The Cat and the Fish
猫和鱼
Early in the morning, Mrs Zhang came back from the market with a big fish in one hand and a basket of vegetables in the other. She felt very happy because she could have a nice dinner both for the cat and herself. At that time Mrs Zhang's cat was looking at her from the window.
Mrs Zhang went into the kitchen, put the fish in a basin and began to wash the vegetables. While she was making preparations for the dinner the cat couldn't wait. It stepped into the kitchen and took the fish away. Mrs Zhang found the cat under the bed, eating the fish.
Dinner was ready but on the dinner table there was no fish. Mrs Zhang said to the cat, “There is no fish here.”
注释：
1）with a big fish in one hand 一手拿着一条鱼
2）in the other 另一只手
3）look at her from the window 从窗口看着她
4）make preparations for 为……作准备
Once upon a time, there lived a mischievous cat by the riverside. Every day, the cat would sit by the edge of the water, watching the fish swim gracefully in the river.
从前，有一只调皮的猫住在河边。每天，猫都会坐在水边，看着鱼在河里优雅地游动。
The cat longed to catch one of those fish and have a delicious meal. However, being a cat, it couldn't swim like the fish.
猫渴望捕捉其中一条鱼，然后享用一顿美味的大餐。然而，作为一只猫，它无法像鱼那样游泳。
One day, the cat came up with a cunning plan. It thought of pretending to befriend the fish and gain their trust.
一天，猫想出了一个狡猾的计划。它想要假装和鱼成为朋友，并获得它们的信任。
So, the cat started complimenting the fish on their beautiful scales and graceful movements. Day by day, it would engage them in friendly conversations.
于是，猫开始夸奖鱼们美丽的鳞片和优美的动作。日复一日，它会和鱼们进行友好的交谈。
The fish, being naive, soon began to trust the cat and would swim closer to the shore to chat with it.
由于鱼们天真，很快就开始相信猫，并游到岸边和它聊天。
One day, the cat invited the fish to come closer, promising to show them a special trick. Excitedly, the fish swam towards the cat, unaware of its hidden intentions.
一天，猫邀请鱼靠近，承诺向它们展示一种特别的技巧。兴奋地，鱼游向猫，却没有意识到它隐藏的意图。
As soon as the fish were within reach, the cat made a swift move and tried to catch them with its claws.
一旦鱼靠近，猫就迅速行动，试图用爪子抓住它们。
But the clever fish sensed danger and darted away just in time, escaping the clutches of the cat.
但聪明的鱼察觉到了危险，及时闪开，躲过了猫的魔爪。
From that day on, the fish became more cautious and never trusted the cat again. And the cat, realizing that its trickery had failed, gave up on trying to catch the fish and went back to its usual mischief by the riverside.
从那天起，鱼变得更加谨慎，再也不相信猫了。而猫意识到它的诡计失败了，放弃了捕捉鱼的想法，回到了河边惯常的调皮行为。
The moral of the story is that one should always be cautious of those who pretend to befriend us for their own selfish motives.
故事的寓意是，我们应该时刻警惕那些假装与我们交朋友，却有自私动机的人。