狐狸和葡萄
One hot summer's day, a hungry fox was wandering through an orchard when he spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from a vine. They were plump and purple, and they were shining in the sun.
"Just what I need," he said, licking his lips.
The grapes were hanging from a branch high above his head. The fox took a few steps back, ran forward and jumped, but he missed. He tried again, jumping even higher. Still he couldn't reach them. Again and again he jumped, until he was hot, tired and out of breath.
At last he gave up. He sat down, looked up at the grapes and sniffed. "I don't know why I bothered," he said. "Those grapes are obviously sour. I wouldn't eat them if you paid me."
And with his nose in the air, he walked away.
It is easy to look down on what you cannot have.
一个炎热的夏日，一只饥饿的狐狸在果园里闲逛，忽然看见葡萄藤上挂着一串葡萄。葡萄又大又紫，在阳光下闪闪发亮。
“这正是我需要的。”它舔着嘴唇说。
葡萄挂在高高的枝头上，比它的头高出一大截。狐狸往后退了几步，往前一冲，跳了起来，可是没够着。它又试了一次，跳得更高，还是够不着。它跳了一次又一次，跳得浑身发热、又累又喘。
最后，它放弃了。它坐下来，抬头看着那串葡萄，哼了一声。“真不知道我干吗费这个劲，”它说，“那些葡萄一看就是酸的。就算有人给我钱，我也不吃。”
说完，它把鼻子一扬，走开了。
得不到的东西，最容易被人说成不好。