熊和兩個旅行者

The Bear and the Two Travelers

Two men were traveling together, when a bear suddenly met them on their path. One of them climbed up quickly into a tree and concealed himself in the branches. The other, seeing that he must be attacked, fell flat on the ground, and when the bear came up and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all over, he held his breath, and feigned the appearance of death as much as he could. The bear soon left him, for it is said he will not touch a dead body. When he was quite gone, the other traveler got down from the tree, and jocularly inquired of his friend what it was the bear had whispered in his ear. “He gave me this advice,” his companion replied. “Never travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger.”

 Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.

【日積月累】

snout n.（動物的）口鼻部

feign vt. 假裝，裝作，捏造

jocularly adv. 詼諧地

sincerity n. 誠摯，真實，真摯

【參考譯文】

熊和兩個旅行者

兩個人一起旅行，突然一頭熊出現在他們的路上。其中的一個人快速的爬上一棵樹，并把自己藏在樹枝中。另外一個人看到自己一定會被襲擊了，就趕緊平躺在地面上，這時候熊走了過來，用自己的鼻子碰了碰他，并且聞變了他的全身，這個人摒住呼吸，盡可能的裝得像死了一樣。這頭熊很快離開了他，因為據說熊是不碰死人身體的。當這只熊走了以后，另一個旅行者從樹上爬了下來，并且開玩笑的問他的朋友，熊在他耳邊說了什么。“他給了我一個建議，”他的伙伴回答道，“不要和在遇到危險時拋棄你的朋友一起旅行。”

災禍能測試出朋友的真誠。

【人生啟迪】

正所謂“患難見真情”。真正的好朋友，應該在遇到危險的時候首先為對方著想，而不是自己先跑路，并且，危急時刻往往能測試出朋友的真誠。