Wise men of ancient times ingeniously discovered how to tell people the truth without being blunt to their faces. You see， they held a magic mirror before the people， in which all sorts of animals and various wondrous things appeared， producing amusing as well as instructive pictures. They called these fables， and whatever wise or foolish deeds the animals performed， the people were to imagine themselves in their places and thereby think， “This fable is intended for you！” In this way no one's feelings were hurt. Let us give you an example.

There were two high mountains， and at the top of each stood a castle. In the valley below ran a hungry dog， sniffing along the ground as if in search of mice or quail. Suddenly a trumpet sounded from one of the castles， to announce that mealtime was approaching. The dog immediately started running up the mountain， hoping to get his share； but when he was halfway up， the trumpeter ceased blowing， and a trumpet from the other castle commenced. “Up here，” thought the dog， “they will have finished eating before I arrive， but over there they are just getting ready to eat.” So he ran down， and up the other mountain. But now the first trumpet started again， while the second stopped. The dog ran down again， and up again； and this he continued until both trumpets stopped blowing， and the meals were over in both castles.

Now guess what the wise men of ancient times would have said about this fable， and who the fool could be who runs himself ragged without gaining anything， either here or there？

编辑:Liuxuepaper.Com

作文地带知识拓展:

• 英语（English）属于印欧语系日耳曼语族西日耳曼语支，最早被中世纪的英国使用，并因其广阔的殖民地而成为世界使用面积最广的语言。英国人的祖先盎格鲁部落是后来迁移到大不列颠岛地区的日耳曼部落之一，称为英格兰。这两个名字都来自波罗地海半岛的Anglia。该语言与弗里斯兰语和下撒克森语密切相关，其词汇受到其他日耳曼语族语言的影响，尤其是北欧语（北日耳曼语），并在很大程度上由拉丁文和法文撰写。