The peasant and the apple-tree

　　A Peasant had an Apple-tree growing in his garden, which bore no fruit, but merely served to provide a shelter from the heat for the sparrows and grasshoppers which sat and chirped in its branches. Disappointed at its barrenness he determined to cut it sparrows and the grasshoppers saw what he was about to do, they begged him to spare it, www.xiaogushi8.com and said to him, “If you destroy the tree we shall have to seek shelter elsewhere, and you will no longer have our merry chirping to enliven your work in the garden.” He ,however, refused to listen to them, and set to work with a will to inside and contained a swarm of bees and a large store of honey. Delighted with his find he threw down his axe, saying, “The old tree is worth keeping after all.”

　　Utility is most men’s test of worth.

　　【譯文】

　　農(nóng)夫和蘋果樹

　　有一個(gè)農(nóng)夫，他的園子里有一棵蘋果樹，這棵樹并不茂盛，只能為麻雀和蟬提供一個(gè)可棲息的地方，讓他們坐在枝椏上歇息和喋喋不休地 。農(nóng)夫認(rèn)為這棵樹沒(méi)有什么大用處，決定把它砍掉，于是便拿起斧頭走過(guò)去砍起樹來(lái)。然而，那些蟬和麻雀看到農(nóng)夫的行為后，便請(qǐng)求農(nóng)夫留下這棵樹，并且對(duì)他說(shuō)：“如果你砍掉這棵樹，我們還得另外再找一個(gè)窩，而你也不會(huì)在園子里干活時(shí)聽到我們?yōu)槟愎膭诺臍g快歌聲了。”農(nóng)夫沒(méi)理睬他們，繼續(xù)拿起斧頭砍起這棵樹，幾斧下去之后，樹上出現(xiàn)一個(gè)洞，他發(fā)現(xiàn)樹洞里有蜂蜜和蜂巢。他高興地連忙拋下斧頭，說(shuō)：“這棵樹還真是值得保留下來(lái)。”

　　寓意：實(shí)用性是大多數(shù)人對(duì)價(jià)值的檢驗(yàn)。