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很久很久以前，上帝创造世界伊始，所有的动物都从天上来到了大草原。兽、禽、虫千形百状，五颜六色。猎豹初来乍到，像所有其他动物一样，她抖了抖身体，伸展一下四肢，深深地吸了一口清新的空气。猎豹发现活着的感觉真好。每只动物都要适应一下自己的身体，于是，猎豹奔跑了起来，发现自己的速度非常快。 猎豹跑啊跑啊，奔跑在广袤的平原上。她独自游荡一段时间后感到孤独,于是决定去寻找自己的同类朋友。猎豹的眼力超强。一天，她发现远处有一些模样像自己的大家伙，便迫不及待地以最快的速度朝他们奔了过去。她朝那方向跑着跑着，一个块头最大的家伙站起来吼了一声。这吼声吓坏了猎豹，她爪子插进了土里，戛然停了下来。这个大块头原来是一头雄狮。他用沉闷的声音冲着猎豹大声问道：“你是谁？你想干什么？” 猎豹体型比狮子小得多而且生性害羞胆小，见狮子发问便答道：“我感到孤独，所以在草原上四处寻找自己的同类朋友。” 雄獅吼叫着："喂，你不是一只狮子！瞧瞧你的腿和身体。你比我们瘦小得多。再看看你的脚掌，那脚掌像狗的一样。你不能像我们一样把爪子完全收回肉垫里。你不属于我们家族;你是一只犬。因此你最好赶快跑开，去找你自己家的人。" 猎豹垂着头，耷拉着尾巴，沮丧地走了。她想这些狮子太不友好了。猎豹继续寻找她的同类朋友。日子一天天过去了。有一天，猎豹看见了一群野狗在阳光下嬉戏。她就朝那群狗跑去。所有的野狗都狂吠起来。猎豹立刻止住了脚步，领头犬冲着她吼道你是谁？你想干什么？” 猎豹向野狗谈起了找自己家人的经过。在寻找家人过程中，一只雄狮吓坏了她。狮子说猎豹不属于猫类，而是犬类。所有的野狗狂笑起来，而且冲着她吼道："你根本就不是狗。瞧瞧你那圆脑袋和耳朵，看看你那舌头。这一切都是猫家族的特征。像其他猫家族或员一样，你的尾巴也很长。你根本就不是狗！”野狗群起而追之，紧追不舍要咬她。 猎豹这次可吓坏了，撒腿就跑，跑得很快。安全地远离群狗后，她卧在一棵大树下休感到很伤心。想到了雄狮的咆哮，想到狮子的拒绝，想到野狗的狂吠和追赶，猎豹越来趑伤心，伤心得哭了起来。她孤独极了。 猎豹没有注意到其他动物走近了自己。一只长颈鹿在猎豹哭泣的时候走了过来。长颈鹿低下头来，大眼睛望着猎豹，问：‘‘你为什么哭啊？"听见长颈鹿的问话，猎豹非常吃惊。她抬起头来，泪眼汪汪地望着长颈鹿，诉说了那段令人伤心的故事，谈到了狮子的咆哮和野狗的追赶，谈到了自己被告知不是猫家族的一员，也不是犬家族的一员。 抽抽搭搭的猎豹说：“我一直坐在这里哭泣，哭了很长很长时间，瞧瞧我这美丽的面庞，眼泪已在我脸上留下了深深的泪痕。” 一只过路的小鸟看见美丽的猎豹，喳喳地说："我飞遍这块土地，你啊，猎豹，在猫的家族中，你是我见过的最华丽、最不同寻常的一只大猫。”从那孤独的一天开始，猎豹的脸上就有了泪痕。 The Tearmarks of the Cheetah A very long time ago, when the earth was first created, all the animals came down onto the savanna. The animals, birds, insects were all different shapes and different col¬ors. When the cheetah first came to the earth, just like all other animals, she shook her body and stretched her legs, and took a deep breath of the new clean air. The cheetah found it very good to be alive. Each animat had to get used to her own body, so the cheetah started running and found out she could run very very fast. The cheetah ran and ran across the vast plains. After a time of wandering the plains alone, the cheetah became lonely, and decided to look for friends of her own kind. One day, the cheetah, with her great eyesight, spotted some large cats off in the distance and eagerly went running as fast as she could toward these cats. As she was running to¬ward them, one of the cats, which was much larger than the others, stood up and roared. The loud noise frightened the cheetah and she dug her claws into the dirt and came to abrupt halt. The cat was a big male lion, and he roared out to the cheetah in a very low booming voice, “Who are you and what do you want?” The cheetah, which is much smaller in size than a lion and who by nature is a very shy and timid animal, said，“I am lonely and have been searching the savanna trying to find friends of my own kind. ” The lion roared, “Well, you are not a lion! Look at your legs and body. You are much thinner than we are. And look at your feet. You have claws like a dog's. Your claws do not retract all the way back into your feet like ours do . You are not a cat；you are a dog. So, you better run away fast and try to find someone in your own family. ” The cheetah lowered her head and put her tail down, and crept away feeling a bit discouraged. She thought big cats were very unfriendly. The cheetah continued her search looking for a friend of her own kind. The days went by. Then one day, the chee¬tah saw a pack of wild dogs playing in the sun. The cheetah went racing up to the pack. The whole pack was yelping and barking furiously. The cheetah stopped immediately, and the pack leader yelped at her, "Who are you and what do you want? The cheetah began to tell the wild dogs her story about trying to find a family of her own. During her search, she was scared by a lion and saddened when he told her that the cheetah was not a cat, but a dog. The whole pack of wild dogs howled in laughter, and barked at her, “You are not a dog at all. Look at your round head and ears, and your rough tongue. They are like a cat’s. Your tail is long just like the other cats. You are not a dog at all!” The pack chased the cheetah off, biting at her heels. This time the cheetah raced away very fast because she was scared. After running a safe distance from the dogs, the cheetah laid down to rest under a big tree. She felt sad. She thought about how the lion roared and did not want her, and how the wild dogs yelped and bit at her feet, and she felt sadder and sadder. The cheetah felt so sad that started to cry. She was very lonely. The cheetah did not realize that any other animals were near her. A giraffe had walked up quietly while the cheetah was crying.The giraffe, looking down at the cheetah with its big brown eyes, asked, “Why are you crying?” The cheetah was \/ery surprised when the giraffe spoke. The cheetah looked up tearfully at the giraffe and proceeded to tell her sad story about the lions roaring and telling her she was not a cat , and the wild dogs chasing her and saying she was not a dog. Sniffling, the cheetah said, “I have been sitting here crying, and I have cried so long and so hard—look at my beautiful face, the tears have burnt marks in my face. ” A bird that was flying by the big tree saw the beautiful cheetah and chirped, “I have traveled throughout this land and you, cheetah, are the most splendid and unique of all the cats I have seen. ” The cheetah has had tearmarks ever since that lonely day. |
