爱华网巧借短小精悍而又耐人深思寻味的寓言故事,给那些人生阅历不甚丰厚,中英文都有的英文寓言故事不怕看不懂。下面就是小编给大家整理的短篇英文寓言故事，希望大家喜欢。
短篇英文寓言故事篇1：询楼捕蝉
One day, Confucius led his disciples to the State of Chu. When crossing a stretch of forest, they saw a hunchbacked old man standing under a tree, catching cicadas with a bamboo stick. With each stroke he caught one cicada, just as easily as picking it up at will. Confucius asked: "You are very skillful at catching cicadas. You must have followed some pattern."
"That's right!”the old man answered. "The cicada is a clever little insect. It would fly away at themere rustling of leaves in the wind. Therefore, to catch cicadas, one must, first of all, train one's hand to hold the bamboo stick without shaking. When 2 pellets are put on the top of the bamboo stick and do not fall off, one has certain assurance in catching cicadas; when 3 pellets are put there and do not fall off, only one cicada out of ten can manage to escape; when 5 pellets are put there and do not fall off, then catching cicadas is as easy as picking them up at will."
He then added: "But that is not enough. One must be good at hiding oneself. Now I am standing under a tree, just like half of a tree stump, with my arm stretching out like part of awithered twig. Last of all, one must be attentive. When I am catching cicadas, I don't think at all of the vastness of the universe, nor do I look at the numerous things around. I only see the two wings of the cicada. No matter what happens, nothing will distract my attention. As I manage to accomplish all these, I can be so skillful at catching cicadas."
Hearing this, Confucius turned to his disciples and said: "Whatever you do, only when youpersevere with concentrated attention and devotion, can you achieve the acme of perfection. This is the truth that this hunchbacked old man has taught us."
一天，孔子带着弟子去楚国。穿过一片树林的时候，他们看到一位驼背老人站在树下，手拿竹竿捕蝉，一粘一只，就像随手拾来一样容易。孔子问：“您捕蝉捕得这么熟练，一定掌握了什么规律吧?”
老人回答说：“是啊!蝉是一种非常乖巧的小虫。一有风吹草动，它就飞掉了，所以要捕蝉，首先要练得手拿竹竿不晃动。一直练到在竹竿顶端放两颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕蝉就有了一定的把握;当放三颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕十只蝉只会逃走一只;当放五颗弹丸不掉下来的时候，捕蝉就像随手拾取一样容易了。”
又说：“不过，这还不够，还必须善于隐蔽自己。我现在站在树下，就像是半截子树桩;伸出去的手臂，就像是一段枯萎的树枝。最后，还必须用心专一。我捕蝉时，根本不想天地多么广大，也不看众多万物，只看见蝉的两只翅膀，不管发生什么情况，都不会分散我的注意力。因为我能够做到这些，所以捕蝉才会这样熟练。”
孔子听了，回头对他的弟子说：“无论做什么事情，只有锲而不舍，专心致志，才能达到这样出神人化的境界。这就是这位驼背老人告诉我们的道理。”
短篇英文寓言故事篇2：意怠免患
According to legend, there was a kind of birds called "dais" (swallow) on the East China Sea.
The Yidais were slow in reaction. They could not fly very high and seemed clumsy andincapable.
But when they moved about, they always moved in groups, depended on one another for survival, and flew and landed together.
When they advanced, no one dared to advance rashly. When they retreated, no one dared to fall behind at will. When they fed, no one dared to scramble to be the first. All their activities were orderly.
When they went into action,万 dais always acted uniformly without any disorder. They depended upon the collective efforts to avoid any harm from the outside world.
传说，东海上有一种叫做“意怠”的鸟。
意怠反应比较迟钝，不能高飞，似乎笨拙无能。
但是，它们行动的时候，总是成群结队，相依为命，一起飞翔，一起降落。
它们前进的时候，没有一只敢擅自冒进;后退的时候，没有一只敢随便掉队;吃食的时候，也没有一只敢抢先。一切活动，都很有秩序。
意怠行动起来总是这样一致而不散乱，它们就是靠着集体的力量来避免外界对自己的伤害。
短篇英文寓言故事篇3：鲫鱼求救
Zhuang Zhou's family was poor. Once, he went to the official who supervised rivers to borrow some grain. The official said: "Well, wait until the end of the year when I collect the taxes from the people, then I will lend you 300 gold pieces. All right?"
When Zhuang Zhou heard this, he was so angry that the colow of his face changed. But he told the official this story: When I came here yesterday, on the way I heard a voice calling 'Help!' I turned my head and saw a small crucian carp in the dried-up carriage ditch."
I went over and asked: "Little crucian carp, why are you calling for help?"
The little crucian carp answered: "I am a subject of the Dragon King of the East China Sea. Unfortunately I fell down here. Can you give me a little water to save my life?"
I said: "All right, I am just going to the south to sell ideas to the kings of the States of Wu and Yue. I will ask them to stir up the water of the Xijiang River to welcome you. Will that do?"
When the crucian carp heard this, it got angry and said: "When I lose the water which is always with me, I cannot survive. Now, I want only a little bit of water so that I can survive.Yet you say such things. Then you'd better go to the salt-fish shop to look for me."
庄周家境贫穷。一次，他去监河侯那里借粮食，监河侯说：“好吧!等到年底，我收到了老百姓的税金时，就借给你三百金，行吗?”
庄周一听，气得脸色都变了，但是他却对监河侯讲了这样一件事情：我昨天来时，半路上听到‘救命’的呼喊声。我回过头来，看见干涸的车沟里有条小螂鱼。
我走过去，问它： “小娜鱼，你为什么喊救命?”
小鲤鱼回答说：“我是东海龙王的臣子，不幸落到这里。您能够给我一些水来救我活命吗?”
我说：“好吧!我正好要去南方游说吴国和越国的国王，那我就请他们激起西江的大水来迎接您，可以吗?”
卿鱼听了，气得不得了，说：“我失去了常跟我在一起的水，就无法生存下去了。现在，我只要得到一些水，就能够生存下去;你却说出这样的话。好吧，你不如趁早到咸鱼店里去找我吧!”
