三、大班英语故事
1．Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Wolf兔子和大灰狼
One day Mr. Rabbit was walking near the hill；he heard someone crying out,“Help! Help!”He looked this way and that way, and he saw poor Mr. Wolf．A great stone had fallen on Mr. Wolf’s back, and he could not get up．He cried,“Mr. Rabbit, take this great stone from my back or I shall die．”
Mr. Rabbit worked very hard to move the stone from Mr. Wolf’s back．Then Mr. Wolf jumped up and caught Mr. Rabbit in his mouth．
“If you kill me,”cried Mr. Rabbit,“I will never help you again as long as I live．” “You will not 1ive,”said Mr. Wolf,“because 1 will kill you．”
“No nice person kills a person who has helped him,”said Mr. Rabbit,“It is not just．You ask Mrs. Duck．She is very fat and knows everything．She will say that no nice person would do a thing like that．”
“I will ask her,”said Mr. Wolf,“and if she dose not say that, I shall eat her too．”
So Mr. Wolf and Mr. Rabbit went to Mrs. Duck．Mr. Wolf said,“I caught Mr. Rabbit when he was sitting down near the hill．So I say that I should eat him．Now say what you think．” “I took a great big stone from his back,”said Mr. Rabbit,“So I say that he should not eat me, because I have helped him．Now say what you think．”
“What stone?”said Mrs. Duck．
“A stone near the hill,”said Mr. Rabbit．
“I must see it.”said Mrs. Duck.“How can I say what I think if I have not seen the stone?” So Mr. Wolf,Mr. Rabbit ,and Mrs. Duck went to see the stone．
“Now, put the stone just as it was,”said Mrs. Duck．
So they put the stone back where it was．
“No,”said Mrs. Duck,“that is not just as it was．You said that the stone was on Mr. Wolf’s back．”
“Now,”said Mr. Wolf,“you see just how it was. What do you say about it?”
Mr. Rabbit and Mrs. Duck said,“We say that we are going home．You may ask some other person to take the stone from your back．You look very nice like that, stay just as you are．”
2．Cinderella灰姑娘
A rich man took another wife after his wife died．The woman brought with her two beautiful daughters．A bad time began for the poor child．She had to do hard work from morning till night, get up before daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook and wash．She had no bed．As she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella．
One day, the king gave orders for a festival and all the beautiful young girls were invited so that his son might choose himself a bride．When the two step-sisters were delighted to go to the king’s palace, Cinderella had to stay at home doing countless work．
A bird came to her and threw a gold and silver dress to her．She put on the dress and went to the party．Her step-sisters and the step-mother did not know her, and thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress．The prince approached Cinderella, took her by the hand and danced with her．He would dance with no other girls．She danced till it was evening, and then she wanted to go home．But the prince said,“1 will go with you．”She escaped from him, however．She ran down, leaving a slipper．The king’S son picked it up．It was small
and dainty, made of gold．
The next morning, he went with it to the king, and said to him,“No one shall be my wife but the girl whose foot this golden slipper fits．”
The two sisters were glad at the news, for they had pretty feet．But neither could put it on. The prince asked,“Haven’t you any other daughter?’’“Yes, but she cannot possibly be the bride．’’her father said．The prince asked the father to bring her to him．Cinderella had to be called．She seated herself on a stool, drew her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fitted well．And when she rose up, the prince looked at her face．He recognized the beautiful girl who had danced with him and cried,“This is the true bride．”The step-mother and the two sisters were horrified and became pale with rage．He, however, took Cinderella on his horse and rode away with her．
3．How a Colt Crossed the River小马过河
One day, a colt took a bag of wheat to the mill. As he was running with the bag on his back, he came to a small river．The colt could not decide whether he could cross it．Looking around, he saw a cow grazing nearby．He asked,“Aunt Cow, could you tell me if I can cross the river?”The cow told him that he could and that the river was not very deep, just knee high．
The colt was crossing the river when a squirrel jumped down a tree and stopped him．The squirrel shouted,“Colt, stop! You’ll drown! One of my friends drowned just yesterday in the river．”Not knowing what to do, the colt went home to consult his mom．
He told his mom his experience on the way．His mother said,“My child, don’t always listen to others．You’d better go and try yourself．Then you’1l know what to do．”Later, at the river, the squirrel stopped the colt again．“Little horse, it’s too dangerous!”“No,1 want to try myself,”answered the colt．
On the other side of the river, the colt realized that the river was neither as shallow as the cow said nor as deep as the squirrel told him．
You see, real knowledge comes from practice．
4．Everyone Agrees to Peace和平是所有人共同的愿望
A sly fox tried to trick a rooster into coming down from his house．
“Brother Bird,”the fox said,“come down and have a nice talk!”
