A fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox’s mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.
 
         一天，狐狸发现了一串晶莹剔透、熟透了的葡萄，挂在缠绕着大树枝的一根葡萄藤上。葡萄看上去颗粒饱满、美味多汁，狐狸眼热的盯着直流口水。
 
The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain.
 
        葡萄挂在高高的树枝上，狐狸不得不跳起来去够它。第一次跳起，狐狸离那串葡萄还差的很远。于是，它往外走了几步，先快速跑一段再跳，可结果还是一样够不到。狐狸努力了一次又一次，依然白费力气。
 
Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.
 
         这会儿，狐狸坐在树下，用厌恶的眼神看着那串葡萄。
 
“What a fool I am,” he said. “Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for.”
 
         “我真是一个傻瓜，”狐狸说，“这串葡萄又酸又涩，根本就不值得我把自己搞得筋疲力尽。”
 
And off he walked very, very scornfully.
 
         说完，狐狸不屑一顾的走了。
 
本故事重点词汇学习
 
ripe 成熟的
grape 葡萄
vine 葡萄树，葡萄藤
train （园艺）修、剪枝
longing 渴望
longingly 渴望的
bunch 串，束
in chains 徒然的，白费力气的
disgust 厌恶，嫌弃
gape for 渴望获得
scorn 轻蔑，不用做
despise 轻视
belittle 轻视，小看
一起学道理
 
There are many who pretend to despise and belittle that which is beyond their reach.
 
对于自己得不到的东西，很多人会假装对它们不屑一顾。