小马过河 How a Colt Crossed the River

One day, a colt carried a bag of wheat to the mill.

一天， 老马让小马驮着半口袋麦子到磨坊去磨面。

As he was running with the bag on his back, he came to a small river. Water went gurgling on. The colt could not decide whether he could cross it. Looking around, he saw a cow grazing nearby. He asked, "Uncle Cow, could you tell me if I can cross the river?" the cow told him that he could and that the river was not very deep, just to his knees.

小马驮着口袋朝着磨坊跑去。忽然，一天小河挡住了去路，河水哗哗地流着。小马为难了，怎么办呢？它向四周望了望，看见一头老牛在河边吃草。小马问道：“牛伯伯，请您告诉我，这条河我能趟过去吗？”老牛说：“能。谁很浅，刚没小腿。”

The colt was crossing the river when a squirrel jumped down a tree and stopped him. The squirrel shouted, "Colt, stop! You'll be drowned! One of my friends was drowned yesterday just in the river." Not knowing what to do, the colt went home to consult his mom.

小马听了老牛的话，正准备过河，突然丛树上跳下一只松鼠，拦住它大叫道：“小马，别过河！河水会把你淹死的。昨天，我的一个伙伴就是掉到这条河里淹死的！”小马不知如何是好，决定回家问妈妈。

He told his mom his experience on the way. His mother said, "My child, don't always listen to others. You'd better go and try yourself. Then you'll know what to do."

小马把路上的经历告诉了妈妈。妈妈说：“孩子，光听别人说是不行的，你自己亲自去试一试，就知道答案了。”

Just at the river, the squirrel stopped the colt again. "Little horse, it's too dangerous!" "No, I want to have a try by myself", answered the colt. Then he crossed the river carefully. On the other side of the river, the colt realized that the river was neither as shallow as the cow said nor as as deep as the squirrel told him.

小马回到河边，刚要下水，松鼠又大叫起来：“小马，你不要命啦？”小马说：“让我试试吧。”它一面回答一面下了河，小心地趟了过去。原来河水既不像老牛说的那样浅也不像松鼠说的那样深。

The fable tells us a truth: real knowledge comes from practices.

这则寓言告诉我们:实践出真知。