At a great celebration in honor of King Lion, the Monkey was asked to dance for the company. His dancing was very clever indeed, and the animals were all highly pleased with his grace and lightness.
 
在为狮子国王举办的一次盛大庆典上，大家要求猴子献上一支舞蹈。猴子的舞跳得确实非常灵动，优美轻盈的舞姿，让所有的动物都心满意足。
 
The praise that was showered on the Monkey made the Camel envious. He was very sure that he could dance quite as well as the Monkey, if not better, so he pushed his way into the crowd that was gathered around the Monkey, and rising on his hind legs, began to dance. But the big hulking Camel made himself very ridiculous as he kicked out his knotty legs and twisted his long clumsy neck. Besides, the animals found it hard to keep their toes from under his heavy hoofs.
 
给予猴子的一连串赞美，让骆驼很嫉妒。它确信，即使自己跳得不比猴子更出色，也完全能够跳得一样好。于是，它从簇拥着猴子的人群中间挤了进去，后腿直立，跳起舞来。然而，庞大笨拙的骆驼，踢踏着关节突出的腿，扭动着笨重的长脖子，样子十分可笑。而且，动物们发现，自己很难和骆驼那笨重的蹄子保持足够的距离。
 
At last, when one of his huge feet came within an inch of king Lion’s nose, the animals were so disgusted that they set upon the Camel in a rage and drove him out into the desert.
 
果然，骆驼一只巨大的蹄子，差点踢到狮子国王的鼻子。这是，动物们群情激奋，一怒之下纷纷向骆驼进攻，把它赶到了沙漠中。
 
Shortly afterward, refreshments, consisting mostly of Camel’s hump and ribs, were served to the company.
 
没过多久，动物们就得到了一顿美食，那里面大多数是骆驼的驼峰和肋骨。
 
本故事重点英语词汇学习
 
Envious [ˈenviəs] 嫉妒的
Huiking [ˈhaɪkɪŋ] 笨重的
Ridiculous [rɪˈdɪkjələs] 荒谬的，可笑的
Knotty [ˈnɒti] 多节的
Twist [twIst] 扭曲，扭弯
Hoof [hu:f] 蹄
Disgust 厌恶，恶心
 
道理学习
 
Do not try to ape your betters.
不要试图盲目模仿比你优秀的人。