英语寓言小故事
篇一：A Foolish Chicken
Christmas was coming .Mr Smith had no money to buy any presents for his children .His wife was ill and he spent a lot of money on her medicine .And the harvest was bad and all his family were going go be hungry the next spring .He was quite worried about it .
“We had only a cock ,”said Mrs Smith one day .“You’d better take it to the town .Sell it there and buy some cakes and sweets for our children .”
“It’s a good idea !”the man said and caught the cock the next morning and put it into a box .It was difficult to walk on the road covered with thick snow .Two hours later he was very tied and wanted to have a rest .He put the box to the ground and sat down .
“The air in the box must be close ,”the man said to himself .“I’d better let the cock walk outside for a while ,or it’ll die .”
So he put the cock to the ground .When he started again ,he couldn’t catch it any longer .
“How foolish you are !”Mr Smith called out angrily .“You can herald the break of day at night but you cann’t find the way to the town in the daytime !”
篇二：A poor old woman
Little Robert asked his mother for two cents.
"What did you do with the money I gave you yesterday?"
"I gave it to a poor old woman," he answered.
"You're a good boy," said the mother proudly. "Here are two cents more. But why are you so interested in the old woman?"
"She is the one who sells the candy."
篇三：Plugging One’s Ears While Stealing a Bell
Once upon a time, there was a man who wanted to steal his neighbor’s doorbell. However, he knew clearly that the bell would ring and catch the other people’s attention as long as he touched the bell. So he thought hard and suddenly hit on a clever “idea”. He plugged his ears with something, thinking that everything would go well when he stole the bell. Unfortunately to his disappointment, the bell still rang loudly and he was caught on the spot as a thief.
篇四：The Farmer and the Snake
This story is called "The Farmer and the Snake." Every day, a farmer went to the city to sell his flowers and farm produce and then went home after selling all his things. One day, he left home very early, so early that when he arrived at the city, the gate was still closed. So he lay down to take a nap, when he awoke he found that the storage bin containing his farm produce had become empty except that there was a gold coin inside. Although all the things in the bin had vanished, the gold was much more valuable so he was still very happy. He thought most probably someone had taken his things and left the payment there, and went home happily with the money.
The next day, the farmer again went out to sell his things but again arrived too early so he slept outside the city gate just like he had done the day before. And the incident repeated itself. All the produce that the farmer had brought disappeared, and there was a gold coin in the bin! At that time, gold was very valuable. One gold coin had a value many times higher than the farmer's produce.
Then one day some time later, the farmer's father asked him, "Where have you gotten so many gold coins lately? Where did the money come from?" So the farmer revealed to his father what had happened. After listening to his story, the father thought, "One day I'll follow my son as he goes out, and see who's been consuming his things and leaving the money in the bin."
So one day, when the farmer went out to do business, his father quietly followed him. While the farmer was sleeping near the city gate, his father saw a snake crawl up to his bin and eat his produce. Having finished eating, the snake once again spat a gold coin into the bin as payment to the farmer before leaving. Seeing this, the farmer's father thought, "If I kill the snake, I'll be able to seize all its gold coins!" He then picked up a stone and cut the snake into two parts.
At that time, the head and trunk of the snake were already in its den, and only the tail was outside. The father thought that there must be a big treasure in the den so he told his son to reach inside for it. But unexpectedly, when the farmer reached his hand into the den, the snake bit and killed him! Even though it had been cut into two, the snake could still bite! I understand how this could have happened because that was how I got bitten when I was small. At that time, I saw a centipede that had been beaten and squashed by someone, leaving only the head intact. I thought it was dead, and to make sure, I poked it with my foot. It bit me hard and I cried for three days. (Laughter) I was really dumb! Remember! Don't play with a centipede even if it looks dead. Sometimes it just fakes death; it's not really dead.
篇五：A fisherman and a genie
Once upon a time there was an old fisherman. He went fishing very early every morning, but he never cast his net more than four times a day.
One morning, he went out early to the sea. He cast his net for the first time, and drew in the body of an animal. He cast it a second time, and drew in an old basket full of sand. He cast it a third time, and drew in a lot of stones. It seemed he would have nothing to take home that morning.
Day had now broken, and he cast his net for last time. After some time, he began to draw the net in. He found it was very heavy. But there were not any fish in it. Instead he found a jar with a lid. He shook the jar, but could hear nothing. So he took off the lid and looked inside. He could see nothing. After a while a light smoke came slowly out of the jar. Then little by little, the smoke grew heavier and thicker till finally it turned into a terrible Genie!
"Get down on your knees," said the Genie, "for I'm going to kill you."
"Why? Didn't I set you free from the jar?"
"That's why I'm going to kill you, but I'll let you choose how you're going to die."
"But why?"
"Listen, and I will tell you my story."
"I was one of the spirits in heaven. But I did not want to obey Solomon's orders. So one day, he put me in this jar and threw it into the sea.
"During the first hundred years of my stay in the sea, I made a promise that if anyone set me free I would make him very rich. But no one came. During the second hundred years, I promised that if anyone set me free I would show him all the treasures in the world. But still no one came. During the third hundred years, I promised that if anyone came to set me free, I would make him king over the earth.
"Still no one came. Then I became very angry, and decided that if anyone should set me free I would kill him at once. Now you have come and set me free. So you must die, but I will let you say how you want to die."
The fisherman was not frightened. He said: "Since I must die, I must. But before I die, answer me one question."
"All right, but be quick."
"Were you really in the jar? You are so big and the jar is so small that it could hardly hold one of your feet."
"Of course I was in the jar. Don't you believe me?"
"No, and I won't until I've seen you in the jar with my own eyes."
When he heard this, the Genie changed into smoke. Slowly the smoke went back into the jar. When all of it was in the jar, the fisherman quickly put the lid on and threw it back into the sea.