Seven Lions and a Cow 七只狮子和一头牛

There were seven lions who were friends to a cow. One day, the lions invited the cow for a meal.They prepared lots of meat to share with the cow.However, the cow could not eat the meat but he remained quiet about it and thanked the lions for their hospitality.

Later, the cow invited the lions to be his guests. The seven lions saw big bundles of fresh grass when they reached the cow's house.They were very surprised.“Don't you have any meat?Are you going to serve us with grass only?Don't you know that we eat meat?”

The cow said nervously，“I think grass tastes better than meat. Try it and see.”

“When you were invited as our guest, we did not force you to take the meat，”the lions said，“and we did not ask you to try it. But here you are asking us to try eating the grass.If you were sincere about inviting us for a meal, you would prepare food in favor of the guests.Without meat to eat, how could it be a feast?”

“But where could I get meat?”the cow argued.

The lions said，“It is definitely discourteous！You invited us as your guests but starve us. If anyone else were to treat us like this, we would tear him into pieces.Since you are our friend, we will be kind to you and eat only one of your legs.”

The cow knew very well that he could not argue with them any more and he trembIed as he said，“That's very kind of you.”

The lions bit off one of the cow's legs and enjoyed eating it while he was left there bleeding to death.

Soon the lions said，“Since the cow is dead, we may as well finish him.”Thus they continued feasting on the cow.

A fox passed by and wanted to have a taste of the delicious meat too. So he sneaked in quietly and carried away the cow's heart.He hid himself behind a tree to enjoy his food.

When the seven lions had eaten up the whole cow, they asked among themselves，“Where is the cow's heart?Do you mean the cow has no heart at all?”

The fox came out from his hiding place and said，“You're wrong！He has a heart but no brain. Or else he would not be friends with you at all.”

七只狮子和一头牛做了朋友。有一天，狮子们邀请牛到它们家里来做客。狮子们准备了一大堆鲜肉，请牛一块儿吃。然而，牛虽然不吃肉，但它尽力不让狮子看出来，还不断地向狮子道谢，多谢它们的款待。

后来轮到牛请狮子了。当七只狮子到牛家时发现在它们面前只有一大堆新鲜的草。狮子们非常惊讶。“你没有准备肉吗？你不是真的要请我们吃草吧？你忘了我们是食肉动物吗？”

牛紧张地说：“依我看来，草比肉好吃得多。你们尝尝看。”

“我们请客时，可没有一定要你吃肉，”狮子们说，“我们没有对你说‘你尝尝’，可你却要我们尝试吃草。要是你真想请客，就应该预备好客人喜爱吃的东西。没有肉，算什么宴会啊？”

“但是叫我到哪儿去找肉呢？”牛生气地说。

狮子说：“这真是极端的无礼！请我们来做客，结果却叫我们挨饿。要是别人像你这样做的话，我们早就把它撕成碎片了。可你是我们的朋友，所以我们对你特别宽厚，只吃你的一条腿算了。”

牛知道跟它们争论是没有用的，只得浑身颤抖地说：“你们待我真好。”

狮子便咬下可怜的牛的一条腿，开始吃起来。牛因为流血过多，死了。

于是狮子说：“反正这只牛已经死了，我们就把它的身体全吃光吧！”于是，它们就继续大口吃起来。

有一只狐狸正好路过，它也想尝尝美味的牛肉。于是趁狮子没注意，悄悄地上前叼走了牛的心，躲到树后吃去了。

七只狮子把牛吃得连骨头也没剩下，它们互相问道：“这头牛的心在哪儿？难道它根本没有心吗？”

这时候狐狸从躲藏的地方走了出来，说：“你们错了，它有心却没有大脑。不然的话，它也不会跟你们做朋友。