双语寓言故事（三百四十六）

The Owl and the Donkey

A blind donkey lost his way. He wanted to go round the world, but now he was in the dark forest and could not get out. Even a man with bright eyes, let alone a blind donkey, could not get out of the dark forest.

Lucky for the donkey, he met an owl who lived nearby. The owl pointed the donkey in the right direction. We know that the owl is born with a pair of wonderful eyes, it can see all things at night. In his eyes, night is as bright as day. By dawn the Donkey and the owl were out on the open road.

How can you part with such a useful guide? The donkey asked the owl never to leave him. He wanted to travel around the world with the owl! The owl thought for a while and decided that the Donkey's idea was a good one. So the owl sat on the donkey's back, and they set off together.

Did they really travel around the world? No.

As soon as the sun lit up the eastern sky, the owl's eyes became blurred. But the owl was very stubborn. He did not want to admit this shortcoming. He insisted on showing the donkey the way.

"Look out! "He cried." On your right is a pond!" There was no pond at all, but a canyon to the left. "To the left! Hey, more to the left! And to the left!" At last both the owl and the donkey rolled down the hill.

When others need our help, and within our ability, we should be active and enthusiastic to help them. But if it is beyond our reach, we should be practical, not opinionated.

猫头鹰和驴子

一只瞎眼的驴子迷了路。它本来是想周游世界的，可是现在它走到了这黑暗的森林里，算是走不出来了。别说是只瞎眼的驴子，就是一个眼睛明亮的人，也不见得能够走出这黑暗的森林。

驴子运气还不错，它碰到了一只住在附近的猫头鹰。猫头鹰给驴子指出了正确的方向。我们知道，猫头鹰生就一双奇妙的眼睛，它能在夜间看见所有的东西。在它眼里，黑夜就和白天一样明亮。黎明的时候，驴子和猫头鹰已经走到开阔的大路上来了。

怎么能和这样有用的向导分手呢？驴子请求猫头鹰永远不要离开它，它要和猫头鹰一同周游世界！猫头鹰沉思了一会儿，觉得驴子的这个主意还算不错。于是，猫头鹰就坐在驴子的背上，它们一起出发了。

它们真的周游世界了吗？没有。

当太阳照亮东方的大空时，猫头鹰的眼睛里就立刻变模糊了。但是猫头鹰是十分固执的，它不愿意承认自己的这个缺点，坚持要给驴子指路。

“注意啊！” 它嚷道，“你的右边是一个池塘！” 其实根本没有池塘，左边倒是一个峡谷。“往左!喂，再往左!还要往左！” 最后，猫头鹰和驴子都从山上滚下去了。

在他人需要我们的帮助时，并且在我们力所能及的范围内，我们应该积极、热心地去帮助他们。但如果超出了我们的能力范围，我们应该实事求是，而不是固执己见。