大家好，我是Fiona老师。
今天我们的英语阅读系列之 The Frog and The Ox 青蛙与公牛
那么我们就快点过来看看他们之间到底发生了什么样的故事呢？
On a lily pad in the little stream that flowed at the bottom of the meadow, there lived an old Frog. He was a big frog and he was very proud of his size. All the other frogs were in awe of him and treated him with the greatest respect.
So did all the other creatures. The shining blue dragonflies that hovered over the stream during the day took great care to keep far out of the reach of his long sticky tongue. So did the little midges that fluttered by in a soft cloud in the evenings. Even the fishes in the stream were careful not to annoy him. The Frog ruled his watery kingdom unchallenged.
The Farmer who owned the meadow by the stream also had an old Ox. The Ox had worked hard for the Farmer all his life. He had helped him plough his fields. Yoked to an old wooden cart, he had carried his crops to market and his children to school. But now the Ox was growing old. He no longer had the strength to work as hard as he used to.
The Farmer was fond of his old Ox and grateful for all the hard work he had done over the years. He did not want to sell him. Instead, he decided to let the Ox spend his old age in peace, in the meadow by the stream.
One fine morning, the Ox moved into the meadow. He wandered around the meadow, surveying his new home. The grass was soft and green and wildflowers dotted the ground. The Ox was happy. He planned to spend his days grazing on the sweet juicy grass and basking in the sun.
The little creatures of the meadow stared at the Ox in fear and awe. The butterflies flew hurriedly out of his way. The hardworking ants and the busy bees stopped their work as the Ox walked slowly by. They had never seen any creature as big as the Ox. Not even the old Frog on the lily pad in the stream was quite this big! The Ox munched happily on the sweet grass. He did not even notice the tiny creatures.
The Frog heard the dragonflies chattering excitedly among themselves about the huge monster who had come to live in the meadow. The dragonflies had heard it from the bumblebee who had heard it from the ladybird who had heard it from the ants who had almost been trampled on by the monster as it stomped by.
'It is the largest, biggest, most enormous creature you ever saw!' cried the dragonflies. It has huge curving horns on its head and a tail so long and so strong that one whisk of it is enough to blow us all away!"
The Frog did not believe a word that the dragonflies said. 'Ha! This monster of yours cannot be bigger than I am!’ he cried. ‘And horns and a tail, bah! They cannot be more fearsome than my long sticky tongue!'
How could any creature be bigger than him? Was he not the largest, most magnificent frog in the world? The dragonflies were just being rude!
The Frog stuck out his long sticky tongue and would have caught at least a dozen of the dragonflies had they not dodged in time.
Just then the Ox strolled down to the stream. He was thirsty and wanted a drink.
The dragonflies trembled in fear and rose up in a great shining cloud far above the reach of the Ox's curving horns and long tail.
The Ox drank his fill and walking away from the stream, settled down for a nap.
The old Frog on his lily pad saw the Ox and wondered what all the fuss was about. The terrible monster was nothing but a silly old Ox! And not a very large one either! When the Ox had walked away, he called out. ‘Hey. dragonflies, was this your terrible monster?’
The dragonflies rustled their shining wings and replied. ‘Yes, yes. Frog! Did you see how big he is?’
The Frog laughed scornfully. 'Big? You call that big? Why, I can be twice as big as that if I want to! Watch!"
And the Frog took a deep breath, huffed and puffed and swelled up like a balloon.
'There! Am I not as big as him now?' he asked the watching dragonflies, speaking with a little difficulty.
'Oh no. Frog, not yet!' cried the dragonflies. 'The monster is MUCH bigger. Look at him sleeping in the grass! He looks huge!'
‘Well, then. Watch me!' said the Frog. He took a deep breath, huffed and puffed and swelled up some more. ‘I must be bigger than him now!' he gasped.
‘Ah no, Frog.’ Cried the dragonflies.
‘The monster is MUCH bigger!’
The Frog was quite irritated with the dragonflies. His skin was feeling tight and stretched. It was difficult to sit As he felt he would roll over any moment and his cheeks were so puffed that his eyes were almost squeezed shut. He could barely see over his huge belly. He was sure he must be at least as big as the Ox by now! He decided to make one more attempt. He would show the dragonflies who was bigger!
“Watch me,' he squeaked with great difficulty.
He took as deep a breath as he could manage, huffed and puffed and swelled. He blew and he blew and he blew and he grew larger and larger and larger till suddenly.
POP!
