A group of frogs were travelling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.
Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging the entire time.
一群青蛙在森林里旅行，其中两只掉进了深坑，其他青蛙都聚到坑边围观。他们看了看坑有多深，然后就告诉那两只青蛙说他俩必死无疑了。两只青蛙没有理会，还是用尽浑身解数试着往外跳。同伴们不断劝他们别费劲了，他俩只剩死路一条。
最后，一只听了大家的劝，放弃了。他掉下去死了。另一只还是使劲跳个没完。大家伙儿还是冲他喊，让他别受罪了，还是等死吧。他反而蹦得更起劲了，终于跳了出来。其他青蛙见他跳出来了，都说：“没听见我们说话吗？”青蛙解释说自己耳聋听不见。他以为大家一直是鼓励他来着。
-heed [hiːd] n. 留心
如果有人对你冷嘲热讽，你也不妨“装聋作哑”。