An old hound had served his master extremely well in the field but had lost his strength over the years and now had many troubles.One day, while out hunting with his master, he encountered a wild boar and boldly seized the beast by the ear,but his teeth gave way,and the boar escaped.His master rushed to the scene and began giving the hound a good scolding and sound beating, but he stopped when the feeble dog looked up and said, "Spare your old servant, dear master! You know full well that neither my courage nor my will were at fault, but only my strength and my teeth, and these I have lost in your service."
【关键词】
hound[haʊnd] n.猎狗
strength n.力量
boar n.野猪
boldly adv.大胆地
seize v.抓住
beast n.野兽
scold v.责骂
【翻译】
一只猎犬服侍它的主人非常好，但是它已经失去了它的健康在过去的这些年，并且现在有了很多的毛病。一天，当猎犬和它的主人外出狩猎时，它遇见了一只野熊，它狠狠地咬住了这只野熊的耳朵，但是猎犬的牙齿掉了，野熊逃脱了。猎犬的主人跑过来，他开始给猎犬一顿大骂并且高声责备，但是他突然停止了，当这只可怜的狗抬起头说，“可怜下你的老仆人吧，亲爱的主人!你清楚的知道，既不是我没有勇气，也不是我不想干，是我们身体和牙齿已经不行了，这些都是我服侍您的时候失去的啊。”