This is the story of Bear's tail. I've heard it told in Germany, and in North America by the Iroquois Indians.这是一个关于熊的尾巴的故事。在德国听到过，美国北部的易洛魁印第安人也给我讲过。
A long time ago, Bear had a beautiful, long, furry tail. He thought it was really cool. He laid it out behind him and people had to walk round it.很久很久以前，熊有着一条长长的、毛茸茸的、漂亮的尾巴。他觉得自己的尾巴非常的酷。他经常炫耀摇晃自己的尾巴，所以人们从他身旁经过时不得不绕行。
He asked everyone: "Don't you think my tail is the most beautiful tail you've ever seen?"他询问每一个人：“难道你不觉得我的尾巴是你见到过的最漂亮的吗？”
People thought Bear was very vain, but they were frightened of his big claws and didn't want to make him angry.So they told him he looked totally cool with his big, black, shiny tail.人们觉得熊太虚荣了，但是他们有害怕他那大大的熊掌不敢惹怒了他。所以人们说熊有这样一条大大的、黑黑的、有光泽的尾巴，看起来相当的酷。
One cold winter's day, Bear went lumbering down to the lake.Fox was sitting on the frozen water, surrounded by fish.在一个寒冷的冬天，熊来到了湖边。正好狐狸正在冰面上，四周散落着钓上来的许多鱼。
He knew that Bear was hungry, and decided to play a trick on him. "Hello brother Fox" said Bear, his mouth watering. "Where did you get all those fish?"狐狸知道熊饿极了，忽然想戏弄一下他。“你好狐狸兄弟”，熊边喊边流着口水，“你从那里弄来这么多条鱼啊？”
"I caught them" said Fox, pointing to a hole in the ice. "But you don't have anything to fish with" said Bear. “我自己抓的”，狐狸指着冰面上的一个小洞说到。“但是你没有任何钓鱼的工具啊”熊疑惑的问道。
"I used my tail" said Fox. Bear was totally blown away by this. "You used your Tail?" he shouted.“我用我的尾巴啊”“用你的尾巴？”熊不相信的大声喊道。
"Sure. It's the best thing for catching fish. Shall I show how?Then you'll always have as many fish as you want to eat."“当然啦。这是最好的钓鱼工具啊。不信我可以为你演示一下，以后你也你用这种方法，想吃多少就钓多少。”
"Yes please" said Bear in his deep, gruff voice. His mouth watered again. Fox pointed to the hole in the ice. "There's no fish left in there. Let's go to another part of the lake where there's more."“求求你了”熊用他那深厚的、粗野的嗓门哀求道。他的嘴里又一次流出了口水。狐狸指着这个小洞说：“这个洞里没有鱼了，我们找个鱼多的地方去吧！”
Trying not to laugh, Fox led Bear to a shallow part of the lake. Bear dug a hole in the ice with his claws. 狐狸努力憋着不让自己笑出来，他把熊带到湖中另一个地方。熊按照狐狸教他的，用它的爪子在冰面上大了个小洞。
"Now, sit with your back to the hole and drop your beautiful tail into the water," said Fox. “现在，你就转过身去把你那漂亮的尾巴放到洞里吧！”狐狸说到。
"You'll feel when a fish bites. Then you can pull your tail out with the fish on the end of it."当你感觉到鱼在要你的时候，你就把尾巴拉出来，那时候你就会看到紧紧咬着你尾巴尖的鱼了。”
Bear wanted the fish big time.He put his tail into the icy water."Now" said Fox, "this is important. You must sit very still and only think about fish. Pretend to count the fish you catch with your tail. The more you count, the more you will catch." 熊非常急切的想钓到鱼，于是把尾巴放到冰水里。“现在”狐狸说，“这是非常重要的，你必须保持不动专心的想这水里的鱼，装作在数你将要钓上来的鱼，数的数越多，你钓上来的就会越多。”
The Bear scratched himself with pleasure. "My tail will catch more fish than any other."“Sit still" said Fox. "I'll watch from those trees, so I don't scare the fish."熊非常高兴的抓着痒说：“我的尾巴会比任何人的尾巴钓上来的鱼都多”“坐下别动”狐狸说：“我会在那边的树丛里看着你，这样我就不会惊吓到这些鱼了。”
Bear sat very still and thought about fish jumping onto his tail. He counted each one. It was very tiring. He fell asleep.It became very cold and started to snow. Fox went back to his house, taking his fish with him.熊就这样坐到那里一动不动，一心只想着自己会钓上来许多许多鱼。数着数着，他累了，一会就睡着了。可是天变的越来越冷，已经开始下雪啦。狐狸回到自己的家里，和那些鱼儿谈论着熊。
A few hours later, Fox came back to the lake.Bear was still asleep and snoring. His black fur coat was white with snow.几个小时过去了，狐狸又来到湖中。看到熊还在那里打着鼾，睡得沉沉的。他那黑色的熊皮已经盖上了一层洁白的雪花。
Fox laughed so much he fell over on his back with his legs waving in the air. "This is such a cool trick" gasped Fox. Then he stopped laughing and quietly snuck up on Bear.看到这些狐狸是如此的高兴，躺到地上，四脚朝天，高兴的不得了。“这是一个多么寒冷的玩笑啊”狐狸气喘吁吁的说。狐狸停止了欢笑静静地走向熊。
He shouted "Bear! Bear! I can see a fish on your tail. Can you feel it?"Bear woke up with a fright and felt a sharp pain in his frozen tail. "I can feel it!" he shouted. He leaped up and his frozen tail snapped off. “熊、熊、快醒醒！鱼咬你的尾巴了，你没有感觉到吗？”熊被猛然惊醒，忽然感觉到尾巴传来一阵剧痛。“我感觉到了”熊大叫道，他猛地站起来，结果他那冰冻了的尾巴断掉了，永远的留在了冰里。
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