“No,”said the rooster,“I'm sure you’d eat me．’’
“Oh,1 wouldn't,”said the crafty fox,“Haven’t you heard? Everyone has agreed to live in peace．”“Is that so?”said the smart rooster．
Stretching his neck, the rooster pretended to look at something far off in the distance． “What are you looking at?”asked the fox．
“Oh„Just a hungry dog is coming right this way．”
Hearing this, the fox ran away,“Why are you running away? You said that everyone has agreed to live in peace．’’
“Well, perhaps the dog hasn’t heard about it yet,”said the fox, and ran away．
5．A Girl and Her Bucket女孩和她的牛奶桶
A young girl was going to market with a bucket of milk on her head．
“With the gold that I get from the sale of this milk, I’ll buy a red hen,”she said．“The hen will lay eggs, they’ll hatch and then I'll have many chicks to raise．I'll feed them well and when they’re grown, they will each lay eggs. And those eggs will hatch and 1 will have more hens, who’ll lay more eggs that will hatch into chicks„
Before long I'll be rich and I'll wear fine clothes．And one day perhaps I shall visit queen．I shall bring her beautiful gifts．I’ll walk into the court．Bowing low I shall say,‘IT IS MY HONOR TO BRING YOU THE GIFTS!’”
And she bowed low…
She knocked off the bucket and spilled her milk．
“Oh dear,”she cried,“My dreams are broken so badly．”
6．The Three Little Pigs三只小猪
One day it rained hard and the three pigs got wet．So they each decided to build a house．The next day, the first pig looked around to see what he could build his house with．He found a big bundle of straw and built a house of straw, The Second pig decided to build a wooden house．The third pig was the smartest．He decided to build his house out of strong bricks．All the three pigs were in their houses when a big bad wolf came．“Little pig, little pig, let me in,”said the wolf．“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the first pig．“Then I’ll just have to blow your house,”said the wolf and he blew the house away．“Little pig, little pig, let me in,”said the wolf to the 2nd pig．“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the pig．“Then I’ll just have to smash your house,”said the wolf, and he smashed the house chin,”said the first pig．“Then I’ll just have to blow your house,”said the wolf and he blew the house away．“Little pig, little pig, let me in,”said the wolf to the 2nd pig．“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the pig．“Then I'll just have to smash your house,”said the wolf, and he smashed the house
away．‘‘Little pig, little pig, let me in,’’said the wolf to the 3rd pig．“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the pig．“Then I'll just have to„’’said the wolf thinking what to do with the strong brick house．Finally, the wolf decided to dig a hole into the house．The wolf can’t dig through so he gave up and ran away and never came back. All the three pigs lived happily with good food in the brick house．
7．The Fox and the Tiger狐狸和老虎
An archer, hunting in the woods, was so successful with his arrows that he killed many of the wild animals．This frightened the rest so much that they ran into the densest part of the bushes to hide．At last the Tiger stood up, pretending to be very brave, told the other animals not to be afraid anymore, but to rely on his courage, and he would attack the enemy on his own．While he was talking an arrow came and pierced his ribs．The Tiger howled with pain．
While he was trying to draw out the arrow with his teeth, the fox went up to him and asked in surprise, whoever had the strength and courage to wound such a brave and mighty beast as the Tiger．
“Nay,”said the Tiger,“I misjudged my enemy．It was that unbeatable man over there!
