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很久以前，有一只长得英俊非凡的狐狸，他拥有一身柔软的毛发，尾巴浓密而美丽。他的尾巴，是众狐狸中最出色的一条。当他举起尾巴时，就好像美丽的红毛刷子，羡煞其他的同伴。 一个清爽的早晨，狐狸从附近的村子里出来，在家途中，不慎踏到村民设下的陷阱——“砰！啪！”一声，从树上掉下了一个笼子，正好把狐狸套住，笼子刚好重重地压在他美丽的尾巴上，痛得他呱大叫！ 趁村民还未发觉之前，狐狸得自寻办法逃出这个笼子。他死命地又推又拉又撞，终于，笼子被撞破，狐狸即刻飞跑出去，逃之夭夭！ 由于狐狸用力过度，压在笼子下的尾巴被扯了下来，那种感觉就像被人用刀割下尾巴般痛楚不堪。狐狸失去了令他引以为傲的尾巴！ 狐狸伤心地哭了起来，因为他不单要承受极度的痛苦，而且将成为同伴们的笑柄。想想看，同伴如何接受一只没有尾巴的狐狸呢？ 哭了好一阵子，狐狸忽然想到一个办法。于是，抹掉眼泪，然后奔跑回家去。 回到洞穴，狐狸把自己梳洗得很干净。接着，他一张布告，召集所有的同伴到他的洞穴里召开一項重要的会议。 不久，当所有的狐狸都到齐了，“没有尾巴”的狐才开始说话：“亲爱的同伴们，这几天让我觉悟了一件事。你们可知道我们的尾巴到底有什么用途吗？告诉你们，我们的尾巴既沉重又难看，而且对我们自己简直毫无用处！它不能像狗的尾巴一样摇摇摆摆逗主人开心，也不能像牛和马那样驱走身上的蚊虫。我们的尾巴最有用的时候就是我们遭遇不幸之时。当猎人把我们宰了，便将我们的尾巴割下来带回家去给他的妻子做装饰品。啊！尾巴是招惹杀身之祸的根源啊！” “没有尾巴”的狐狸继续说：“我有个很好的建议，让我们割掉自己的尾巴吧！让它从此不属于我们身体的一部分。这样一来，我们不但显得更好看，而且还可轻易地逃过猎人的追捕。来吧！同伴们，今天让我们一起动手割下自己身上的尾巴吧！” 狐狸们听了，无不目瞠口呆，不知所措。 狐狸群中有一只狡猾、年轻的狐狸，悄悄地溜到那只“没有尾巴”的狐狸后面，偷瞧他的背后。哈！他看到什么啦？ 他跑到台上对众狐狸说：“听着，亲爱的同伴们，这里有一项更重要的消息要向大家宣布。这个同伴要我们割掉尾巴的唯一原因是因为他自己已失去了尾巴，所以他才坚持说我们的尾巴一无是处！哈哈哈！这是什么话！有谁不信的，可以到这里来瞧瞧吧！” 狐狸们便一窝蜂地拥上前去看这只狐狸的背后，果然，他们都亲眼目睹狐狸没有尾巴的样子，的确比拥有尾巴更为难看。 “哼！自以为聪明的家伙！你的诡计被我们识破了！”有智慧的老狐狸说道，“原来你要我们跟你一样，做没有尾巴的狐狸，你太自私了！” 哲理： 失去尾巴的狐狸不但不能坦然面对丧尾的事实，反而耍手段要拖其他的狐狸下水，结果招来其他狐狸的反感。同样的，人若是有缺陷就应勇于面对有缺陷的这个事实。与其为缺陷而烦恼，不如多花些精神在自己的优点上，不是更好吗？ The Fox That Lost His Tail Once there was a young red fox who had a really fine-looking, bushy tail. When the fox held up his tail, it looked like a beautiful thick brush of red fur. He was the envy of all the other foxes. One fine morning as the fox was returning home after looking for food near a village, he stepped into a trap set by one of the villagers. The big cruel trap fell on his beautiful tail and held him prisoner. The fox was in a lot of pain. He was also very frightened that the villager would find him in the trap and kill him. The fox tried his best to free himself from the trap. At last he succeeded, but with all the shoving and pushing, the fox’s tail had been torn off，now he no longer had his beautiful, bushy tail! Discovering his great loss, he sat down and cried bitterly. It was not only because of the pain. He was more upset by the thought of all the other foxes making fun of him. How would the others ever accept a fox without a tail? While he was sitting and crying his eyes out, he had an idea. “Yes，that’s what I shall do!” he said to himself. He wiped his tears and quickly ran off home. As soon as he reached his den, he cleaned himself. Then he sent a message to all the other foxes that lived in the forest, inviting them to his den for an important meeting. When all the others had arrived, the fox began to speak. “My dear friends, I have just realised something. Do you know that we have no use for our tails? Our tails are such heavy, ugly and useless things. They are so long that we can’t wag them like the dogs do. We can’t even use them to chase away flies like the cows and horses do. My dear friends, I have a brilliant suggestion. Let’s all cut off our tails so that they will no longer bother us. We will not only look better, but by cutting off our tails, we can also escape from the hunters. Come, my friends, let’s all cut off our tails today.” Among the crowd, there was one cunning young fox. While the others were listening quietly, this cunning young fox quietly slipped behind the speaker to look at his back. And what did he see? The young fox then came back to the front and said, “Listen, my dear friends. I have something important to tell you. The only reason this fox wants us to cut off our tails is because he himself has lost his tail. That is why he insists that our tails are heavy, ugly and useless. Ha, ha, ha! What a story! If you don’t believe me, come and see for yourself.” The rest of the foxes quickly ran up to have a look for themselves. It was true that the young fox had lost his tail. “Ha! You thought you were very clever, didn’t you?” said one wise old fox. “You only want us to cut off our tails because you have lost your own!” One should not try to trick people for one's own Benefit. |
