The deer feared the leopard1 cat, the leopard cat feared the tiger, and the tiger the brown bear.
The brown bear resembled the fox but was bigger in size. It had long fur on its head, and could stand up like man. It had great strength and would devour2 man.
In the south of the State of Chu, there was a hunter good at ventriloquy. With a bamboo pipe he could imitate the cries of various kinds of wild animals.
Once, carrying his bow, arrows and firearms, he quietly went hunting in the mountain.
Up on the mountain, he first imitated the cries of the deer to lure3 the horde4 of deer to come over, so that he could shoot at them with the firearms. The leopard cat heard the cries of the deer and came running to devour the deer. The hunter was afraid of the leopard cat, so he hurriedly imitated the roar of the tiger to scare away the leopard cat. Hardly had the leopard cat been scared away when the tiger heard the roar and came. At this moment, the hunter was even more frightened, so he imitated the cries of the brown bear. As a result, the tiger was scared away like the leopard cat.
Then, when the brown bear heard the cries, it came to look for its companions. Seeing that it was a man, the brown bear at once struck him with its front paws, and tore him up with its teeth. In a short while, the hunter was torn to pieces and devoured5 by the brown bear.
鹿害怕驅(qū),驅(qū)害怕老虎,老虎害怕黑。
黑像狐貍,但是體形比較大。它頭上披著長毛,能夠像人一樣站立起來,力氣很大,要吃人。
楚國南方有一個獵人口技很好。他會用竹管來模仿各種野獸的叫聲。
有一次,他拿著弓箭和火器悄悄上山打獵。
上山以后,他先學(xué)鹿的叫聲,想引誘鹿群過來,再用火器射獵。驅(qū)一聽是鹿叫,就快步跑來想吃鹿。獵人害怕,急忙又學(xué)虎嘯來嚇走它。驅(qū)剛剛被虎嘯嚇跑,可是老虎卻聞聲趕到了。這時候,獵人更加害怕,于是就學(xué)黑叫。結(jié)果,老虎也像驅(qū)一樣逃跑了。
后來,黑聽見叫聲,就來尋找同伴。剛走到前面,它一看是一個人,就立刻用前爪打他,用牙齒撕他,不一會兒,把獵人撕成碎塊吃掉了。
1 leopard
n.豹
參考例句:
I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看見一個穿著豹皮的男人。 The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑點。
2 devour
v.吞沒;貪婪地注視或諦聽,貪讀;使著迷
參考例句:
Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大魚吃小魚。 Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不過是一朵,終會被皺紋所吞噬。
3 lure
n.吸引人的東西,誘惑物;vt.引誘,吸引
參考例句:
Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引著許多鄉(xiāng)下小伙子。 He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金錢的誘惑。
4 horde
n.群眾,一大群
參考例句:
A horde of children ran over the office building.一大群孩子在辦公大樓里到處奔跑。 Two women were quarrelling on the street,surrounded by horde of people.有兩個婦人在街上爭吵,被一大群人圍住了。
5 devoured
吞沒( devour的過去式和過去分詞 ); 耗盡; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光
參考例句:
She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 無論是書、雜志,還是報紙,只要能弄得到,她都看得津津有味。 The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 獅子一會兒就吃掉了一匹斑馬