The Old Man and the Ass

   An Old Man, riding on his Ass¹,

  Had found a spot of thrifty² grass,

  And there turn'd loose his weary beast.

  Old Grizzle, pleased with such a feast,

  Flung up his heels, and caper'd round,

  Then roll'd and rubb'd upon the ground,

  And frisk'd and browsed³ and bray'd,

  And many a clean spot made.

  Arm'd men came on them as he fed:

  "Let's fly!" in haste the Old Man said.

  "And wherefore so?" the Ass replied;

  "With heavier burdens will they ride?"

    "No," said the man, already started,

    "Then," cried the Ass, as he departed.

    "I'll stay, and be—no matter whose;

    Save you yourself, and leave me loose,

    But let me tell you, ere you go

    (I speak plain English, as you know),

    My master is my only foe⁴."

1 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

2 thrifty   

adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的

参考例句：

• Except for smoking and drinking,he is a thrifty man.除了抽烟、喝酒，他是个生活节俭的人。
• She was a thrifty woman and managed to put aside some money every month.她是个很会持家的妇女，每月都设法存些钱。

3 browsed   

v.吃草( browse的过去式和过去分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• I browsed through some magazines while I waited. 我边等边浏览几本杂志。 来自辞典例句
• I browsed through the book, looking at page after page. 我翻开了一下全书，一页又一页。 来自互联网

4 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。