Chinese story 【故事】水鸟、蚌和渔夫

　　　水鸟、蚌和渔夫

　　1、一只蚌张开蚌壳，在河滩上晒太阳。

2、有一只水鸟从蚌身边走过，用嘴去啄蚌的肉。

3、蚌合上两片壳，把水鸟的嘴紧紧夹住。水鸟用尽力气，怎么也拔不出来。

4、水鸟对蚌说："你这样夹着我，回不到河里，你是会死的。"蚌说："你的嘴拔不出去，也会饿死的。"蚌和水鸟吵个不停，谁也不让谁。

5、这时，一个渔夫走过来，把它们两个一起捉去了。

　The water bird, the mussel and the fisherman

　　1.A mussel was opening her shell to bask in the sun on the wet ground.

2.Suddenly a water bird flew down to peck her flesh.

3.The mussel immediately closed up her shell, gripping the water bird's beak tightly. However hard the water bird tried, he couldn't pull his beak out of the mussel's shell.

4."If you don't let go of me, you can't return to the river," said the water bird. "And you will die." "If I don't open up, you can't eat anything, " retorted the mussel. "And you will starve to death." They kept wrangling with each other and neither would give in

5.At this moment, a fisherman passed by and netted them both.

New Words

　　蚌 mussel       河滩   wet ground     水鸟 water bird        啄  peck

　Language Tips

　　中国有一个成语叫"鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利"，就是讲的这个故事。"鹬"是一种水鸟，喜欢吃小鱼、贝类。"利"就是利益、好处的意思。这个成语比喻双方相争，结果两败俱伤，让第三者从中得到了好处。

The Chinese idiom,"鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利"（When the snipe and the mussel grapple, it is the fisherman who profits）, comes from this story. "鹬"（the snipe）is a kind of water bird that lives on wet ground and likes small fish, shellfish. 利"means profits or benefit. This idiom's English counterpart is: "Two dogs strive for a bone, and a third runs away with it", means: if two parties fight, a third party will benefit.

　Reading Comprehension

　　1.谁在河滩上争吵？
(a) 蚌和水鸟  (b) 水鸟和渔夫 (c) 蚌和渔夫

2. 争吵的结果怎样？
(a)蚌做出了让步
(b)渔夫把蚌和水鸟一起捉去了
(c)水鸟做出了让步

1.Who was wrangling with each other on the wet ground?
(a)The mussel and the water bird  (b) The water bird and the fisherman
(c) The mussel and the fisherman

2.How did the wrangling end?   
(a) The mussel gave way    
(b) The fisherman caught both the mussel and the water bird
(c) The water bird gave way