忘乎所以

The gorillas² in the valleys in the south often lived together in groups of several tens. They were fond of drinking wine, and even fonder of imitating man's behavior.

 

People knew very well their habits and often put wine or distiller's grains on the roadside together with many straw sandals connected together with ropes.

 

The gorillas knew this was a trick to lure³ them into traps and cursed:"Humph! Do you think we don't know your tricks? We'll never be taken in!"

 

So they called one another, turned round and left.

 

But they had already smelled the aroma⁴ of the wine, and couldn't bear to part with it. Even after they left, they would turn their heads to look back. When they saw no one there, they would turn back; and after they turned back, they were afraid of being deceived, and left again. After much hesitation⁵, they finally said to themselves: "Just for a taste of the wine. It won't matter as long as we don't get drunk."

 

Shortly afterwards, they agreed to come back to drink the wine. When they got drunk, they forgot everything. Every gorilla¹ put on the straw sandals and imitated the way man walks.

 

As a result, they fell down one after another and were all caught alive by people.

 

南方山谷里的猩猩，常常数十成群地生活在一起。它们喜欢喝酒，更喜欢模仿人的行为。

 

人们掌握了它们的习性，经常把酒或酒糟放在路边，旁边又放着许多草鞋，草鞋用绳索连接起来。

 

猩猩知道这是人们引诱它们上当，便破口大骂：“哼！你们以为我们不知道吗？我们决不上你们的当！”

 

于是，互相招呼，回头就走。

 

但是，它们已经闻到了酒香，总有点恋恋不舍，就是走了，也要回过头来望望。回头望不见人，便又转过来;转过来了又怕上当，再返身回去。犹豫了好久，它们最后自言自语地说：“去尝尝味道，不喝醉就不碍事。”

 

不一会儿，大家同意了，都回来喝酒。等到喝醉的时候，它们一切都忘记了，一个个穿上草鞋，学着人走路。

 

结果，一个个都跌倒了，统统被人活捉。

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