Once upon a time an old goat had seven little kids．One day she wanted to go into the forest to fetch some food．So she said to her kids,“Be on guard against the wolf The wretch often disguises himself, but you will know him at once by his rough voice and his black feet．”
It was not long before someone knocked at the door and called,“Open the door, dear children. Your mother is here, and has brought something back with her for each of you．”But the 1ittle kids knew that it was the wolf．“We will not open the door, you are not our mother．She has a soft voice．”Then the wolf went away to a shopkeeper and bought himself a 1ump of chalk to eat and made his voice soft．Then he came back and called,“Open the door．”But the wolf had laid his black paws against the window, and the children saw them and cried,“Our mother has not black
feet．”Then the wolf ran to a baker and made his paws white．When the kids saw his paws were white, they believed that all he said was true and opened the door．One after another he swallowed six．The youngest, who was in the clock, was the only one he did not find．Then the wolf went out and lay under a tree to sleep．Soon afterwards the old goat carne home．Ah．What a sight she saw! The door stood wide open．The table, chairs, and benches were thrown down．She called but no one answered．At last, a soft voice cried,“Dear mother, I am in the clock．”She
took the kid out, and it told her what had happened.
When they came to the meadow, they found the wolf．She looked at him and saw something moving and struggling in his belly．“Ah, heavens, is it possible that my poor children can be still alive?”Then the kid ran home and fetch scissors, a needle and thread．The mother cut open the monster’s stomach. all six sprang out and were all still alive．“We will fill the wicked beast’s stomach with stones while he is still asleep．”said the mother.
When the wolf woke up he was thirsty．He wanted to go to a well to drink．And when he got to the well the heavy stones made him fall in and he drowned miserably．When the seven kids saw that, They came running to the spot and cried aloud,“The wolf is dead! The wolf is dead!” and danced for joy round about the well with their mother．about me well with their mother．
9．The Emperor’s New Suit皇帝的新衣
Many years ago, there lived an emperor．His only ambition was to be always well dressed．He had a coat for every hour．
One day two swindlers came to this city; they made people believe that they were weavers, and declared they could make the finest cloth．And the clothes made of their materials would be invisible to any man who was unfit for his office．
“That must be wonderful cloth,”thought the emperor．“If 1 were to be dressed in a suit made of this cloth, I should be able to find out which men in my empire were unfit for their places．’’He gave a lot of money to the swindlers．They set up two looms, and pretended to work, but they did nothing．“I'd like to know how they are getting on with the cloth,”thought the emperor．But he felt rather uneasy when he remembered that he who was not fit for his office could not see it．He sent his honest old minister to the weavers．
The good old minister went into the room where the swindlers sat before the empty looms．He opened his eyes wide,“I cannot see anything at all,”but he did not say so．The poor old minister tried his best．but he could see nothing．“Now, have you got anything to say?”said one of the swindlers．“Oh,it is very pretty,”replied the old．minister, looking through his glasses．“What a beautiful pattern, what brilliant colors! I shall tell the emperor that I 1ike the cloth very much．” “We are pleased to hear that,”said the two weavers, and described to him the colors and explained the curious pattern．Now the swindlers asked for more money, silk and gold-cloth, which they kept for themselves．
Everybody in the whole town talked about the precious cloth．At 1ast the emperor wished tO see it himself,“Your Majesty must admire the colors and the pattern．”“What is this?”thought the emperor,“I do not see anything at all．That is terrible! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be emperor? That would indeed be the most dreadful thing that could happen to me．”
“It is very beautiful．”And all advised him to wear the new magnificent clothes at the coming great procession．The whole night before the procession, the swindlers pretended to be busy with the emperor’s new suit．They pretended to take the cloth from the loom, and worked about in the air with big scissors, and sewed with needles without thread, and said at last,“The emperor’s new
suit is ready now．”
The emperor and all his barons came to the hall the swindlers held their arms up as if they held something in their hands and said,“These are the trousers!”“This is the coat!”and“Here is the cloak!”“They are a11 as light as a cobweb, and one must feel as if one had nothing at all upon the body; but that is just the beauty of them．”
“Indeed!”said all the courtiers; but they could see nothing．
The emperor undressed, and the swindlers pretended to put the new suit upon him, one after another; and the emperor looked at himself in the glass．
“How well they look! How well they fit!”said a11．“I am ready,”said the emperor．
The emperor marched in the procession。and all who saw him in the street and out of the windows exclaimed：“Indeed, the emperor’S new suit is incomparable!Ⅵmat a long train he has! How well it fits him!”Nobody wished to let others know he saw nothing． ’
“But he has nothing on at all,”said a little child．“Good heavens! Listen to the voice of an innocent child,”said the father, and one whispered to the other what the child had said．The chamberlains walked with greater dignity．as if they carried the train which did not exist． 10．The Story of a Rabbit兔子的故事
There was a rabbit who enjoyed playing tricks on other animals．
One day as he was walking in the woods, near the sea he came across a huge elephant．“How are you, Mr. Elephant?”he called out．“How much you eat!”
