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，有一隻飢餓的老鼠終於想到了辦法鑽進一籃子玉米里。他可是費了好大的勁才把自己從籃子間狹窄的縫隙擠進去，因為那玉米實在令人垂涎欲滴，讓他下定了決心要鑽進籃子裡。終於，他成功了，一進去就開始暴食，以至於整個身子越來越大。真的，他的肚子比剛進來的時候變大了三倍左右。

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.

終於，他感覺吃飽了，就想拖著自己從原路返回。不過，他頂多只能把頭給伸出去。於是，侷促不安、無法逃脫的他就坐在那裡哭天怨地。

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

就在這時，一隻黃鼠狼碰巧經過。他瞬間就明白了這是個什麼情況。

"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，”他說，“我知道你做了什麼。你一直在胡吃海喝。這是你自找的。在你恢復到擠進籃子時的狀態之前，都只有待在那裡了。晚安了，還有就是，你應該學會知足。”

And that was all the sympathy the poor Mouse got.

那就是這隻可憐的老鼠唯一得到的同情。

Greediness leads to misfortune.

寓意：貪婪導致災禍。