“That is the way of the foolish, ”replied the lor, “they will give up mubsp;that is certain for a little that is uain.”
Then he added, “And we, great monarbsp;are we not like the monkey in the tree? To gain so little we so much—exactly like the monkey with its pea.”
The King uood the rebuke and realized how very foolish he had been himlf to leave his kingdom unguarded. He issued orders to his men, and he and his army retur oo their try.
一天，國王得到消息，邊境地區有一群不法之徒正在造反。這個消息激怒了國王，他迅速召集軍隊，前往邊疆。國家防衛兵力頓時全無，也沒有了統治者。
長途行軍中，國王和他的軍隊晚上就地宿營。一個雨天，他們停在一片森林裏，在樹下避雨宿營。他們卸下馬鞍，蒸了些豌豆，放在狹長的飼料槽裏喂戰馬。
在附近樹上坐著的一隻猴子看到馬在進食，就從樹上跳下來，用爪子抓起兩大把豌豆，然後敏捷地爬上樹，坐下吃了起來。可就在它張開一隻爪子時，一粒豌豆掉在了地上。它毫不猶豫地跳下來，去找那顆掉落的豆子，而同時，它爪子中所有的豌豆都掉在了地上。
國王看著這隻愚蠢的猴子，覺得十分有趣，便轉頭問軍師：“朋友，你怎麼看這隻因小失大的猴子呢？”
“這種做事方式很愚蠢，”軍師回答道，“它們會為沒有把握的小利而放棄有把握的大利。”
接著，他又說道：“偉大的君主殿下，我們與樹上的這隻猴子又有什麼區別呢？為小利而舍大利——這與撿豌豆的猴子一樣啊。”
國王這才恍然大悟，他意識到讓國家後防空虛是多麼愚蠢啊。於是，他向軍隊下達命令，即刻班師回朝。
實戰提升
單詞注解
spar [spB:s] a． 稀疏的；稀少的
sleek [sli:k] a． 健壯的；養得好的
meadow [5medEu] n． 草地；牧場
“That is the way of the foolish, ”replied the lor, “they will give up mubsp;that is certain for a little that is uain.”
Then he added, “And we, great monarbsp;are we not like the monkey in the tree? To gain so little we so much—exactly like the monkey with its pea.”
The King uood the rebuke and realized how very foolish he had been himlf to leave his kingdom unguarded. He issued orders to his men, and he and his army retur oo their try.