The Turtle and the Lizard

 A turtle and a big lizard¹ once went to the field of Gotgotapa to steal ginger²,88 When they reached the place the turtle said to the lizard:

 

“We must be very still or the man will hear us and come out.”

 

But as soon as the lizard tasted the ginger he was so pleased that he said:

 

“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”

 

“Be still,” said the turtle; but the lizard paid no attention to the warning³, and called louder than ever:

 

“The ginger of Gotgotapa is very good.”

 

Again and again he cried out, until finally the man heard him and came out of the house to catch the robbers⁴.

 

The turtle could not run fast, so he lay very still, and the man did not see him. But the lizard ran and the man chased⁵ him. When they were out of sight, the turtle went into the house and hid under a cocoanut shell⁶ upon which the man used to sit.89

 

The man ran after the lizard for a long distance, [87]but he could not catch him. After a while he came back to the house and sat down on the shell.

 

By and by, the turtle called, “Kook.” The man jumped up and looked all around. Unable to tell where the noise came from, he sat down again,

 

A second time the turtle called, and this time the man looked everywhere in the house except under the shell, but could not find the turtle. Again and again the turtle called, and finally the man, realizing that all his attempts were unsuccessful, grew so excited that he died.

 

Then the turtle ran out of the house, and he had not gone far before he met the lizard again. They walked along together until they saw some honey in a tree, and the turtle said:

 

“I will go first and get some of the honey.”

 

The lizard would not wait, but ran ahead, and when he seized the honey, the bees came out and stung⁷ him. So he ran back to the turtle for help.

 

After a while they came to a bird snare⁸, and the turtle said:

 

“That is the silver wire that my grandfather wore about his neck.”

 

Then the lizard ran fast to get it first, but he was caught in the snare and was held until the man came and killed him. Then the wise turtle went on alone.

1 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。

2 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

3 warning   

n.警告，告诫，训诫，警戒，警报

参考例句：

• The other side paid no attention to our warning.对方不重视我方的警告。
• He realized that his doctor was warning him off drink.他意识到医生在告诫他戒酒。

4 robbers   

n.抢劫者，强盗，盗贼( robber的名词复数 )；盗匪

参考例句：

• The robbers fled empty-handed. 抢劫犯一无所获地逃走了。
• The policeman discharged his gun at the fleeing robbers. 警察向逃跑的强盗开了枪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 chased   

vt.追捕（chase的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The boy chased his sister in and out among the bushes. 那个男孩在灌木丛里跟着他姐姐追过来追过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy chased the decoys down to the place of ambush. 敌人将诱骗者一直追到伏兵所在地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 shell   

n.贝壳，壳，外形；v.去壳，脱落；n.[计算机] DOS命令:安装备用的COMMAND.COM文件，并改变环境尺寸

参考例句：

• Please shell some peanuts for the cake.请为做点心剥点胡花生。
• This kind of beetles have hard shell.这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。

7 stung   

螫伤，刺伤( sting的过去式和过去分词 )； 感到剧痛； 激怒； 使不安

参考例句：

• I was stung on the arm by a wasp. 我的胳膊给黄蜂蜇了一下。
• Her arm was beginning to swell up where the bee had stung her. 她胳膊给蜜蜂蜇了，肿了起来。

8 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。