The bear and the travelers / หมีกับคนเดินทาง

The bear and the travellers

      Two men were travelling together when one of them saw a bear suddenly charging towards them.
      Without warning his friend, he quickly climbed up a tree and hid himself in the branches.
      The other, realising the danger too late, fell flat on the ground and pretended to be dead as well as he could.
The bear came up and prodded him with his snout, sniffing him all over.
      The man held his breath and soon the bear ambled away for it is said that they will not touch a dead body.
      When the other man was quite sure that the animal had gone, he climbed down from the tree and walking over to his friend, asked him :"Tell me, what did the bear whisper in your ear, my friend?"
      "Well, he gave me this advice : never travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger."

The Moral : MISFORTUNE TESTS THE SINCERITY OF FRIENDS

Vocabulary
charging (n. vt. vi.)          โจมตี ตะลุมบอน
prodded (n. vt.)               แยง กระทุ้ง ไม้กระุทุ้ง
snout (n.)                        จมูกสัตว์ ปลายกระบอกฉีด นอแรด
sniffing (n. vt. vi.)            ดม สูดกลิ่น
ambled (vt. n.)                เดินทอดน่อง เดินตามสบาย
approach (n. vt. vi.)         ใกล้จะึถึง ใกล้เข้ามาทุกที

The jackdaw and the doves / กากับนกเขา

The jackdaw and the doves

A jackdaw, seeing some doves in a cote abundantly provided with food, painted himself white and joined them. In this way he hoped that he might share their plentiful provisions.
As long as he was silent, the doves supposing him to be one of themselves, admitted him to their cote.
But when one day he began to chat, they discovered his true character and drove him out,
pecking him with their beaks,
Failing to obtain food among the doves, he returned again to his own kind.
But the jackdaws too, not recognising him because of his color, angrily drove him because of his color, angrily drove him away.
By desiring two objects, he obtained neither.

Vacabulary
jackdaw (n.)                  กา
doves (n.)                     นกเขา
abundantly (adv.)          มากมาย อุดมสมบูรณ์
plentiful (adj.)               มากมาย อุดมสมบูรณ์
admitted (vt. vi.)           ยอมรับได้ ฟังได้ ฟังขึ้น
chat (vi. n.)                   คุยกัน สนทนากัน
angrily (adv.)                โกรธ ฉุนเฉียว

The goose and the golden eggs / ห่านกับไข่ทองคำ

The goose and the golden eggs

A cottager and his wife had a goose that every day laid a golden egg.

They decided that the goose must contain a great lump of gold inside, and they killed it in order to lay their hands on the treasure.

To their surprise and annoyance, however, they found that the goose differed in no way from their other geese.

There was no gold.

The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at once, had deprived themselves of the gain of which they were day by day assured.

Vocabulary

cottager (n.)              คนอาศัยกระท่อม ชาวกระท่อม

laid (vt. vi.)               วาง ออกไข่

treasure (n. vt.)         ของมีค่า ทรัพย์สมบัติ สะสม

annoyance (n.)          การรังแก การกลั่นแกล้ง

geese (pl. n.)            ห่านหลายตัว

assured (vt.)             แน่นอน ทำให้แน่ใจ

The fox and the goat / สุนัขจิ้งจอกกับแพะ

The fox and the goat

A fox fell into a deep well and could find no means of escape.
A goat, overcome by thirst, came to the same well and seeing the fox, inquired if the water was good.
The fox, concealing his misfortune under a cheerful smile, began to hold forth on the excellence of the water, saying that it was the most delicious he had ever drunk, and that the goat must come down and taste it.
The goat, mindful only of his thirst, thoughtlessly jumped down.
When he had quenched his thirst, the fox told him of the difficulty they were both in, and suggested a scheme for their escape, "if" said he."you will place your forefeet upon the wall and bend your head, I will run up your back and escape, and will help you out afterward.
"The goat thought this was a fine plan and readily agreed. The goat thought this was a fine plan and readily agreed. The fox leapt upon his back, and steadying himself with the goat's horns, reached the mouth of the well in safety.
Then he immediately made off as last as he could. The goat cried out to him to stop and fulfill his part of the bargain, but the fox turned around and replied.
"You foolish old fellow! if you had as many brains in your head as you have hair in your beard, you would never have gone down before you had inspected the way up, or have exposed yourself to dangers from which you had no means of escape."

The Moral : LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP