There was plenty of food,

so the animals were very happy.

很久很久以前，所有的动物们都住在一个大森林里。

这里有足够多的食物，

因此动物们过得很开心。

One day as Rat was looking for food,

he heard a cry from far away.

“Help, help! Oh, please help me!” the voice said.

一天，老鼠出去寻找食物时，

他听到远处传来喊叫声。

“救命，救命！哦，请救救我！”那声音说道。

“Who is crying like that?” Rat asked himself.

“I must go and see who it is. I do hope I can help.”

He went nearer and nearer to the cry.

He still heard,

“Help, help! Please help me!”

“谁哭成那样？”老鼠自言自语。

“我必须过去看一看是谁。真希望我能帮上忙。”

他慢慢靠近哭泣声。

他仍然可以听到，

“救命，救命！请救救我！”

Then he came to a deep, dark hole.

He looked down, and at the bottom he saw Leopard.

“Oh, help me, please. Please help me,” cried Leopard.

然后他来到一个又深又暗的洞里。

他往下看，在洞的底部他看到了一只豹子。

“哦，请救救我。请救我，”豹子叫说。

“Oh! You are Leopard!” said Rat.

“I fear that if I help you out, you will eat me.”

“哦！你是豹子！”老鼠说。

“我担心如果我帮你出来的话，你会吃掉我。”

“No! No!” exclaimed Leopard.

“How could I eat the one who helps me?

I would never do that, I promise.”

“Are you sure you will not harm me?” asked Rat.

“Surely, I will not harm you,” Leopard said.

“In fact, I will reward you.”

“All right,” said Rat. “I will help you. Stop crying.

I will be back in a moment.”

“不！不！”豹子说道。

“我怎么可能吃掉我的救命恩人呢？

我保证，我绝对不会那么做。”

“你确定你不会伤害我吗？”老鼠问道。

“当然，我不会伤害你”豹子回答。

“事实上，我会报答你。”

“好吧，”老鼠说，“我会帮助你。不要哭了。

我一会儿就回来。”

Rat went to cut some vines.

He wove them together to make a strong rope.

He tied one end of the rope to a tree

and dropped the other end into the hole.

“Here you are,” he said.

“Use this rope to climb out of the hole.”

老鼠去砍一些葡萄藤。

他把它们编织在一起，做成一根结实的绳子。

他把绳子的一端绑在树上

然后把另一端扔进洞里。

“给你，”他说。

“抓住这根绳子从洞里爬出来。"

“Oh, thank you very much,”

said Leopard as she grabbed the rope.

As Leopard was climbing, Rat kept encouraging her.

“Try hard. There you are. You are doing well.

Try harder. Very good, you will soon be out.”

“哦，非常感谢，”
豹子一边说一边抓住绳子。
当豹子在爬的时候，老鼠不停地鼓励她。
“努力呀。你在那里。你做得很好。
再努力点儿。很好，你很快就会出来了。"

With great difficulty Leopard climbed out of the hole.

As soon as she came out, she grabbed Rat.

“I must eat you for my dinner,” she said.

“I am very hungry, so I cannot let you go.”

豹子艰难地爬出了洞。
她一出来，就抓住了老鼠。
“我必须吃你作为我的晚餐，”她说。
“我很饿，所以我不能让你走。"

“Oh, please do not eat me,” cried Rat.

“You promised not to harm me.

I have little children at home. If you eat me, they will starve.”

“I don’t care about your children,” growled Leopard.

“In fact I would like to eat them, too,

because you are too small for my dinner.”

“哦，请不要吃我，”老鼠叫道。
“你答应不伤害我。
我家里有孩子。如果你吃了我，他们会饿死的。"
“我不在乎你的孩子，”豹咆哮道。
“事实上我也想吃它们，
因为你太小，我吃不饱。"

“Please let me go,” cried Rat.

But Leopard continued,

“I am a respected animal in the forest.

My hide is displayed by chiefs and kings. If I let you go,

you will tell the rest of the animals that you,

a common rat, saved my life.”

“I will not tell any of them,” cried Rat.

“请放开我，”老鼠叫道。
但是豹继续说道:
“我是森林中受人尊敬的动物。
酋长和国王展示了我的兽皮。如果我放你走，
你会告诉其他动物，
一只普通的老鼠救了我的命。"
“我不会告诉他们任何人，”老鼠叫道。

Suddenly they saw somebody coming.

It was Ananse the spider, walking thoughtfully.

When he got to them, he asked Leopard,

“Why is Rat crying so much?”

突然他们看见有人来了。
那是一只名叫阿南塞的蜘蛛，正若有所思地走着。
当他遇到他们时，他问豹子:
“为什么老鼠哭得这么厉害？"

But Rat spoke up.

“I helped Leopard out of this hole,

and now she wants to eat me up.”

“Liar!” shouted Ananse.

“How could you, a common rat,

a small animal like you,

help a strong animal like Leopard out of this hole?”

老鼠开口说道。
“我帮助豹子走出了这个洞，
现在她想把我吃掉。"
“骗子！”蜘蛛喊道。
“你，一只普通的老鼠，
像你这样的小动物，
帮助像豹子这样强壮的动物走出这个洞？"

“It’s true,” said Rat. “I helped her with this rope. I—”

“Enough of your lies!” yelled Ananse.

“Leopard, why don’t you just get back into the hole

and let me see what really happened.”

“这是真的，”老鼠说。“我用这根绳子帮她。我——”
“你的谎言够了！”蜘蛛喊道。
“豹子，你为什么不回到洞里，

让我看看到底发生了什么。"

Eager to prove that Rat was a liar,

Leopard jumped back into the hole before thinking.

Ananse quickly pulled out the rope and cut it into pieces.

豹子渴望证明老鼠是个骗子，
他没有思考，就跳回洞里。
阿南塞迅速拉出绳子，把它撕成碎片。

Then Ananse called into the hole,

“Leopard, can you hear me?”

“Yes, loud and clear,” replied Leopard.

“All right, show me how you climbed out of the hole,”

Ananse said.

然后阿南塞冲着山洞喊道，

“豹子，你能听到我吗?”

"是的，声音响亮而清晰，"豹子回答道。

“好的，让我看看你是如何爬出山洞的，”

阿南塞说道。

“Where is the rope? I cannot climb out without the rope,”

Leopard said.

“Aha,” said Ananse.

“So Rat did help you. Since this is how you repaid the one who was kind to you, you must get out the same way you got in.”

“绳子在哪里？没有绳子我爬不出来，”豹说。

“啊哈，”阿南塞说。

“所以老鼠确实帮了你。

这就是你如何报答对你好的人，

你必须以同样的方式走出去。"

“Thank you so much, Ananse,” said Rat.

Then he ran home as fast as he could to his little children.

“谢谢你，阿南塞，”老鼠说。

然后他尽可能快地跑回家去看望他的小孩。