“That’s because I'm so big,” replied the elephant．“Small animals like you don’t need much food, but large and powerful animals like me need a lot!”
“Large you certainly are!”said the rabbit,“But powerful„?”
“You don’t think I'm powerful?”asked the elephant．
“I'm sure you are。”said the rabbit．“But are you more powerful than me?”
“Powerful? You?”
“Yes, me．”
The elephant doubled up with laughter.
“You’re laughing because you don’t know how strong I am,”said the rabbit．“If you let me tie a rope around your middle, I’ll drag you into the sea．”
“Drag me into the sea?!”laughed the elephant．“Hoo-hooo-hoooo! Well, go ahead! Tie a rope around me and let me see how far you can pull me!”
The rabbit tied a thick rope around the elephant’s body．
The rabbit ran to the seashore with the other end of the rope．
He saw a whale swimming some distance away, and called out to it．When the whale drew near he said,“Mr. Whale, you’re so big but are you strong?”
“I'm the strongest animal on earth!”bellowed the whale． ．
“I’ll show you how wrong you are,”said the rabbit．“Let me tie this rope around your middle．”
“And then?”
“I'll drag you ashore．”
The whale doubled up with laughter．
“All right, go ahead,”he giggled．“Tie your rope around me and pull me out!
The rabbit tied the rope around the whale’s middle．Then he ran ashore and rushed into the woods, hid behind a tree and shouted,“Pull!”The two animals, hidden from each other’s sight by
the trees in between, marveled at the strength of the rabbit．They tried their best, but neither could get the better．Finally the rope broke and the two animals fled in opposite directions．
From then on whenever the elephant saw the rabbit he would quickly hide himself or run away．
三、大班英语故事
1．Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Wolf兔子和大灰狼
One day Mr. Rabbit was walking near the hill；he heard someone crying out,“Help! Help!”He looked this way and that way, and he saw poor Mr. Wolf．A great stone had fallen on Mr. Wolf’s back, and he could not get up．He cried,“Mr. Rabbit, take this great stone from my back or I shall die．”
Mr. Rabbit worked very hard to move the stone from Mr. Wolf’s back．Then Mr. Wolf jumped up and caught Mr. Rabbit in his mouth．
“If you kill me,”cried Mr. Rabbit,“I will never help you again as long as I live．” “You will not 1ive,”said Mr. Wolf,“because 1 will kill you．”
“No nice person kills a person who has helped him,”said Mr. Rabbit,“It is not just．You ask Mrs. Duck．She is very fat and knows everything．She will say that no nice person would do a thing like that．”
“I will ask her,”said Mr. Wolf,“and if she dose not say that, I shall eat her too．”
So Mr. Wolf and Mr. Rabbit went to Mrs. Duck．Mr. Wolf said,“I caught Mr. Rabbit when he was sitting down near the hill．So I say that I should eat him．Now say what you think．” “I took a great big stone from his back,”said Mr. Rabbit,“So I say that he should not eat me, because I have helped him．Now say what you think．”
“What stone?”said Mrs. Duck．
“A stone near the hill,”said Mr. Rabbit．
“I must see it.”said Mrs. Duck.“How can I say what I think if I have not seen the stone?” So Mr. Wolf,Mr. Rabbit ,and Mrs. Duck went to see the stone．
“Now, put the stone just as it was,”said Mrs. Duck．
So they put the stone back where it was．
“No,”said Mrs. Duck,“that is not just as it was．You said that the stone was on Mr. Wolf’s back．”
“Now,”said Mr. Wolf,“you see just how it was. What do you say about it?”
