The Sick Stag

A stag whose joints had become stiff when old age fell sick and decided to lie down on the rich grass of a meadow close to some woods so that he might be able to graze more easily. Since he had always been a friendly and good neighbor, many beasts came to visit him and wish him farewell. Little by little, however, they began eating up all the grass until nothing was left. So, though the stag recovered from the disease, he had nothing to eat, and in the end, he died not so much from sickness or of old age as for sheer want of the food that his friends had eaten for him.

【关键词】

stag[stæg]   n.成年的鹿

joint[dʒɔɪnt]   n.关节

stiff[stɪf]  adj.僵硬的，坚硬的

meadow[ˈmedəʊ]   n.草地

farewell[ˌfeəˈwel]   n.告别

sheer[ʃɪə(r)]   adv.完全地

【翻译】

有一只年迈的老鹿，由于年纪大了，生病后关节变得僵硬。所以，他决定躺在一块草多，且周边有树木的地方来养病，这样他就可以方便地吃到草。由于老鹿一直是一个友好、善良的好邻居，许多动物赶来看望他。渐渐地，来的动物吃光了所有的草，一点都没有剩下。后来，尽管老鹿从伤病中痊愈了，但是他没有任何食物了。最后，老鹿死了，不是因为生病或者高龄，而是由于他的朋友把他的草都吃光了，他被饿死了。