A Tortoise and Scorpion had contracted a great intimacy, and bound themselves with such ties of friendship, that the one could not live without the other.
乌龟和蝎子建立了深厚的友谊,他们结伴同行,谁也离不开谁.
One day these inseparable companions, finding themselves obliged to change their habitation, traveled together; but in their meeting with a large and deep river, the Scorpion making a stop, said to the Tortoise:
一天,这对形影不离的朋友觉得应该改变一下生活环境,于是就决定一起旅行.在路上,他们遇到一条又宽又深的河流.蝎子停下来,对乌龟说：
"My dear friend, you are Well provided for what we see before us, but how shall I get over this water?"
"亲爱的朋友,你能顺利渡过前面这条河,可我怎么过得去呢?"
"Never trouble yourself, my dear friend, for that,"replied the Tortoise,"I will carry you upon my back secure from all danger."
"不要急,亲爱的朋友,"乌龟说,"我背着你过河,这样就不会有任何危险了."
On this, the Scorpion, without hesitation, got upon the back of the Tortoise, who immediately took water and began to swim.
就这样,蝎子毫不犹豫地爬到乌龟的背上,乌龟立即跳入水中朝对岸游去.
But he had hardly got half way across the river, when he heard a terrible rumbling upon his back; which made him ask the Scorpion what he was doing.
但当乌龟游到一半时,他听到背上一阵刺耳的声音,于是就问蝎子在干什么.
"Doing!"replied the Scorpion,"why, I am whetting my sting, to try whether I can bore this horny cuirass of yours, that covers yours flesh like a shield, from all injuries."
"干什么!"蝎子回答道,"哦,我在磨我的刺,看我能否刺穿你那如盾牌般坚固、使你免受伤害的盔甲."
"Oh, ungrateful fellow!" cried the tortoise. "I'm so kind to you, but you're trying to pierce the armor that nature has given me with poison. Do you want my life? Well, I can save myself and punish you."
"哦,忘恩负义的家伙!"乌龟叫道,"我对你这么好,你却企图用毒刺刺穿大自然赐予我的盔甲,想要我的命吗?好吧,我有能力拯救自己并让你受到惩罚."
So saying, he sunk his back to some depth under water, threw off the Scorpion, and left him to pay with his life for his monstrous ingratitude.
说着,乌龟沉入水底,抛开蝎子,让他为自己的忘恩负义付出生命的代价.
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