双语·《伊索寓言》 狗和厨师

THE DOG AND THE COOK

A rich man once invited a number of his friends and acquaintances to a banquet. His dog thought it would be a good opportunity to invite another Dog, a friend of his; so he went to him and said, “My master is giving a feast: there'll be a fine spread, so come and dine with me to-night.” The Dog thus invited came, and when he saw the preparations being made in the kitchen he said to himself, “My word, I'm in luck: I'll take care to eat enough to-night to last me two or three days.” At the same time he wagged his tail briskly, by way of showing his friend how delighted he was to have been asked. But just then the Cook caught sight of him, and, in his annoyance at seeing a strange Dog in the kitchen, caught him up by the hind legs and threw him out of the window. He had a nasty fall, and limped away as quickly as he could, howling dismally. Presently some other dogs met him, and said, “Well, what sort of a dinner did you get?” To which he replied, “I had a splendid time: the wine was so good, and I drank so much of it, that I really don't remember how I got out of the house!”

Be shy of favours bestowed at the expense of others.

狗和厨师

有一个有钱人，有一次他邀请了一伙朋友来家里赴宴。他的狗觉得可以趁此良机邀请另一只狗来，于是他去了朋友那里，说：“我的主人要办宴会，会有很多好吃的，所以你今晚上过来跟我一起吃饭吧。”于是，那只狗应邀而来，当他看到厨房里面准备的佳肴的时候，他自言自语地说：“天啊，我可真是幸运！我今天可得好好吃上一顿，将来两三天都不用吃东西才好。”他欢快地摇着尾巴，向朋友显示自己受到邀请有多高兴。但这时，厨子看到厨房里面出现了一只陌生的狗而大为光火，于是拎起这只狗的后腿，将他丢到了窗户外面。狗被摔得很惨，爬起来后便哀嚎着，一瘸一拐地走了。没过多久，其他的狗看到了他，问：“你好啊，你去参加的晚宴怎么样啊？”他回答说：“哎呀，可愉快了，美酒佳肴啊，我喝多了，都不记得自己是怎么出的屋了！”

训诫：尽量避免接受借花献佛的恩惠。