[영어 원서 정복] 이솝우화(Aesop's Fables) - 005. The Donkey, the Onager, and the Lion

출처: Luara Gibbs trans., Aesop’s Fables, Oxford Univ Pr., 2008.

Fable 5

The Donkey, the Onager, and the Lion

An onager saw a donkey labouring under a heavy load and he made fun of the donkey’s enslavement. ‘Lucky me!’ said the onager. ‘I amd free from bondage and do not have to work for anyone else, since I have grass near at hand on the hillsides, while you rely on someone else to feed you, forever oppressed by slavery and its blows!’ At that very moment a lion happened to appear on the scene. He did not come near the donkey since the donkey’s driver was standing beside him. The onager, however, was alone, so the lion attacked and devoured him.

The story shows that people who are obstinate and insubordinate come to a bad end because they get carried away by their own sence of stubbornness and refues to ask others for assistance.

[NOTE]

The onager, or wild ass, once roamed the plains of central Asia. The word onager is from the Creek onos, ‘donkey’, and agros, ‘field’.

[어휘 풀이]

- donkey: 당나귀

- onager: 야생 당나귀

- labour: 노동하다, 힘겹게 움직이다, 애를 쓰다

- load: 짐, 화물

- make fun of ...: ...을 놀리다, 비웃다

- enslavement: 노예 상태, 노예화

- bondage: 속박, 구속

- at hand: 가까이에 (있는)

- blow: 때림, 강타

- appear on the scene: 나타나다, 등장하다

- (on the scene: 그 자리에, 현장에)

- devour: 게걸스레 먹다

- obstinate: 고집 센, 완강한

- insubordinate: 순종하지 않는, 반항하는

- get carried away ...: ...에 흥분하다