幽默的英语儿童的小故事

有时候我们多多看看英语的小故事，也是很有趣的，下面小编就给大家整理了英语的小故事，要好好啊学习一下哦

　　The Frog and the Ox

"Oh Father," said a little Frog to the big one sitting by the side of a pool, "I have seen such a terrible monster!

It was as big as a mountain, with horns on its head, and a long tail, and it

had hoofs divided in two."

"Tush, child, tush," said the old Frog, "that was only Farmer White's Ox.

It isn't so big either; he may be a little bit taller than I, but I could easily make myself quite as broad; just you see."

So he blew himself out, and blew himself out, and blew

himself out.

"Was he as big as that?" asked he.

"Oh, much bigger than that," said the young Frog.

Again the old one blew himself out, and asked the young one if

the Ox was as big as that.

"Bigger, father, bigger," was the reply.

So the Frog took a deep breath, and blew and blew and blew,

and swelled and swelled and swelled.

And then he said: "I'm sure

the Ox is not as big as But at this moment he burst.

Self-conceit may lead to self-destruction.

　　退避三舍

春秋时候，晋献公听信谗言，杀了太子申生，又派人捉拿申生的弟弟重耳。重耳闻讯，逃出了晋国，在外流忘十几年。

经过千幸万苦,重耳来到楚国。楚成王认为重耳日后必有大作为，就以国群之礼相迎，待他如上宾。

一天，楚王设宴招待重耳，两人饮洒叙话，气氛十分融洽。忽然楚王问重耳：“你若有一天回晋国当上国君，该怎么报答我呢?”重耳略一思索说：“美女待从、珍宝丝绸，大王您有的是，珍禽羽毛，象牙兽皮，更是楚地的盛产，晋国哪有什么珍奇物品献给大王呢?”楚王说：“公子过谦了。话虽然这么说，可总该对我有所表示吧?”重耳笑笑回答道：“要是托您的福。果真能回国当政的话，我愿与贵国友好。假如有一天，晋楚国之间发生战争，我一定命令军队先退避三舍(一舍等于三十里)，如果还不能得到您的原谅，我再与您交战。”

四年后，重耳真的回到晋国当了国君，就是历有名的晋文公。晋国在他的治理下日益强大。

公元前633年，楚国和晋国的军队在作战时相遇。晋文公为了实现他许下的诺言，下令军队后退九十里，驻扎在城濮。楚军见晋军后退，以为对方害怕了，马上追击。晋军利用楚军骄傲轻敌的弱点，集中兵力，大破楚军，取得了城濮之战的胜利。

故事出自《左传·僖公二十二年》。成语“退避三舍”比喻不与人相争或主动让步。

retreating about thirty miles as condition for peace

during the spring and autumn period (770-476 b.c.), duke xian of the state of jin killed the crown prince sheng because he had heard slanders about sheng and believed them. he also sent his men to arrest chong er, shen sheng and believed them. he also sent his men to arrest chonh er, shen sheng's brother. hearing the news, chong er escaped from the state of jin, remaining a fugitive for more than ten years.

after innumerable hardships, chong er arrived at the state of chu at last. king cheng of the state of chu treated him with high respect as he would have treated the ruler of a state, believing that he would have a vright fuure.

one day, king cheng of the state of chu gave a banquet in honoudr of chong er. suddenly, amid the harmonious atmosphere of drinking and talking, king cheng of the state of chu asked chong er. "how will you repay me when you return to the state of jin and become its ruler one day?" after thinking for a moment, chong er said, "you have plenty of beauties and attendants as well as jewelry and silk cloth, and the state of chu abounds in rare brides and animals. what treasure can the state of jin boast having to present to your majesty?" king cheng of the state of chu said, "you are too modest. nevertheless, you still have to show your gratitude to me in one way or another, i presume?" smiling, chong er answered, "if i should be fortunate enouge to return to the state of jin and become its ruler, the state of jin would be friendly to the state of chu. if, one day, there should be a war between the two states, i would definitely order my troops to retreat three she (one she is equivalent to thirty li. the li is a chinese unit of length equivalent to 1/2 kilometre. and, therefore, three she is about thirty miles.) as a condition for peace. if, under that condition, you were still not reconciled, i would have to fight with you."

four years later, as might be expected, chong er returned to the state of jin and became its ruler. he was none other than duke wen of the state of jin famous in ancient chinese history. ruled by him, the state of jin became increasingly powerful.

in the year 533 b.c., the chu troops and the jin troops confronted each other in a battle. faithful to his promise, duke wen of the state of jin ordered his troops to retreat about thirty miles. after retreating, the jin troops were stationed at chengpu. seeing that the jin troops were retreating, the chu troops thought that the enemy troops were afraid, and began chasing them. taking advantage of the chu troops' arrogance and their talking the jin troops lightly, the jin troops concentrated their forces and inflicted a crushing defeat on the chu troops, thus winning the victory of the battle of chengpu.

this set phrase, "retreating about thirty miles as a condition for peace," is derived from the chapter "the twenty-second year of duke xi" in zuozhuan, the famous commentary by zuo qiuming on the spring and autumn annals. the idea of this set phrase is to give way to somebody in order to avoid a conflict.

