The Humming-bird and the Carabao.

 Narrated by Eusebio Lopez, a Tagalog from the province of Cavite.

 

One hot April morning a carabao (water-buffalo) was resting under the shade of a quinine-tree which grew near the mouth of a large river, when a humming-bird alighted on one of the small branches above him.

 

“How do you do, Friend Carabao?” said the humming-bird.

 

“I’m very well, little Hum. Do you also feel the heat of this April morning?” replied the carabao.

 

“Indeed, I do, Friend Carabao! and I am so thirsty, that I have come down to drink.”

 

“I wonder how much you can drink!” said the carabao jestingly. “You are so small, that a drop ought to be more than enough to satisfy you.”

 

“Yes, Friend Carabao?” answered little Hum as if surprised. “I bet¹ you that I can drink more than you can!”

 

“What, you drink more than I can, you little Hum!”

 

“Yes, let us try! You drink first, and we shall see.”

 

So old carabao, ignorant² of the trick that was being played on him, walked to the bank of the river and began to drink. He drank and drank and drank; but it so happened that the tide was rising, and, no matter how much he swallowed, the water in the river kept getting higher and higher. At last he could drink no more, and the humming-bird began to tease³ him.

 

“Why, Friend Carabao, you have not drunk⁴ anything. It seems to me that you have added more water to the river instead.”

 

“You fool!” answered the carabao angrily, “can’t you see that my stomach is almost bursting?”

 

“Well, I don’t know. I only know that you have added more water than there was before. But it is now my turn to drink.”

 

But the humming-bird only pretended to drink. He knew that the tide would soon be going out, so he just put his bill in [394]the water, and waited until the tide did begin to ebb⁵. The water of the river began to fall also. The carabao noticed the change, but he could not comprehend⁶ it. He was surprised, and agreed that he had been beaten. Little Hum flew away, leaving poor old Carabao stupefied and hardly able to move, because of the great quantity of water he had drunk.

 

1 bet   

v.打赌，以(与)...打赌；n.赌注，赌金；打赌

参考例句：

• I bet you can't do this puzzle.我敢说，你解决不了这个难题。
• I offered to bet with him.我提出与他打赌。

2 ignorant   

adj.无知的，没有学问的，愚昧的，不知道的

参考例句：

• They are unbelievably ignorant.他们无知到令人难以置信的地步。
• He's not stupid,merely ignorant.他并不愚蠢，只是无知。

3 tease   

vt.戏弄，取笑，挑逗，撩拨；n.戏弄人者

参考例句：

• The other boys tease him because he is fat.因为他很胖，所以其他男生都取笑他。
• His friends used to tease him about his tatty clothes.他的朋友过去常常笑话他破旧的衣服。

4 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。

5 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

6 comprehend   

vt.了解，理解，领会

参考例句：

• I did not comprehend his meaning.我不理解他的意思。
• If you can use a word correctly and effectively,you comprehend it.你如果能正确和有效地使用一个字，你就了解它了。