The Frog had burst!
在草地上的一条小溪里，在一个荷叶上，上面住着一只老青蛙。他是一只大青蛙，他为自己的体型而自豪。所有其他青蛙都敬畏他，并以极大的敬意对待他。
其他生物也一样。白天在河边徘徊的闪闪发光的蓝蜻蜓，非常小心地把他长长的黏糊糊的舌头伸到远远的地方。夜晚的软云里飘来的小蠓也是如此。连小溪里的鱼都小心不惹他生气。青蛙统治着他的水王国。
在溪边拥有草地的农夫也有一头老牛。牛一生都在为农夫辛勤劳动。他帮助他犁地。他坐在一辆旧木车上，把他的庄稼带到了市场上，他的孩子们上学去了。但是现在牛变老了。他再也没有像以前那样努力工作的力气了。
农夫喜欢他的老牛，并感谢他多年来所做的辛勤劳动。他不想卖掉他。相反，他决定让牛在河边的草地上安享晚年。
一个晴朗的早晨，公牛搬进了草地。他漫步在草地上，审视着他的新家。草又软又绿，野花点缀在地上。牛很高兴。他计划每天在甜美多汁的草地上吃草，晒太阳。
草地上的小动物惊恐地瞪着那头牛。蝴蝶飞快地飞奔而去。勤劳的蚂蚁和忙碌的蜜蜂在牛慢慢走过时停止了工作。他们从来没有见过像牛这样大的动物，甚至连河里百合花上的老青蛙也没有这么大！牛高兴地在甜美的草地上吃草。他甚至没有注意到这些微小的生物。
青蛙听到蜻蜓在兴奋地叽叽喳喳地谈论着来到草地上的巨大怪物。蜻蜓是从大黄蜂那里听到的，它是从瓢虫那里听到的，它是从蚂蚁身上听到的，它们几乎被怪物踩死了。
“它是你见过的最大、最大、最庞大的生物！”蜻蜓叫道。它的头上有一个巨大的弯曲的犄角，一条尾巴那么长，那么有力，以至于它一碰就足以把我们都吹走了！”
青蛙不相信蜻蜓说的话。哈！你的这个怪物不能比我大！他哭了。还有角和尾巴，呸！他们不会比我那黏糊糊的舌头更可怕！
怎么会有比他更大的生物呢？他不是世界上最大、最壮观的青蛙吗？蜻蜓只是粗鲁无礼！
青蛙伸出长长的黏糊糊的舌头，如果没有及时躲避，至少会捉到十二只蜻蜓。
就在这时，牛漫步走到小溪边。他渴了，想喝一杯。
蜻蜓在恐惧中颤抖着，站在远远超过牛弯曲的犄角和长尾的一个巨大的闪亮的云上。
牛喝了酒，从小溪边走开，安顿下来小睡一会儿。
他的睡莲上的老青蛙看到了牛，想知道所有的大惊小怪是什么。可怕的怪物只不过是一只愚蠢的老牛！也不是很大的一个！公牛走了以后，他叫了出来。嘿。蜻蜓，这是你可怕的怪物吗？’
蜻蜓抖动着闪亮的翅膀回答。是的，是的。青蛙！你看到他有多大了吗？’
青蛙轻蔑地笑了。大的？你说那么大？为什么，如果我想的话，我可以是它的两倍大！当心！”
青蛙深吸了一口气，喘着气，喘着气，像气球一样膨胀起来。
“在那儿！我现在没有他那么大了吗？他问看蜻蜓，说话有点困难。
“哦，不，青蛙，还没呢！”蜻蜓叫道。怪物大得多。看他睡在草地上！他看起来很大！
好吧。看着我！”青蛙说。他深吸了一口气，喘着气，喘着气，又肿起来了。“我现在一定比他大了！”他喘着气说。
“啊，不，青蛙。”蜻蜓叫道。
“怪物大得多！’
青蛙对蜻蜓非常恼火。他的皮肤感到绷紧和绷紧。很难坐下，因为他觉得他随时都会翻身，脸颊肿得几乎闭上了眼睛。他几乎看不见他的大肚子。他肯定他现在至少已经和牛一样大了！他决定再做一次尝试。他会展示那些更大的蜻蜓！
“看着我，”他艰难地吱吱叫着。
他深吸一口气，气喘吁吁，气喘吁吁。他吹了，他吹了，他吹，他越来越大，越来越大，直到突然。
蹦！
青蛙爆炸了！
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