草木皆兵

东晋时代，秦王苻坚控制了北部中国。公元383年，苻坚率领步兵、骑兵90万，攻打江南的晋朝。晋军大将谢石、谢玄领兵8万前去抵抗。苻坚得知晋军兵力不足，就想以多胜少，抓住机会，迅速出击。

谁料，苻坚的先锋部队25万在寿春一带被晋军出奇击败，损失惨重，大将被杀，士兵死伤万余。秦军的锐气大挫，军心动摇，士兵惊恐万状，纷纷逃跑。此时，苻坚在寿春城上望见晋军队伍严整，士气高昂，再北望八公山，只见山上一草一木都像晋军的士兵一样。苻坚回过头对弟弟说：“这是多么强大的敌人啊!怎么能说晋军兵力不足呢?”他后悔自己过于轻敌了。

出师不利给苻坚心头蒙上了不祥的阴影，他令部队靠淝水北岸布阵，企图凭借地理优势扭转战局。这时晋军将领谢玄提出要求，要秦军稍往后退，让出一点地方，以便渡河作战。苻坚暗笑晋军将领不懂作战常识，想利用晋军忙于渡河难于作战之机，给它来个突然袭击，于是欣然接受了晋军的请求。

谁知，后退的军令一下，秦军如潮水一般溃不成军，而晋军则趁势渡河追击，把秦军杀得丢盔弃甲，尸横遍地。苻坚中箭而逃。

故事出自《晋书·苻坚·载记》。成语“草木皆兵”，形容神经过敏、疑神疑鬼的惊恐心理。

every bush and tree looks like an enemy

during the eastern jin dynasty, fu jian, king of the state of qin, controlled northern china. in the year383, fu jian led 900,000 infantry and cavalry troops to assault the state of jin which was south of the yangtze river. xie shi and xie xuan, senior generals of the jin army, led 80,000 troops to offer resistance. knowing that the jin army was short of men, fu jian wanted to seize this opportunity of being much more numerous in armed forces to stage a quick attack.

unexpectedly, the van of fu jian's army of 250,000 troops was defeated in the shouchun area by an ingenious military move of the jin army and suffered heavy losses. the senior general of the van of fu jian's army was killed, and there were heavy casualties of more than 10,000 soldiers. fu jian's army was dispirited and its morale was shaken. many soldiers were in such a great panic that they waited for opportunities to run away. standing on the city wall of the shouchun city, fu jian and his brother fu rong saw that the ranks of the jin army were in good order and that the morale of the jin army was high. turning to his brother, fu jian said, "what a powerful enemy this is! why did people say that the jin army was short of men?" he deeply regretted that he had taken the enemy too lightly.

overshadowed by the disastrous defeat, fu jian ordered his troops to be deployed in battle formation on the north side of the feishui river, in an attempt to regain the initiative by relying on the superior geographical conditions. then xie shi and xie xuan, the senior generals of the jin army, suggested that fu jian's army retreat a little bit, leaving some space, so that the jin army could cross the river to conduct ooperations. fu jian thought that his chance had come, believing that the senior generals of the jin army did not have the elementary knowledge of warfare. it was his plan to stage a sudden attack while the troops of the jin army was busy crossing the river, and he was sure that his plan would word. so he willingly accepted the suggestion of the jin army.

unexpectedly, the moment the order to retreat was given, fu jian's troops were utterly routed and could by no means be controlled. taking advantage of this favorable situation, the jin army crossed the river, pursuing and attacking the enemy. the trooops of fu jian's army threw away everything in headlong flight, and the field was littered with the corpses of the soldiers of fu jian's army. fu rong was killed in the tangled fighting, and fu jian was hit by an arrow and ran away. the jin army won a brilliant victory by defeating a big army with its limited armed forces.

this story comes from "the life of fu jian" in the volume "records" of the history of the jin dynasty. the set phrase "every bush and tree looks like an enemy" is subsequently used to refer to a state of extreme nervousness.