古代寓言原是民间口头创作，文学体裁的一种。含有讽喻或明显教训意义的故事。它的结构简短。主人公可以是人，可以是动物，也可以是无生物。多借用比喻手法，使富有教训意义的主题或深刻的道理在简单的故事中体现，而还需要自己去理解，思考，这就是和西方寓言的不同之处。

《古代寓言·中山狼》

赵筒子大猎于中山，有狼当道，驱车逐之。时东郭先生，将北适中山以干仕，策蹇驴，囊图书，夙行失道。狼奄至，引首顾曰：“先生岂有志于济物哉？何不使我早处囊中，以苟延残喘乎？异时倘得脱颖而出，先生之恩，生死而肉骨也。”先生及出图书空囊橐，徐徐焉实狼其中。已而简子至，求狼弗得，回车就道。狼度简子之去远，而作声囊中曰：“先生可留意矣，出我囊。”先生举手出狼，狼咆哮谓先生曰：“适为虞人逐，其来甚速，幸先生生我，我饿甚，馁不得食，亦终必亡而已，又何吝一躯啖我，而全微命乎！”遂鼓吻奋爪以向先生。先生仓卒以手搏之，还望老子杖藜而来，先生且喜且愕，舍狼而前，拜跪啼泣，致辞曰：“乞丈人一言而生。”丈人问故，先生曰：“是狼为虞人所窘，求救于我，我实生之，今反欲噬我，敢乞一言而生。”狼曰：“初先生救我时，束缚我足，闭我囊中，压以诗书，我鞠躬不敢息，又蔓词以说简子，其意盖将死我于囊，而独窃其利也，吾安可不噬。”丈人曰：“是皆不足以执信也！试再囊之，吾观其状，果困苦否。”狼欣然从之。丈人附耳谓先生曰：“有匕首否？”先生曰：“有。”于是出匕，丈人目先生使引匕刺狼，先生曰：“不害狼乎！”丈人笑曰：“禽善负恩为是，而犹不忍杀，子固仁者，然愚亦甚矣。”遂举手助先生操刀，共殪狼，弃道上而去。

——《中山狼传》

The Wolf of the Zhongshan Mountain

There once lived a scholar by the name of Dongguo, who was known for his compassion.

One day, he was riding along on a donkey on his way to Zhongshan, when he saw a group of hunters. A little while later a wolf came running up to him in great fright. "Kind-hearted master," it begged. "Please let me get into your bag and hide for a while. If ever I should emerge alive from this crisis, I will for ever remember your kindess."

Hearing this, the master emptied his bag of books, pushed the wolf inside, and packed the books in around him.

Presently the hunters arrived. Not finding the wolf, they went away.

The wolf then asked Master Dongguo to let him out of the bag, which the master did.

Thereupon the wolf bared his fangs and said, "I was being chased by wicked men and I am grateful to you for saving my life. Now I am starving and will die unless I have something to eat. You’ll have to let me eat you, if you want to save me." So saying, it fell upon the master, catching him completely by surprise. The master was defending himself as best he could when, to his intense relief, he saw an old man approaching. Extricating himself for a moment, he ran up to the old man, begging him to save him.

"Why, what’s up?" asked the old man.

"That wolf had the hunters on his trail and asked me to help him," said the master. "I saved his life. But now he wants to eat me. Please talk to him and tell him he is in the wrong."

"When the master hid me away," said the wolf, "he bound my feet, pushed me into the bag and pressed the books in after me. I curled up as tightly as I could, but I couldn’t breathe. Then he had a long conversation with the hunters, intending that I should suffocate in the bag. Why should I not eat him?"

"I think perhaps you are exaggerating," said the old man. "Show me what happened, and let me see if you really suffered as much as you say you did."

The wolf gladly complied and crawled into the bag.

"Do you have a dagger?" the old man whispered to Master Dongguo.

The master produced one. Whereupon the old man signed to him to knife the wolf.

"Won’t it hurt him!" demurred the master.

The old man laughed. "This is a most ungrateful beast, yet you don’t have the heart to kill it. You are indeed a man of compassion, but you are also very foolish!"

So he helped Master Dongguo to slay the wolf.

Story of the Wolf of the Zhongshan Mountain

（杨宪益、戴乃迭 译）

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