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| 56. The Goatherd And The Wild Goats A Goatherd, driving his flock from their pasture at eventide, found some wild goats mingled among them, and shut them up together with his own for the night. On the morrow it snowed very hard, so that he could not take the herd to their usual feeding-places, but was obliged to keep them in the fold. He gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantly, in the hope of enticing them to stay with him, and of making them his own. When t he thaw set in, he led them all out to feed, and the wild goats scampered away as fast as they could to the mountains. The Goatherd taxed them with their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them t han of his own herd. One of them turning about said to him, "That is the very reason why we are so cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others came after us, you would, in the same manner, prefer them to ourselves." Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for new ones. | 56. 放牧山羊的人和野山羊 傍晚时，一个放牧山羊的人赶着他的羊群，从牧场上回来，看见几只野山羊，混杂在他的山羊群里。那一晚，他就将他们和自己的山羊关在一起。 隔日下着大雪，因此他没办法将他的羊群，带到平日放牧的地方去吃草，只好仍旧将他们关在羊栏里。 他给他自己的山羊，仅够果腹的食物，而给那几只新来的野山羊吃得很饱，他希望笼络它们，好将它们变成自己的羊。 雪溶了，他把他所有的羊再带到外面去吃草，而那几只野山羊，立刻如飞似地逃到山上去了。 牧羊人便痛骂它们，说在大雪纷飞时，他待它们多好，比待自己的羊还要有心，现在它们却忘恩负义地逃走了。 有一只野山羊回头来对他说：「这就是我们所以如此谨慎的理由；昨天你待我们比那些长久和你在一起的山羊还要好；那么很明显的，以后别的山羊来了，你也将同样地厚待它们，而苛待我们了。」 老朋友不能因为有了新朋友，而无故被牺牲掉。 |
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