英文幽默故事：The Stag and His Reflection

There once lived a proud stag. While wandering in the forest, he came upon a pond. He stopped there to drink water in order to quench¹ his thirst. As he bent² down, he saw his own reflection in the water. “How beautiful are my antlers!" he thought, admiring its long curves. 

 

As the stag was admiring his antlers, he suddenly noticed his legs. “Ohh! Look at my skinny legs. I cannot believe God has given me both beautiful antlers and such ugly legs," he thought. The proud stag now felt ashamed of his legs. His pride vanished. “These ugly legs are no match for my beautiful antlers," he thought. 

 

Just then the stag heard the roar of a lion. When he turned around he saw a lion charging at him. “Oh no!," screamed the stag and ran as fast as he could. 

 

The stag felt the lion’s breath close to him, “I must get into the densest³ part of the forest where there are many branches. The lion will not be able to catch me in that part of the forest," thought the stag. 

 

So, with this thought in mind, the stag ran into an area where there were many bushes and branches. Soon the stag had left the lion far behind. 

 

“Ah, I outsmarted the lion," thought the stag proudly. But all of a sudden his antlers got entangled⁴ between the trunks of two trees standing⁵ close to each other. “Aaarghh!" cried the stag, as he had to stop at once. 

 

The more he tried to free himself, the more difficult it became. As the stag was struggling to get free, the lion came nearer and nearer. 

 

“How I praised my horns and cursed my legs. Now I know the real value of my legs which almost took me to safety," wailed⁶ the stag. 

 

The lion pounced⁷ on the stag and killed him. That was the end of the proud stag.  

1 quench   

vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制

参考例句：

• The firemen were unable to quench the fire.消防人员无法扑灭这场大火。
• Having a bottle of soft drink is not enough to quench my thirst.喝一瓶汽水不够解渴。

2 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

3 densest   

密集的( dense的最高级 )； 密度大的； 愚笨的； （信息量大得）难理解的

参考例句：

• Past Botoi some of the densest jungle forests on Anopopei grew virtually into the water. 过了坊远湾，岛上的莽莽丛林便几乎直长到水中。
• Earth is the densest of all of these remaining planets. 地球是所剩下行星中最致密的星球。

4 entangled   

adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

7 pounced   

v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• As soon as I opened my mouth, the teacher pounced on me. 我一张嘴就被老师抓住呵斥了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police pounced upon the thief. 警察向小偷扑了过去。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》