第14章 HOW A DOG GOT HIS DINNER 小狗觅食

In a town in the south of France, twenty poor people were served with dinner, at a certain hour every day. A dog belonging to the place was always present at this meal, to watch for the scraps that were now and then thrown to him.

The guests, however, were poor and hungry, and of course not very liberal. So the poor dog hardly did more than smell the feast, of which he would have liked a share.

Now it happened that this dinner was served out to each one on his ringing a bell; but, as the person who served the dinner handed it through a small opening, he did not see who received it.

Well, one day the dog had waited till all the poor people were gone. Having himself got very little to eat, he reached up, took hold of the rope by his teeth, and rang the bell. A good dinner was at once handed out, and the dog ate it with great delight.

This was done by the dog for several days; but the rogue was at length found out. It was thought, however, so clever for a dog, that he was allowed to take his regular turn at the dinner every day. And thus he went on for a long time, ringing the bell, and taking his meal with the other beggars!

Questions

What is the dog in the picture doing? Why? What is that coming through the opening? For whom is it? How did the dog learn to do this? How long did he do it before he was found out! Why was he allowed to continue it? Where did this take place?

Pronunciation

pres'-ent hard'-ly sev'-er-al be-long'-ing reg'-u-lar

how-ev'-er o'-pen-ing al-lowed' hap'-pened hand'-ed

hun'-gry wait'-ed beg'-gars clev'-er din'-ner

Write

liberal delight clever

certain received several

belonging happened regular

在法国南部的一座小城，二十个穷人每天都在一个固定的地点吃饭。附近的一条狗总是在吃饭的时候出现，等着这些人不时扔给它些残羹剩饭。

然而，这些客人们又穷又饿，当然也就不可能非常大方。所以这条可怜的狗除了闻一闻饭香之外，几乎分不到什么它想吃的东西。

每天铃声一响，就会有人把晚餐送上。但是因为送餐的人是从一个小窗口里把晚餐送出来的，所以他并不知道是谁拿走了这份晚餐。

有一天，这条狗只分到了一点儿吃的，于是，等到所有的穷人都走了之后，它举起爪子，用牙咬住绳子，拉响了铃铛。一顿美味的晚餐马上递了出来，这条狗满心欢喜地吃了个够。

小狗连续好几天都这么做，但是这个小淘气最后还是被发现了。然而，人们觉得既然这条狗这么聪明，那么它理应每天得到一份固定的晚餐。于是小狗就继续像其他的乞丐一样摇铃吃饭，这持续了好长时间。