The Greedy Lion
故事全文
One day, a lion woke from his afternoon nap. He came out of his cave, looked around and said, “I am a little hungry, it is time to look for my dinner!”
Once he entered the woods, he saw a rabbit nibbling grass under a tree. The lion said happily, “Rabbit meat tastes tender and sweet, and would make a fine dinner!”But just as he prepared to chase after the rabbit, he spotted a deer running about on a nearby hillside. The lion thought to himself, “Though rabbit meat tastes sweet, there isn’t as much meat on a rabbit compared to a deer.”And so, the lion turned and started to chase after the deer instead.
When the deer saw the lion running toward him, he began to run for his dear life. The lion ran after the deer as fast as he could. But just as he was about to catch the deer, the lion saw a huge goat drinking water by the stream. The lion thought, “Venison tastes dry and stringy, but mutton is juicy and aromatic. It would be a shame not to eat the goat!”And so, the lion turned and started running toward the stream. The goat who was drinking water heard footsteps behind him. When he turned around and saw the lion running toward him, he immediately jumped across the stream, and fled into the valley.
The lion decided to go into the valley in search of the goat. As he looked around, he saw that there was a grassy plain far away with a zebra grazing on it. The lion thought, “If I cannot find the goat, zebra meat is fine too. Zebras are firm and plump, and can keep me well fed for two days. Hunting the zebra is more worth the effort.”And so, the lion ran as fast as he could toward the zebra. But the zebra saw him coming from a long distance away, and fled into the woods. Not only didn’t the lion catch anything, all the running also made him so hungry and weak. He had no choice but to head home. Along the way home, the hungry lion thought, “I don’t mind settling for mutton or venison, or a tiny rabbit!”However, all the animals had fled long ago.
The greedy and picky lion had spent an entire afternoon running about, but ended up catching nothing. He could only go back to his cave, and sleep on an empty stomach.
