The lion's Sjare

The Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal, and the Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at last they surprised a Stag, and soon took its life. Then came the question how the spoil should be divided. “Quarter me this Stag,” roared the Lion; so the other animals skinned it and cut it into four parts. Then the Lion took his stand in front of the carcass and pronounced judgment: “The first quarter is for me in my capacity as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will dare to lay a paw upon it.”

“Humph,” grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail between his legs;

but he spoke in a low growl—“You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil.”

狮子的分享

狮子与狐狸、豺和狼一起外出狩猎。他们奔波到筋疲力尽，终于猎到一头鹿。但杀死鹿之后，问题来了，如何瓜分这个战利品呢？狮子吼道：“我要四分之一。”于是其他几个动物就将鹿撕咬成四份。随后，狮子站在鹿的尸体前宣布他的决定：“第一份归我，因为我是百兽之王；第二份归我，因为我是这儿的主宰；第三份归我，因为这次狩猎中我出力最多；至于第四份嘛，我倒想看看谁敢动一下。”

“哼！”狐狸一边抱怨一边夹着尾巴逃跑了，他愤愤地低声说道—

可以共患难，却不一定能够同富贵。

Key points

arbiter 主宰者 capacity 才能

carcass 尸体 divide 分开

growl 低吠 grumble 抱怨；嘟囔

judgment 判决 paw 爪子

pronounce 宣布 quarter 四分之一

skin 扒皮 spoil 战利品