THE LEAPING MATCH

A flea¹, a grasshopper², and a frog once wanted to see which one of them could jump the highest. So they made a festival and invited the whole world and everybody else besides, who would like to come, to see the frolic. When the people assembled to see the contest they all admitted that these three famous jumpers were indeed well worth seeing.

“I will give the princess, my daughter, to the one who can jump the highest,” said the king. “The champion in such a trial of skill must be rewarded.”

The flea was the first to come forward. His manners were perfect and he bowed to the company on every side, for noble blood flowed in his veins³; and, besides, he had been accustomed to associating with human beings, which was much to his advantage.
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75The grasshopper came next. The green uniform, which he always wore, set off his figure very well. He carried himself with great dignity, for he belonged to a very old Egyptian family, he said, and was highly thought of in the house in which he lived.

In fact when he was brought out of the fields he was put into a card house, three stories high. The colored sides of the cards were turned in and the doors and windows were cut out of the Queen of Hearts. “It was built on purpose for me,” he said, “and I sing so well that sixteen crickets⁴ who had chirped⁵ all their life, and still had no card house to live in, were so angry at hearing me that they grew thinner than they ever had been before.”

In this way the flea and the grasshopper went on with their long praises, each thinking himself quite an excellent match for the princess.

76The frog said nothing, but his silence only made the people think he knew a great deal, and the house dog who sniffed⁶ at him walked away with an air of approval.

The old counselor⁸ who had issued three orders for keeping quiet, said at last, that the frog was a prophet⁹, for one could tell from his back whether the coming winter would be severe or mild. Such wisdom could never be gained from the back of the man who writes almanacs.

“I shall say nothing,” said the king, “but I have my own opinion; for I see everything.”

And now the leaping match began. The flea jumped first. He jumped so high that no one could see what had become of him. So the people said he did not jump at all. How shameful¹⁰ it was of him after all his boasting!

The grasshopper jumped only half as high; but he jumped right into the king’s face. This act the king thought extremely rude.

The frog stood still for a long time; some 77began to think that he did not mean to jump at all.

“Perhaps he’s ill,” said the house dog; so he went up to sniff⁷ at the frog again; when “pop” he made a side jump which landed him right into the lap of the princess, who was sitting on a little golden stool¹¹.

“There is nothing in the world higher than my daughter,” called out the king. “The frog has made the highest jump that can be made. Only one who has a good mind could have done anything so clever as that.” And so the leaping frog won the princess.

“I jumped the highest,” said the flea, “in spite¹² of what the king said, but the decision does not matter to me. The princess may have that heavy, stiff-legged, ugly creature if he’s to her taste. Dullness and heaviness win in this stupid world. I’m too light and airy.” So the flea went into foreign lands.

The grasshopper sat down upon a green bank and thought about the world and its ways. “Yes,” he said to himself, “dullness 78and heaviness do win in this stupid world. People care most about fine looks nowadays.” Then he began to sing in the grasshopper way; and from his song we have taken this little story.

1 flea   

n.跳蚤

参考例句：

• I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话，我就要对他不客气了。
• Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。

2 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

3 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 crickets   

n.蟋蟀( cricket的名词复数 )；板球

参考例句：

• The crickets stridulated their everlasting monotonous meaningful note. 蟋蟀发出了它们持久的，单调而有意思的调子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The crickets chirped faster and louder. 蟋蟀叫得更欢了。 来自辞典例句

5 chirped   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 )

参考例句：

• So chirped fiber gratings have broad reflection bandwidth. 所以chirped光纤光栅具有宽的反射带宽，在反射带宽内具有渐变的群时延等其它类型的光纤光栅所不具备的特点。
• The crickets chirped faster and louder. 蟋蟀叫得更欢了。

6 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

8 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

9 prophet   

n.预言家，先知，提倡者

参考例句：

• A prophet made a prophecy that the kingdom would fall.一位预言家预言那个王国将要灭亡。
• The pity is that you are not a prophet.可惜你不能未卜先知。

10 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

11 stool   

n.凳子；粪便；根株；v.长出新枝，排便

参考例句：

• The stool is steady enough.这个凳子很稳。
• The boy was straining at stool.那个男孩在用力大便。

12 spite   

n.（用于短语）虽然，不顾，尽管

参考例句：

• He has modern ideas in spite of his great age.尽管他年事很高，但思想观念却很入时。
• In spite of his anger,his remarks were restrained.他尽管生气，说的话还是有节制的。