故事强调情节的生动性和连贯性，较适于口头讲述。也适合用于记载在书中。下面是小编为大家精心整理的文章，希望能够帮助到大家。

　　>螳螂捕蝉

　　Once, the King of the State of Wu wanted to invade the State of Chu.

　　The King of Wu warned his ministers: "If anyone should dare to dissuade1 me from invading Chu again, I will put him to death."

　　One young hanger-on of his wanted to dissuade him but didn't dare. He carried a slingshot, and for three consecutive2 days paced up and down in the King's back garden. The dew wetted his clothes all through.

　　One day, the King of Wu called him: "The dew has wetted your clothes to such a state. Why should you bear such hardship?"

　　The young man replied: "There is a cicada on a tree in this garden. The cicada is high above, chirping3 leisurely4 and taking in the dew freely, not knowing that a mantis5 is right behind it. The mantis, pressing its body close in a concealed6 place, is intent on catching7 the cicada, not knowing that a siskin is hiding right behind it. The siskin is stretching out its neck to peck at the mantis, not knowing that a man carrying a slingshot is under it. These three small creatures make every effort only to get the benefit before them but ignore entirely8 the disaster behind."

　　Having heard the young man's words, the King of Wu suddenly saw the light and said: "What you said is right!"

　　Consequently, the King of Wu dropped his plan to invade the State of Chu.

　　一次，吴王要进攻楚国。

　　吴王警告他的大臣们说：“有谁再敢来劝阻我进攻楚国，我就处死他。”

　　吴王的门客中有一个年青人，想去劝阻但又不敢。他怀里揣着弹弓，一连三个早晨在吴工的后花园里徘徊，露水湿透了他的衣服。

　　一天，吴王叫住他：“露水把你的衣服湿成这个样子，你何必吃这个苦呢?”

　　年青人回答说：“这个园子里，有一棵树，树上有一只蝉。蝉高高在上，悠闲地叫着，自由自在地吸着露水，却不知道有一只蝗螂在它身后呢!蝗螂把身子紧紧地贴在隐蔽的地方，只想去捕蝉，却不知道有一只黄雀早已躲在它的身后呢!黄雀正伸长了脖子想去啄蝗螂，却不知道在它下面正有人拿着弹弓呢!这三只小生物，只是力求得到它们眼前的利益，却全不管它们身后隐伏着祸患啊!”

　　吴王听了年青人的话后，恍然大悟说：“你说得好啊!”

　　于是，吴王就不再进攻楚国了。

　　>买犊还珠

　　In the past, a man of the State of Chu intended to go to the State of Zheng to sell pearls.

　　First he used rare lily magnolia to make a small exquisite1 case which he fumigated2 with the delicate fragrance3 of osmanthuses and Chinese prickly ashes. Furthermore, the case was inlaid with emerald-green jadeite, and adorned5 with attractive rosy6 jade4. The whole case was decorated in an extremely exquisite way.

　　A man of the State of Zheng saw this exquisite case and liked it very much. He bought it with a great deal of money, but he returned the pearl in the case to the man of Chu.

　　Later, people ridiculed7 the man of Chu by saying that he was good at selling cases, but not good at selling pearls.

　　To go too far in the pursuit of form just like letting a presumptuous8 guest usurp9 the host's role, which brings about opposite results.

　　从前，有个楚国人准备到郑国卖珍珠。

　　他先用名贵的木兰做了一只精巧的小匣子，又用幽香的牡桂和花椒把匣子熏了一下，并且在匣子上面镶了碧绿的翡翠，还嵌上引人注目的玫瑰石，整个匣子装演得十分考究。

　　有个郑国人看到这只精美的匣子，非常喜欢，就用重金买了下来。但是，他却把匣子里的珍珠退还给了那个楚国人。

　　后来，人们都嘲笑这个楚国人，说他很善于卖匣子，却不善于卖珍珠。

　　过分追求形式，反而会喧宾夺主，效果适得其反。

　　>叶公好龙

　　Ye Gong was well-known for his fondness for dragons: In the house where he lived, dragons were painted on the walls and carved on the pillars and the four walls of his bedroom. There were dragons everywhere, up and down, front and back, with each dragon baring its teeth and brandishing1 its claws.

　　In the heavens there was a real dragon. It was very happy to hear that Ye Gong was so fond of dragons.

　　One day, the sky suddenly darkened, and then came wind, thunder and rain. The real dragon flew to Ye Gong's home. It poked2 its head into the window in the south and coiled its tail to the window in the north, rocking and rattling3 the whole house.

　　At the sight of this real dragon, Ye Gong was frightened out of his wits. He trembled all over and hurriedly hid himself.

　　So it turned out that what Ye Gong liked was painted and carved fake dragons but not real ones.

　　叶公喜欢龙，已经出了名了。他住的屋子里，墙上画着龙，柱子上雕着龙，卧室四面的墙壁上也刻着龙，上上下下，前前后后，到处都是龙，一条条张牙舞爪。

　　天上有一条真的龙，听说叶公这样喜欢龙，高兴极了。

　　有一天，天空突然暗了下来，又是刮风，又是打雷，又是下雨，真龙飞到了叶公的家里。它把头伸进了南面的窗口，把尾巴绕到了北面的窗口，把整个屋子摇得格格直响。

　　叶公看到这条真龙，一下子吓得魂飞魄散，浑身发抖，急忙躲了起来。

　　原来，叶公喜欢的只是那些画着、雕着的假龙，而不是真龙!