Mr. Rabbit and Mrs. Duck said,“We say that we are going home．You may ask some other person to take the stone from your back．You look very nice like that, stay just as you are．”
2．Cinderella灰姑娘
A rich man took another wife after his wife died．The woman brought with her two beautiful daughters．A bad time began for the poor child．She had to do hard work from morning till night, get up before daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook and wash．She had no bed．As she always looked dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella．
One day, the king gave orders for a festival and all the beautiful young girls were invited so that his son might choose himself a bride．When the two step-sisters were delighted to go to the king’s palace, Cinderella had to stay at home doing countless work．
A bird came to her and threw a gold and silver dress to her．She put on the dress and went to the party．Her step-sisters and the step-mother did not know her, and thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked so beautiful in the golden dress．The prince approached Cinderella, took her by the hand and danced with her．He would dance with no other girls．She danced till it was evening, and then she wanted to go home．But the prince said,“1 will go with you．”She escaped from him, however．She ran down, leaving a slipper．The king’S son picked it up．It was small
and dainty, made of gold．
The next morning, he went with it to the king, and said to him,“No one shall be my wife but the girl whose foot this golden slipper fits．”
The two sisters were glad at the news, for they had pretty feet．But neither could put it on. The prince asked,“Haven’t you any other daughter?’’“Yes, but she cannot possibly be the bride．’’her father said．The prince asked the father to bring her to him．Cinderella had to be called．She seated herself on a stool, drew her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fitted well．And when she rose up, the prince looked at her face．He recognized the beautiful girl who had danced with him and cried,“This is the true bride．”The step-mother and the two sisters were horrified and became pale with rage．He, however, took Cinderella on his horse and rode away with her．
3．How a Colt Crossed the River小马过河
One day, a colt took a bag of wheat to the mill. As he was running with the bag on his back, he came to a small river．The colt could not decide whether he could cross it．Looking around, he saw a cow grazing nearby．He asked,“Aunt Cow, could you tell me if I can cross the river?”The cow told him that he could and that the river was not very deep, just knee high．
The colt was crossing the river when a squirrel jumped down a tree and stopped him．The squirrel shouted,“Colt, stop! You’ll drown! One of my friends drowned just yesterday in the river．”Not knowing what to do, the colt went home to consult his mom．
He told his mom his experience on the way．His mother said,“My child, don’t always listen to others．You’d better go and try yourself．Then you’1l know what to do．”Later, at the river, the squirrel stopped the colt again．“Little horse, it’s too dangerous!”“No,1 want to try myself,”answered the colt．
On the other side of the river, the colt realized that the river was neither as shallow as the cow said nor as deep as the squirrel told him．
You see, real knowledge comes from practice．
4．Everyone Agrees to Peace和平是所有人共同的愿望
A sly fox tried to trick a rooster into coming down from his house．
“Brother Bird,”the fox said,“come down and have a nice talk!”
“No,”said the rooster,“I'm sure you’d eat me．’’
“Oh,1 wouldn't,”said the crafty fox,“Haven’t you heard? Everyone has agreed to live in peace．”“Is that so?”said the smart rooster．
Stretching his neck, the rooster pretended to look at something far off in the distance． “What are you looking at?”asked the fox．
“Oh„Just a hungry dog is coming right this way．”
Hearing this, the fox ran away,“Why are you running away? You said that everyone has agreed to live in peace．’’
“Well, perhaps the dog hasn’t heard about it yet,”said the fox, and ran away．
5．A Girl and Her Bucket女孩和她的牛奶桶
A young girl was going to market with a bucket of milk on her head．
“With the gold that I get from the sale of this milk, I’ll buy a red hen,”she said．“The hen will lay eggs, they’ll hatch and then I'll have many chicks to raise．I'll feed them well and when they’re grown, they will each lay eggs. And those eggs will hatch and 1 will have more hens, who’ll lay more eggs that will hatch into chicks„
Before long I'll be rich and I'll wear fine clothes．And one day perhaps I shall visit queen．I shall bring her beautiful gifts．I’ll walk into the court．Bowing low I shall say,‘IT IS MY HONOR TO BRING YOU THE GIFTS!’”
