四则英语寓言故事(2)

　　The fox and the monkey 狐狸和猴子

　　A fox and a monkey were on the road together, and fell into a dispute as to which of the two was the better born. They kept it up for some time, till they came to a place where the road passed through a cemetery1 full of monuments, when the monkey stopped and looked about him and gave a great sigh. "Why do you sigh?" said the fox. The monkey pointed2 to the tombs and replied, "All the monuments that you see here were put up in honour of my forefathers3, who in their day were eminent4 men." The fox was speechless for a moment, but quickly recovering he said, "Oh! don't stop at any lie, sir; you're quite safe: I'm sure none of your ancestors will rise up and expose you."

　　Boasters brag5 most when they cannot be detected.

　　狐狸与猴子同行，一路上都在争吵谁的家世更高贵。他们各自坚持着夸耀自己，边说边来到一个路边满是墓地的地方。这时，猴子停下来，四处观望，然后放声大哭。“你为什么这样吗?”狐狸忙问道。猴子指着那些墓碑，说：“你在这里看到的所有墓碑都是我祖先的荣誉，他们当时可都是杰出的人士!”狐狸沉默了一会儿，但是很快就反驳道：“哦!接着吹吧，先生，不会有人揭穿你的——我相信，他们之中没有人能站起来反驳你。

　　谎言无法被揭穿时，吹牛者便会夸夸其谈。