Chapter 23 The Bear and the Fox

A BEAR boasted¹ very much of his philanthropy, saying that of all animals he was the most tender² in his regard for man, for he had such respect for him that he would not even touch his dead body. A Fox hearing these words said with a smile to the Bear, “Oh! that you would eat the dead and not the living.”

1 boasted   

v.有（引以为荣的事物）( boast的过去式和过去分词 )；扬言

参考例句：

• The Victorian Age is often boasted of as an age of progress. 维多利亚时代常常被夸耀为进步时代。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He boasted that he could speak six languages fluently. 他自夸自己能流利地讲6种语言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tender   

adj.嫩的，柔软的；脆弱的，纤细的；温柔的

参考例句：

• At the tender age of seventeen I left home.早在十七岁的小小年纪，我就离开了家。
• We were sent to boarding school at a tender age.很小的时候我们就被送到了寄宿学校。