And she bowed low…
She knocked off the bucket and spilled her milk．
“Oh dear,”she cried,“My dreams are broken so badly．”
6．The Three Little Pigs三只小猪
One day it rained hard and the three pigs got wet．So they each decided to build a house．The next day, the first pig looked around to see what he could build his house with．He found a big bundle of straw and built a house of straw, The Second pig decided to build a wooden house．The third pig was the smartest．He decided to build his house out of strong bricks．All the three pigs were in their houses when a big bad wolf came．“Little pig, little pig, let me in,”said the wolf．“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the first pig．“Then I’ll just have to blow your house,”said the wolf and he blew the house away．“Little pig, little pig, let me in,”said the wolf to the 2nd pig．“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the pig．“Then I’ll just have to smash your house,”said the wolf, and he smashed the house chin,”said the first pig．“Then I’ll just have to blow your house,”said the wolf and he blew the house away．“Little pig, little pig, let me in,”said the wolf to the 2nd pig．“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the pig．“Then I'll just have to smash your house,”said the wolf, and he smashed the house
away．‘‘Little pig, little pig, let me in,’’said the wolf to the 3rd pig．“Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,”said the pig．“Then I'll just have to„’’said the wolf thinking what to do with the strong brick house．Finally, the wolf decided to dig a hole into the house．The wolf can’t dig through so he gave up and ran away and never came back. All the three pigs lived happily with good food in the brick house．
7．The Fox and the Tiger狐狸和老虎
An archer, hunting in the woods, was so successful with his arrows that he killed many of the wild animals．This frightened the rest so much that they ran into the densest part of the bushes to hide．At last the Tiger stood up, pretending to be very brave, told the other animals not to be afraid anymore, but to rely on his courage, and he would attack the enemy on his own．While he was talking an arrow came and pierced his ribs．The Tiger howled with pain．
While he was trying to draw out the arrow with his teeth, the fox went up to him and asked in surprise, whoever had the strength and courage to wound such a brave and mighty beast as the Tiger．
“Nay,”said the Tiger,“I misjudged my enemy．It was that unbeatable man over there!
Once upon a time an old goat had seven little kids．One day she wanted to go into the forest to fetch some food．So she said to her kids,“Be on guard against the wolf The wretch often disguises himself, but you will know him at once by his rough voice and his black feet．”
It was not long before someone knocked at the door and called,“Open the door, dear children. Your mother is here, and has brought something back with her for each of you．”But the 1ittle kids knew that it was the wolf．“We will not open the door, you are not our mother．She has a soft voice．”Then the wolf went away to a shopkeeper and bought himself a 1ump of chalk to eat and made his voice soft．Then he came back and called,“Open the door．”But the wolf had laid his black paws against the window, and the children saw them and cried,“Our mother has not black
feet．”Then the wolf ran to a baker and made his paws white．When the kids saw his paws were white, they believed that all he said was true and opened the door．One after another he swallowed six．The youngest, who was in the clock, was the only one he did not find．Then the wolf went out and lay under a tree to sleep．Soon afterwards the old goat carne home．Ah．What a sight she saw! The door stood wide open．The table, chairs, and benches were thrown down．She called but no one answered．At last, a soft voice cried,“Dear mother, I am in the clock．”She
took the kid out, and it told her what had happened.
When they came to the meadow, they found the wolf．She looked at him and saw something moving and struggling in his belly．“Ah, heavens, is it possible that my poor children can be still alive?”Then the kid ran home and fetch scissors, a needle and thread．The mother cut open the monster’s stomach. all six sprang out and were all still alive．“We will fill the wicked beast’s stomach with stones while he is still asleep．”said the mother.
