A hungry lion sat watching a fat bull feeding in a field.

“If only bulls didnt have horns，” thought the lion greedily. “Then I could soon finish him off. As it is he could toss me over the moon.”

Then he had an idea. Sidling up to the bull he said in a friendly voice， “I was just admiring you， Mr Bull. I hope you dont mind. What a handsome head you have. What big， strong shoulders. What powerful legs and hooves. If I may say so， though， I dont see why you put up with those horns. They must have given you quite a headache and they do spoil your appearance， you know.”

“Do you think so？” Said the bull. “I never thought about it. But now you mentioned it they do rather get in the way. Did you say they spoil my appearance？ Hmm.”

The lion slunk away and hid behind a tree to watch. The bull waited until he was out of sight， then began to hit his head violently against a rock. First one horn splintered， then the other until soon the bulls head was smooth and bare.

“Aha， ” cried the lion， leaping out with a snarl. “Ive got you now. Thank you so much for getting rid of your horns. They were the only things that prevented me from attacking you before.”

Dont believe in flatterers.

一頭饥饿的狮子坐着看一头肥壮的公牛在地里吃草。

“要是公牛没有角就好了，”狮子馋涎欲滴地想，“那我就能很快把他吃掉。可他长了角，能把我扔到月球去。”

很快，狮子想了个主意。他侧着身子悄悄地走到公牛身旁，用友好的语气说：“我真羡慕你，公牛先生。希望你不要介意。你的头多么漂亮呀。你的肩多么宽阔和结实呀。你的腿和蹄多么有力量呀。不过，如果我可以这样说的话，我不明白你怎么受得了这两只角。这两只角一定叫你十分头痛，而且它们确实有损你的外貌，不是吗？”

“你认为是这样吗？”公牛说，“我从来没有想过这一点。不过，现在经你这么一提，这两只角确实显得碍事。你说它们有损我的外貌吗？哞。”

狮子溜走了，躲在树后面看着。公牛等到狮子看不见了，就开始把自己的脑袋往石头上猛撞。一只角先撞碎了，接着另一只角也碎了，公牛的头不久就变得平整光秃了。

“啊哈，”狮子大吼一声，跳出来咆哮着，“现在我可逮着你了。多谢你把两只角都撞掉了。我先前没有攻击你，仅仅是这两只角妨碍了我啊。”

不要听信奉承者的话。

Vocabulary

sidle  v. 羞怯地走;悄悄地走（sidling为其现在分词）

admire  v. 钦佩，羡慕;欣赏

hoof  n. （马等动物的）蹄（hooves为其复数）

appearance n. 外貌;外观;外表

violently  adv. 激烈地;暴力地;狂暴地

snarl  n. 龇牙低吼;咆哮（声）