大家好，我是Fiona老師。
今天我們的英語閱讀系列之 The Frog and The Ox 青蛙與公牛
那麼我們就快點過來看看他們之間到底發生了什麼樣的故事呢？
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!
在草地上的一條小溪裡，在一個荷葉上，上面住著一隻老青蛙。他是一隻大青蛙，他為自己的體型而自豪。所有其他青蛙都敬畏他，並以極大的敬意對待他。
其他生物也一樣。白天在河邊徘徊的閃閃發光的藍蜻蜓，非常小心地把他長長的黏糊糊的舌頭伸到遠遠的地方。夜晚的軟雲裡飄來的小蠓也是如此。連小溪裡的魚都小心不惹他生氣。青蛙統治著他的水王國。
在溪邊擁有草地的農夫也有一頭老牛。牛一生都在為農夫辛勤勞動。他幫助他犁地。他坐在一輛舊木車上，把他的莊稼帶到了市場上，他的孩子們上學去了。但是現在牛變老了。他再也沒有像以前那樣努力工作的力氣了。
農夫喜歡他的老牛，並感謝他多年來所做的辛勤勞動。他不想賣掉他。相反，他決定讓牛在河邊的草地上安享晚年。
一個晴朗的早晨，公牛搬進了草地。他漫步在草地上，審視著他的新家。草又軟又綠，野花點綴在地上。牛很高興。他計劃每天在甜美多汁的草地上吃草，曬太陽。
草地上的小動物驚恐地瞪著那頭牛。蝴蝶飛快地飛奔而去。勤勞的螞蟻和忙碌的蜜蜂在牛慢慢走過時停止了工作。他們從來沒有見過像牛這樣大的動物，甚至連河裡百合花上的老青蛙也沒有這麼大！牛高興地在甜美的草地上吃草。他甚至沒有注意到這些微小的生物。
青蛙聽到蜻蜓在興奮地嘰嘰喳喳地談論著來到草地上的巨大怪物。蜻蜓是從大黃蜂那裡聽到的，它是從瓢蟲那裡聽到的，它是從螞蟻身上聽到的，它們幾乎被怪物踩死了。
「它是你見過的最大、最大、最龐大的生物！」蜻蜓叫道。它的頭上有一個巨大的彎曲的犄角，一條尾巴那麼長，那麼有力，以至於它一碰就足以把我們都吹走了！」
青蛙不相信蜻蜓說的話。哈！你的這個怪物不能比我大！他哭了。還有角和尾巴，呸！他們不會比我那黏糊糊的舌頭更可怕！
怎麼會有比他更大的生物呢？他不是世界上最大、最壯觀的青蛙嗎？蜻蜓只是粗魯無禮！
青蛙伸出長長的黏糊糊的舌頭，如果沒有及時躲避，至少會捉到十二隻蜻蜓。
就在這時，牛漫步走到小溪邊。他渴了，想喝一杯。
蜻蜓在恐懼中顫抖著，站在遠遠超過牛彎曲的犄角和長尾的一個巨大的閃亮的雲上。
牛喝了酒，從小溪邊走開，安頓下來小睡一會兒。
他的睡蓮上的老青蛙看到了牛，想知道所有的大驚小怪是什麼。可怕的怪物只不過是一隻愚蠢的老牛！也不是很大的一個！公牛走了以後，他叫了出來。嘿。蜻蜓，這是你可怕的怪物嗎？』
蜻蜓抖動著閃亮的翅膀回答。是的，是的。青蛙！你看到他有多大了嗎？』
青蛙輕蔑地笑了。大的？你說那麼大？為什麼，如果我想的話，我可以是它的兩倍大！當心！」
青蛙深吸了一口氣，喘著氣，喘著氣，像氣球一樣膨脹起來。
「在那兒！我現在沒有他那麼大了嗎？他問看蜻蜓，說話有點困難。
「哦，不，青蛙，還沒呢！」蜻蜓叫道。怪物大得多。看他睡在草地上！他看起來很大！
好吧。看著我！」青蛙說。他深吸了一口氣，喘著氣，喘著氣，又腫起來了。「我現在一定比他大了！」他喘著氣說。
「啊，不，青蛙。」蜻蜓叫道。
「怪物大得多！』
青蛙對蜻蜓非常惱火。他的皮膚感到繃緊和繃緊。很難坐下，因為他覺得他隨時都會翻身，臉頰腫得幾乎閉上了眼睛。他幾乎看不見他的大肚子。他肯定他現在至少已經和牛一樣大了！他決定再做一次嘗試。他會展示那些更大的蜻蜓！
「看著我，」他艱難地吱吱叫著。
他深吸一口氣，氣喘籲籲，氣喘籲籲。他吹了，他吹了，他吹，他越來越大，越來越大，直到突然。
蹦！
青蛙爆炸了！