A clam¹ swam to the bank and opened its shell in the sun.

一天，河里的蚌游到岸边，把蚌壳张开晒太阳。

 

A snipe flew over and saw a piece of red meat on the ground, so it dived to the ground and pecked² at the clam. Before the snipe drew back its beak³, it was gripped tightly⁴ inside because the clam suddenly felt a sharp pain and closed its shell quickly. The snipe shook its head violently to cast off the clam, but it failed no matter how hard it tried.

这时候鹬飞过，看到一块鲜美的肉在地上，就想吃到嘴里。鹬用嘴一啄，蚌突然感到一阵疼痛，英语小故事立即把蚌壳合了起来。鹬的长嘴就被夹住了。鹬想把蚌甩掉，就拼命的用力甩头，可是蚌夹的非常紧，鹬怎么也甩不掉。

 

The snipe said angrily, "Listen, you clam, it's not going to rain today, neither will it tomorrow. Then you'll die from thirst. So quick! Let me off!"

鹬生气地说：“蚌你听着，今天不下雨，明天也不下雨，就把你渴死了，你还不快松开！”

 

The clam was angry too. "You listen, I won't let you off today, and I won't let you off tomorrow, either. Then you'll die of hunger. Do you still dare to eat me?"

蚌也着急地说：“鹬你听着，今天我不放开你，明天不放开你，就会把你饿死。你还敢吃我吗？”

 

The snipe and clam were locked in fight and quarreled, and neither of them liked to give in first.  Just at that moment, an old fisherman came. He picked them up and took them home for dinner.

鹬和蚌互不相让。这时候来了个打鱼的老人，看到缠在一起的鹬和蚌，就把它们一起抓走了。

 

The story tells us that the third party will have an advantage fall into his lap when the other two parties are locked in combat⁵ for their own personal interests.

这个故事是说，为了私利，各不相让，会导致两败俱伤，反而会让第三者坐收渔利。

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