THE FISHERMAN AND THE SPRAT

A Fisherman cast his net into the sea, and when he drew it up again it contained nothing but a single Sprat that begged to be put back into the water. “I'm only a little fish now,” it said, “but I shall grow big one day, and then if you come and catch me again I shall be of some use to you.” But the Fisherman replied, “Oh, no, I shall keep you now I've got you: if I put you back, should I ever see you again? Not likely!”

渔夫和小鲱鱼

有一个渔夫撒网到海里，拉上来的时候，发现网里面只有一条小鲱鱼，其余毫无所获。小鲱鱼乞求渔夫把它放回大海：“我现在只不过是条小鱼，但有一天我会长大的，等将来你要是再捉住了我，我就能派上些用场了。”但是渔夫回答：“哦，不，既然已经捞到了你，我还是留着你吧，要是放你回去，谁知道我还能不能再见到你！不太可能了！”