A stag whose joints had become stiff when old age fell sick and decided to lie down on the rich grass of a meadow close to some woods so that he might be able to graze more easily. Since he had always been a friendly and good neighbor, many beasts came to visit him and wish him farewell. Little by little, however, they began eating up all the grass until nothing was left. So, though the stag recovered from the disease, he had nothing to eat, and in the end, he died not so much from sickness or of old age as for sheer want of the food that his friends had eaten for him.

【關鍵詞】

stag[st?g] ? n.成年的鹿

joint[d???nt] ? n.關節

stiff[st?f]? adj.僵硬的，堅硬的

meadow[?med??] ? n.草地

farewell[?fe??wel] ? n.告別

sheer[???(r)] ? adv.完全地

【翻譯】

有一只年邁的老鹿，由于年紀大了，生病后關節變得僵硬。所以，他決定躺在一塊草多，且周邊有樹木的地方來養病，這樣他就可以方便地吃到草。由于老鹿一直是一個友好、善良的好鄰居，許多動物趕來看望他。漸漸地，來的動物吃光了所有的草，一點都沒有剩下。后來，盡管老鹿從傷病中痊愈了，但是他沒有任何食物了。最后，老鹿死了，不是因為生病或者高齡，而是由于他的朋友把他的草都吃光了，他被餓死了。