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丛林是动物们的领地，豹子是丛林之王，他想给自己建一所新房子。所有的动物都说愿意帮忙。乌龟挖地基，狮子把柱子割成合适的尺寸，鬣狗把柱子插进乌龟挖好的坑里,兔子把房梁拴在一起，薮猫把板条插进墙里，驴子割芦苇草，山羊把草辫起来，最后大猩猩把屋顶用 草盖好。 豹子打猎归来，发现新房子全给他盖好了。但是，他不但不感激他们的辛勤劳动，反而叫他们走开，他不想受打扰。 于是，动物们举行了一次会议，凡是给豹子辛苦盖房的动物都来参加了，他们无不牢骚满腹。山羊说：“我是个地方长官，我要派属下去把豹子传来开会。” 于是，狗被派去传豹子，豹子不但不听，还跳起来把狗吃了。这太过分了。豹子不感谢他们不说，自己打的猎物也不给大家吃，最可恨的是，他还吃掉了他们的一个同伴。那天夜里， 大象去了豹子家,把他的房子顶倒了。豹子则逃到了丛林中，现在还可以听到他在那里咆哮怒吼。于是，动物们指定大象做丛林之王。 The Leopard’s House The leopard, lord of the jungle, which is the domain of the animals, wanted a new house for himself. All the animals said that they would help build it. The tortoise dug the foundations； the lion cut the posts to the right size； the hyena placed them in the postholes which the tortoise had dug ； the hare tied the roof beams together ； the serval-cat filled in the walls with wattle； the donkey cut reed grass； the goat plaited it and, finally, the chimpanzee thatched the roof. When the leopard returned from hunting, he found the house all ready for him. But instead of thanking the animals for all their hard work, he simply told them to go away as he did not want to be disturbed. The animals then held a council, made up of all those who had worked so hard building the house, and they all complained bitterly. The goat said, "I am a magistrate, so I will send my servant to summon the leopard to appear before this council. ” So the dog was sent to summon the leopard who, far from listening to him, leapt on the dog and ate him up. This was too much. Quite apart from not thanking his workers, he had not even h offered them some of the game he had hunted, and worst of all he had eaten one of their number. That night the elephant went to the leopard's house and knocked it down. As for the leopard, he fled into the jungle where he can still be heard, snarling and growling. The animals then appointed the elephant as lord of the jungle. The chief must be the one who fears none of his subjects. |
