The Goatherd and the Wild Goats 牧羊人和野山羊

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.

The next day 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 foId. He gave his own goats just sufficient food to keep them alive, but fed the strangers more abundantIy in the hope of enticing them to stay with him and of making them his own.

When the 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 scolded them for their ingratitude in leaving him, when during the storm he had taken more care of them than of his own herd.

One of them, turning about, said to him，“That is the very reason why we are so cautious；as you treat us better than the goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others come after us, you will in the same manner prefer them to ourselves.”

黄昏时分，牧羊人赶着他的羊群放牧归来时，发现有几只野山羊也夹杂在其中。他把它们和自己的羊关在一起，过了一夜。

第二天，下起了大雪，牧羊人不能带着羊群去它们以往吃草的地方了，只得让它们待在羊栏里。他给自己的羊的食物只够填饱肚子，而喂那几只野山羊的食物要丰盛得多，他想以此引诱它们留下来，归他所有。

冰雪刚一融化，他把所有的羊放出来吃东西，而那几只野山羊拼命地向山里跑去。牧羊人责怪它们忘恩负义，就这样弃他而去了，说暴风雪期间他对它们的照顾比对自己的羊还要多。

一只野山羊听到后，转过头来对他说：“这正是我们提防你的原因。因为你对我们比对跟了你那么长时间的羊都好，那么，很显然，如果在我们之后又有羊加入的话，你又会同样地去喜欢它们而忽略我们?！?/p>