12月｜伊索寓言中英文

TheFather and His Sons

A father had afamily of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failedto heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them apractical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he oneday told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. When they had done so, he placedthe faggot into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them tobreak it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, and were not able to doit. He next opened the faggot, took the sticks separately, one by one, andagain put them into his sons’ hands, upon which they broke them easily. He thenaddressed them in these words: "My sons, if you are of one mind, andunite   to assist each other, you will beas this faggot, uninjured by all the  attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, youwill be broken as easily as these sticks."    

父亲与争吵的儿子们

 有个父亲的儿子们常常互相争斗不休。他多次语重心长地劝说他们，尽管他苦口婆心， 仍无济于事。他认为应该用事实来教育他们，便叫儿子们去拿一捆木棒来。木棒拿来后，他 先把整捆木棒交给他们，叫他们折断。儿子们一个个竭尽了全力都无法将它折断。随后他解 开了那捆木棒，给他们每人一根。他们都毫不费力地将木棒折为两段。这时，父亲说：“孩 子们，你们要像木棒一样，团结一致，齐心协力，就不会被敌人征服；可你们互相争斗不 休，便很容易被敌人打垮。”

 这故事说明，团结就是不可征服的力量，而内讧却只能耗损自己。