸著清新的空氣。

The Rabbit was quite angry—for a Rabbit—, and requested the Weasel to move out. But the Weasel was perfectly content. He was settled down for good.

兔子對此相當地生氣，並要求黃鼠狼立馬出來。不過，黃鼠狼對兔子的家滿意極了，他決定以後都住在那裡了。

A wise old Cat heard the dispute and offered to settle it.

一隻聰明的老貓聽見了這個爭論，就主動提出願意幫忙解決這個問題。

"Come close to me," said the Cat, "I am very deaf. Put your mouths close to my ears while you tell me the facts."

“靠近點兒，”老貓說道，“我聽力十分差勁了。告訴我具體情況的時候，請靠近點對著我的耳朵說。”

The unsuspecting pair did as they were told and in an instant the Cat had them both under her claws. No one could deny that the dispute had been definitely settled.

這倆毫無疑心的傢伙規規矩矩地照著老貓所說的做了，卻在一瞬間就都被他逮在了手心裡。無可否認，他們之間的爭論已經圓滿解決了。

The strong are apt to settle questions to their own advantage.

寓意：強者善於利用自己的優勢解決問題。