英语是世界上通用的语言，而英语的学习是很枯燥的，想要学好英语不妨先从阅读英语故事开始。从英文故事中学习，提高英文水平。从故事中学习，学到人生的哲理。下面是小编辛苦为大家带来的英语小故事简短【通用6篇】，希望能够帮助到大家。
A wild ass1 saw a pack-ass jogging along under a heavy load, and taunted2 him with the condition of slavery in which he lived, in these words: "What a vile3 lot is yours compared with mine! I am free as the air, and never do a stoke of work; and, as for fodder4, I have only to go to the hills and there I find far more than enough for my needs. But you! You depend on your master for food, and he makes you carry heavy loads every day and beats you unmercifully." At that moment a lion appeared on the scene, and made no attempt to molest5 the pack-ass owing to the presence of the driver, but he fell upon the wild ass, who had no one to protect him, and without more ado made a meal of him.
It is no use being your own master unless you can stand up for yourself.
一头野驴看到一头家驴背负这沉重的货物一路小跑，便讥讽他过着奴隶般的生活：“和我相比，你过得多么卑微呀！我自由自在地享受着大自然，从不下苦力，说道食物，我只需要跑到山上去，就能发现大量吃的东西。再看看你！只能依靠主人施舍吃点，他不仅每天都让你驮重物，还无情地鞭打你。”这时，一只狮子出现在他们的视野中，由于驴夫的出现，狮子没有骚扰家驴，直接扑向了没有保护者的野驴，立即吃掉了野驴。
除非能照顾好自己，否则做自己的主人一点用也没有。
A singing-bird was confined1 in a cage which hung outside a window, and had a w★WWW.BAIHUAWEN.com★ay of singing at night when all other birds were asleep. One night a bat came and clung2 to the bars of the cage, and asked the bird why she was silent by day and sang only at night. "I have a very good reason for doing so," said the bird: "it was once when I was singing in the daytime that a fowler was attracted by my voice, and set his nets for me and caught me. Since then I have never sung except by night." But the bat replied, "It is no use your doing that now when you are a prisoner. If only you had done so before you were caught, you might still have been free."
Precautions3 are useless after the event.
一只画眉鸟被囚禁在窗外挂着的一个笼子里，当其他鸟儿都酣睡时，她却在夜里唱歌。有一个夜晚，蝙蝠飞过来，抓住鸟笼的。栅栏，问她为什么白天默默无声，却在夜里放声歌唱。小鸟回答说：“我这样做是有道理的，曾经有一次，当我在白天唱歌时，一个捕鸟人被我的歌声吸引，就用鸟笼子捉住了我。从此我只在夜里歌唱。”可是，蝙蝠却说：“你现在这样做根本没用了，因为你已经成为阶下囚。若是在被捉住之前这样做就好了，那样或许你依然是自由之身！”
待事情发生之后再预防，为时已晚。
an old woman had a cat. the cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. one day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. but she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it.
then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. she began to hit the cat. the cat said, "do not hit your old servant. i have worked for you for many years, and i would work for you still, but i am too old. do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young."
翻译
一位老妇有只猫，这只猫很老，它跑不快了，也咬不了东西，因为它年纪太大了。一天，老猫发现一只老鼠，它跳过去抓这只老鼠，然而，它咬不住这只老鼠。因此，老鼠从它的嘴边溜掉了，因为老猫咬不了它。
于是，老妇很生气，因为老猫没有把老鼠咬死。她开始打这只猫，猫说：“不要打你的老仆人，我已经为你服务了很多年，而且还愿意为你效劳，但是，我实在太老了，对年纪大的不要这么无情，要记住老年人在年青时所做过的有益的事情。”
A wolf was almost dead with hunger. A house-dog saw him, and asked, "Friend, your irregular life will soon ruin you.
"Why don't you work steadily as I do, and get your food regularly?"
"I would have no objection," said the wolf, "if I could only get a place." "I will help you," said the dog. "Come with me to my master, and you shall share my work."
So the wolf and the dog went to the town the way the wolf saw that there was no hair around the dog's neck.He felt quite surprised, and asked him why it was like that?
"Oh, it is nothing," said the dog. "Every night my master puts a collar around my neck and chains me up. You will soon get used to it."
"Is that the only reason?" said the wolf. "Then good-bye to you, my friend. I would rather be free."
翻译：
一只狼快要饿死了，一只狗看见后问他：“你现在的无规律的生活一定会毁掉你，为什么不像我一样稳定地干活并有规律地获得食物呢？”
狼说：“如果我有个地方住，我没有意见。”狗回答说：“跟我到主人那里去，我们一起工作。”于是狼和狗一起回到了村子。
在路上，狼注意到狗的脖子上有一圈没有毛，他很奇怪地问为什么会那样。
“噢，没有什么，”狗说，“我的主人每天晚上都用一条铁链子拴住我，你很快就会习惯的。”“就是因为这个原因吗？”狼说道，“那么，再见了，我的朋友，我宁愿选择自由。”
寓意: 自由比安乐更重要。
A self-important lion in the jungle tried to make his mastery clear to all.
He was so confident that he paid no attention to the smaller animals and went right up to a bear. He asked the bear, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The bear replied, "Of course you are."
Then the lion asked a tiger the same question. The tiger replied with some reluctance1, "Of course you are." And then he went to ask an elephant. But the elephant would not allow the lion to do so. He suddenly took hold of the lion with his long nose and bounced2 the lion against a tree, leaving him bleeding3 and badly shaken up.
When the lion finally got up, he blamed the elephant and said: "Even if you couldn't answer my question, it's not necessary for you to act so rough4."
热带丛林里的一个妄自菲薄的狮子试图使所有的动物都明白它的统治地位。
它非常自信，对较小的动物不屑一顾，而是直接去问一只黑熊：“谁是丛林里的大王呀？” 黑熊回答说：“当然是你呀。”
于是它又去问一个老虎同样的问题。老虎有点勉强地回答说：“当然是你呀！”然后他又去问一头大象。可是大象不买它的账，突然用它的长鼻子把狮子抓起来向一棵树扔过去，让它鲜血淋漓和浑身发抖。
狮子终于爬起来时，它责怪大象说：“即使你回答不了我的问题，也用不着这么粗鲁嘛。”
When a lion was asleep, a little mouse began running up and down beside him. This soon wakened the lion. He was very angry, and caught the mouse in his paws.
"Forgive me, please." cried the little mouse. "I may be able to help you someday." The lion was tickled at these words.
He thought, "How could this little mouse help me?" However he lifted up his paws and let him go.
A few days later, the lion was caught in a trap.
The hunters wanted to take him alive to the king, so they tied him to a tree, and went away to look for a wagon.
Just then the little mouse passed by, and saw the sad lion.
He went up to him, and soon gnawed away the ropes. "Was I not right?" asked the little mouse.
狮子与报恩的老鼠
狮子睡着了，有只老鼠在他的周围爬上爬下，很快吵醒了狮子，狮子很生气，一把抓住了老鼠。
“饶了我吧，”老鼠请求说，“也许有一天我能帮上你的忙呢。”狮子觉得很好笑，他想：“这只小老鼠怎么能帮上我的忙？”但他还是抬起爪子放他走了。
不久，狮子被陷阱困住了。猎人们想将活狮子献给国王，就把他捆在一棵大树上，然后去找马车。
这时，老鼠路过这里，看到了绝望中的狮子。他走过去，很快啃断了绳索，说：“我虽小，可是我也能帮上你的忙。”
寓意: 有些朋友也许平时看似微不足道，但却有可能在我们身处困境的时候提供巨大的帮助。