When the wolf woke up he was thirsty．He wanted to go to a well to drink．And when he got to the well the heavy stones made him fall in and he drowned miserably．When the seven kids saw that, They came running to the spot and cried aloud,“The wolf is dead! The wolf is dead!” and danced for joy round about the well with their mother．about me well with their mother．
9．The Emperor’s New Suit皇帝的新衣
Many years ago, there lived an emperor．His only ambition was to be always well dressed．He had a coat for every hour．
One day two swindlers came to this city; they made people believe that they were weavers, and declared they could make the finest cloth．And the clothes made of their materials would be invisible to any man who was unfit for his office．
“That must be wonderful cloth,”thought the emperor．“If 1 were to be dressed in a suit made of this cloth, I should be able to find out which men in my empire were unfit for their places．’’He gave a lot of money to the swindlers．They set up two looms, and pretended to work, but they did nothing．“I'd like to know how they are getting on with the cloth,”thought the emperor．But he felt rather uneasy when he remembered that he who was not fit for his office could not see it．He sent his honest old minister to the weavers．
The good old minister went into the room where the swindlers sat before the empty looms．He opened his eyes wide,“I cannot see anything at all,”but he did not say so．The poor old minister tried his best．but he could see nothing．“Now, have you got anything to say?”said one of the swindlers．“Oh,it is very pretty,”replied the old．minister, looking through his glasses．“What a beautiful pattern, what brilliant colors! I shall tell the emperor that I 1ike the cloth very much．” “We are pleased to hear that,”said the two weavers, and described to him the colors and explained the curious pattern．Now the swindlers asked for more money, silk and gold-cloth, which they kept for themselves．
Everybody in the whole town talked about the precious cloth．At 1ast the emperor wished tO see it himself,“Your Majesty must admire the colors and the pattern．”“What is this?”thought the emperor,“I do not see anything at all．That is terrible! Am I stupid? Am I unfit to be emperor? That would indeed be the most dreadful thing that could happen to me．”
“It is very beautiful．”And all advised him to wear the new magnificent clothes at the coming great procession．The whole night before the procession, the swindlers pretended to be busy with the emperor’s new suit．They pretended to take the cloth from the loom, and worked about in the air with big scissors, and sewed with needles without thread, and said at last,“The emperor’s new
suit is ready now．”
The emperor and all his barons came to the hall the swindlers held their arms up as if they held something in their hands and said,“These are the trousers!”“This is the coat!”and“Here is the cloak!”“They are a11 as light as a cobweb, and one must feel as if one had nothing at all upon the body; but that is just the beauty of them．”
“Indeed!”said all the courtiers; but they could see nothing．
The emperor undressed, and the swindlers pretended to put the new suit upon him, one after another; and the emperor looked at himself in the glass．
“How well they look! How well they fit!”said a11．“I am ready,”said the emperor．
The emperor marched in the procession。and all who saw him in the street and out of the windows exclaimed：“Indeed, the emperor’S new suit is incomparable!Ⅵmat a long train he has! How well it fits him!”Nobody wished to let others know he saw nothing． ’
“But he has nothing on at all,”said a little child．“Good heavens! Listen to the voice of an innocent child,”said the father, and one whispered to the other what the child had said．The chamberlains walked with greater dignity．as if they carried the train which did not exist． 10．The Story of a Rabbit兔子的故事
There was a rabbit who enjoyed playing tricks on other animals．
One day as he was walking in the woods, near the sea he came across a huge elephant．“How are you, Mr. Elephant?”he called out．“How much you eat!”
“That’s because I'm so big,” replied the elephant．“Small animals like you don’t need much food, but large and powerful animals like me need a lot!”
“Large you certainly are!”said the rabbit,“But powerful„?”
“You don’t think I'm powerful?”asked the elephant．
“I'm sure you are。”said the rabbit．“But are you more powerful than me?”
“Powerful? You?”
“Yes, me．”
The elephant doubled up with laughter.
“You’re laughing because you don’t know how strong I am,”said the rabbit．“If you let me tie a rope around your middle, I’ll drag you into the sea．”
“Drag me into the sea?!”laughed the elephant．“Hoo-hooo-hoooo! Well, go ahead! Tie a rope around me and let me see how far you can pull me!”
The rabbit tied a thick rope around the elephant’s body．
The rabbit ran to the seashore with the other end of the rope．
He saw a whale swimming some distance away, and called out to it．When the whale drew near he said,“Mr. Whale, you’re so big but are you strong?”
“I'm the strongest animal on earth!”bellowed the whale． ．
“I’ll show you how wrong you are,”said the rabbit．“Let me tie this rope around your middle．”
“And then?”
“I'll drag you ashore．”
The whale doubled up with laughter．
“All right, go ahead,”he giggled．“Tie your rope around me and pull me out!
The rabbit tied the rope around the whale’s middle．Then he ran ashore and rushed into the woods, hid behind a tree and shouted,“Pull!”The two animals, hidden from each other’s sight by
the trees in between, marveled at the strength of the rabbit．They tried their best, but neither could get the better．Finally the rope broke and the two animals fled in opposite directions．
From then on whenever the elephant saw the rabbit he would quickly hide himself or run away．