Ministry of Education, "Full-Time Compulsory Education Chinese Curriculum Standards" -- Selected Fables of Krylov

Author: Krylov
Translator: Hu Zhongwei
Country: Russia/Russia
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: A convoy of trucks, fully loaded with jars, is descending a steep hill. The owner drives the first truck ahead, while the rest wait at the top of the slope. To prevent the trucks from sliding, the docile old horse almost uses its sacrum to support the load as it goes down. But at the top of the slope, a young colt scolds the burdened old horse endlessly: "Strange, this is also a highly praised horse! It's like a crawling shrimp! Look, almost tripped on a stone; tilted! Slanted! Be braver! Look, the cart wobbled again; just a little to the left will do, you're so stupid! If it were going uphill or walking at night, that might be understandable, but it's downhill and broad daylight—this is ridiculous! If you don't have the skill, just carry water! Wait and see how we pull the cart! Don't worry, we won't waste a minute. We'll make the cart slide down like flying!" The colt arched its back and chest, ready to descend, but as soon as it started, the cart wobbled. The weight of the cart pressed forward, and the speed increased. The colt was tossed around, and it gave up, galloping forward with all four hooves. The heavy cart crushed stones, leaped over, swaying left and right, bouncing up and down, and finally with a loud crash, tumbled into the ravine, with all the jars destroyed! The colt's flaw can be found in many people: they always think others are doing poorly, yet when it's their turn, they do even worse. Eagles and moles should not dismiss anyone's advice without first considering whether it is reasonable.
An eagle and a female eagle flew from afar and settled deep in the dense forest. They chose a tall oak tree and planned to build a nest at the top to raise their young. A mole heard about it and, gathering courage, advised the male eagle that the roots of the oak tree were rotten and would collapse in the wind, so it was absolutely unsafe to build a nest there. The mole, a burrowing creature with short-sightedness, couldn't persuade the soaring eagle with its endless chatter! The eagle, disdainful of the mole's words, quickly built a new nest. Everything went smoothly, and soon they had offspring. But what happened next? One morning, the male eagle returned home with prey and suddenly saw the great oak tree had collapsed, crushing the female eagle and their chicks to death. Its eyes went black, and it sighed in pain: "How unlucky I am! Because of my arrogance, I ignored wise advice, and God has punished me so severely. But who would have thought that a small mole could offer such valuable advice?"
The mole in its burrow said, "If you hadn't despised me, you would have realized that I live underground near the tree roots, and I know better than you which tree is healthy."