24 The Mole and His Mother 鼹鼠和它的妈妈　　A young mole once boasted to his mother that he could see.

Now the mother knew very well that all moles are blind: they live in dark underground burrows and do not need to see where they are going.

She decided to find out whether the young mole was lying and she prepared a test.

She laid a lump of sweet-smelling soap in front of him.

　　一次，小鼹鼠向妈妈吹嘘说它能看见东西。

妈妈心里很明白，鼹鼠都是看不见的：它们生活在黑暗的地洞里，不需要看见要去往哪里。

它决定弄清楚小鼹鼠是否在撒谎，于是准备试一试。

它把一块香皂放在小鼹鼠面前。

　　Now, what do you see?

”she asked.

　　看见什么了?

”妈妈问。

　　The young mole touched the hard soap gently with his nose.

　　小鼹鼠用鼻子轻轻地碰了碰坚硬的香皂。

　　A stone, mother,”he said.

　　是石头，妈妈。

”它回答道。

　　The mother laughed.

　　妈妈笑了。

　　You are not only blind like the rest of us,”she said,but you have no sense of smell either.

If you had not boasted about being able to see I would never have found out about that.

”　　你不但和其他同类一样看不见，”它说，甚至连嗅觉也没有。

如果不是你吹嘘能看见东西，我永远也不会发现这一点。

”　　单词注解　　oyster ['ɔistə] n.

牡蛎　　stall [stɔ:l] n.

摊;棚　　underground ['ʌndəɡraund] a.

地下的;地面下的　　burrow ['bʌrəu, 'bə:rəu] n.

洞穴　　实用句型　　We can look after each other whenever the fisherman's net comes along.

　　当渔夫的渔网罩过来的时候，我们就可以互相帮助了。

　　He looked for the fish but it was no longer around.

　　它找鱼，鱼却不在它旁边。

　　If you had not boasted about being able to see I would never have found out about that.

　　如果不是你吹嘘能看见东西，我永远也不会发现这一点。

　　智慧点津　　Humility often gains more than pride.

　　谦逊常比傲慢受益更多。

　　Don't tell lies.

You' ll only get caught out.

　　不要撒谎。

撒了谎终究会被发现的。

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