隽永英文小故事36 (20份打包)

Elephants and Hares Deep in the jungle, there lived a big group of elephants. The elephants lived in a certain place beside a pond, and did not require venturing out.  There came a time, when the pond started drying up due to lack of rain for a few years.  Some of the elephants met the king of the elephants, and said, "Your Majesty! We do not have any more water. Some of our little ones are on the verge of death. We must find some other place which has abundant water."  After thinking a while, the elephant king said, "I remember knowing a place where there is a very big lake. It must still be full of water. Let us go there."  Next morning they started to march. After travelling for five days and five nights, the elephants finally reached the place. There was indeed a big lake, full of water.  There were innumerable holes in the soft earth around the lake, in which a group of hares lived.  When the elephants saw so much water in the lake, they rejoiced, and started jumping into the water without a care in the world.  All this sudden commotion caused the holes to be destroyed. Many hares were trampled under the elephants. While many died, many others were seriously injured. But the hares could do nothing to stop this misery, and those who ran away could save themselves.  When the elephants left in the evening, the hares that had run away started returning. They assembled in sorrow, "Oh dear! Because of scarcity of water everywhere else, the elephants will come here every day. We must think of something, or more of us will get trampled tomorrow. What can we do against the mighty elephants? We must leave this place to survive."  One of the hares disagreed, "Friends! This is our ancestral home. If we can frighten the elephants off, they will not return. I can think of a way to frighten them away. We may be only small hares, but we are capable of executing my plan."  As planned, a hare sat on a hillock which was on the path of the elephants.