Belling the Cat 给猫系铃铛

All the mice met together in a council¹ against a fierce² cat. "We cannot live because of the cat. There must be some ideas to get rid of it." "Please tell us your ideas."

所有的老鼠聚在一起商量着如何对付凶猛的猫。“只要那只猫在，我们就难以生存。一定有什么办法可以制住它。”“说说你的想法吧。”

 

But despite the enthusiastic discussion³, they were unable to come up with a good idea. The oldest mouse advised the other mice, "It would be nice if someone let us know when the cat is coming." Having no good ideas, they were just studying each other's facial⁴ expressions.

虽然讨论很激烈，但是仍然没人想出好主意。最老的老鼠建议说，“要是猫靠近的时候有人告诉我们就好了。”没有任何好办法，老鼠们面面相觑。

 

At that time, the youngest mouse confidently said, "If we tie a bell around the cat's neck, we will know when the cat is approaching so we can run away." Everyone agreed to the young mouse's opinion.

就在这时，一只小老鼠满怀信心地说：“如果我们在猫脖子上系个铃铛，就知道猫什么时候来了，这样我们就可以逃跑了。”老鼠们都同意这个好主意。

 

Then, the leader mouse replied, "That is a good idea. If we tie a bell to the cat, we will be able to run away in advance. But, who is going to tie a bell to the cat?"

然后领头的老鼠说：“这倒是一个好主意。如果把铃铛系在猫身上，我们就可以提前逃命了。但是，谁敢给猫系铃铛呢？”

 

After hearing the leader, all the mice became quiet. No one wanted to tie a bell to the cat. The young mouse that offered the idea slowly read the others' faces and left the meeting.

领头的老鼠说完，所有的老鼠都不说话了。没人敢把铃铛系在猫脖子上。提出这个主意的那只小老鼠看到别人的表情，悄悄地离开了。

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