The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

A Town Mouse and a Country Mouse were acquaintances, and the Country Mouse one day invited his friend to come and see him at his home in the fields. The Town Mouse came, and they sat down to a dinner of barleycorns and roots, the latter of which had a distinctly earthy flavour. The fare was not much to the taste of the guest, and presently he broke out with "My poor dear friend, you live here no better than the ants. Now, you should just see how I fare! My larder is a regular horn of plenty. You must come and stay with me, and I promise you you shall live on the fat of the land."

城市老鼠和乡下老鼠本是相识，有一天乡下老鼠邀请他的朋友到自己田野间的家中做客。城市老鼠来了，他们一起坐下来吃了一顿用大麦粒和根茎做的晚餐，那些根茎带着一股浓浓的泥土味。这顿饭客人吃得并不怎么合口味，他随即抱怨道：“我可怜的好朋友啊，你住在这儿，过得还不如蚂蚁好呢。你真该去看看我是怎么过日子的！我家的食品柜简直就是个聚宝盆。你一定得来我那儿住，我向你保证，你一定能过上大鱼大肉的日子。”

So when he returned to town he took the Country Mouse with him, and showed him into a larder containing flour and oatmeal and figs and honey and dates. The Country Mouse had never seen anything like it, and sat down to enjoy the luxuries his friend provided: but before they had well begun, the door of the larder opened and some one came in. The two Mice scampered off and hid themselves in a narrow and exceedingly uncomfortable hole. Presently, when all was quiet, they ventured out again; but some one else came in, and off they scuttled again.

于是，当他回到城里的时候，便带上了乡下老鼠一同前往，领他进了一间储藏室，里面堆满了面粉、燕麦片、无花果、蜂蜜和椰枣。乡下老鼠从没见过这样的场面，便坐下来准备好好享用朋友提供的这些美味；可他们还没吃上几口，储藏室的门就开了，有人走了进来。两只老鼠飞快逃开，躲进了一个又窄又极不舒服的洞里。过了一会儿，四下安静下来，它们才敢又探出头来；可没多久又有人进来了，它们只好再次仓皇逃窜。

This was too much for the visitor. "Good-bye," said he, "I'm off. You live in the lap of luxury, I can see, but you are surrounded by dangers; whereas at home I can enjoy my simple dinner of roots and corn in peace."

这可让这位客人受不了了。“再见了，”他说道，“我要走了。我看得出来，你过的是锦衣玉食的日子，可周围却处处是危险；而我在家里，尽可安安稳稳地享用我那顿根茎和玉米粒做的简单晚餐。”