There was a grocery shop in a town. Plenty of mice lived in that grocery shop. Food was in plenty for them. They ate everything and spoiled all the bags. They also wasted the bread, biscuits and fruits of the shop.
The grocer got really worried. So, he thought "I should buy a cat and let it stay at the grocery. Only then I can save my things."
He bought a nice, big fat cat and let him stay there. The cat had a nice time hunting the mice and killing them. The mice could not move freely now. They were afraid that anytime the cat would eat them up.
The mice wanted to do something. They held a meeting and all of them tweeted "We must get rid of the cat. Can someone give a suggestion? "
All the mice sat and brooded. A smart looking mouse stood up and said, "The cat moves softly. That is the problem. If we can tie a bell around her neck, then things will be fine. We can know the movements of the cat. "
“Yes, that is answer," stated all the mice. An old mouse slowly stood up and asked, "Who would tie the bell?" After some moments there was no one there to answer this question.
MORAL : Empty solutions are of no worth.
【关键词】
1. grocery shop (phrase) 杂货店
2. plenty of (phrase) 许多的
3. spoil (vt.) 损坏
4. save (vt.) 保存
5. anytime (adv.) 随时
6. tweet (vt.) 吱吱叫声
7. get rid of (phrase) 摆脱
8. brood (vi.) 沉思
9. things (n) 情况；局势
10. empty (adj.) 空泛的
【译文】给猫系铃
镇上有家杂货店。店里住着许多老鼠。它们食物充足。它们吃遍了所有东西，毁坏了所有袋子。它们还浪费了店里的面包、饼干和水果。
杂货店主忧心忡忡。于是，他想“我应该买一只猫，让它呆在店里。只有这样，我才能保存我的东西。”
他买来一只漂亮的大肥猫，让它呆在那里。这只猫找老鼠、吃老鼠，日子过得不亦乐乎。老鼠们现在不敢自由活动了。它们担心猫会随时吃掉它们。
老鼠想做点什么。他们举行了一次会议，大家都在嚷嚷说“我们必须摆脱那只猫。有人能提出建议吗？“
所有的老鼠都坐着沉思。一只长相精明的老鼠站了起来，说：“这只猫行动轻盈。这就是问题所在。如果我们能在她脖子上系一个铃铛，那么事情就会好起来。我们就可以掌握猫的行动了。”
“是的，就这么办，”老鼠们异口同声。一只年长的老鼠缓缓站起身来，问道：“谁去系这个铃铛？”过了一会儿又一会儿，没有谁回答这个问题。
寓意：不切实际的解决方案是没有价值的。
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