寓言是一种历史悠久而生命力强大的古老文体，虽多形制短小，却有丰厚的内涵。中国古代寓言大多数以人物故事为载体，说理深刻透辟，包含许多人生智慧。中国先秦时期寓言创作最为兴盛，不少寓言作者是世界一流的思想家。《庄子》、《列子》中的寓言，想象飞驰，语言富丽，表现了道家重道、贵虚、齐物、逍遥的思想；《韩非子》中的寓言，文字简洁准确，表现了法家因时变法、严刑峻法的主张；《战国策》中的寓言，手法铺张，气势宏伟，针对外交、内政、军事方面的大事，随机应变，往往能够收到化险为夷的效果。《大中华文库·中国古代寓言选(汉英对照)》从这些先秦著名典籍中编选了许多寓言，同时还收录了后世其他寓言佳作，共选取121篇作品。它们流传广，饱含智慧，对文学创作和语言的发展影响很大。《大中华文库·中国古代寓言选(汉英对照)》英译者为著名文学翻译家杨宪益、戴乃迭先生。

《古代寓言·井蛙》

坎井之蛙谓东海之鳖曰：“吾乐与！出跳梁乎井幹之上，入休乎缺甃之崖；赴水则接腋持颐，蹶泥则没足灭跗；还虷蟹与蝌蚪，莫吾能若也。且夫擅一壑之水，而跨跱坎井之乐，此亦至矣。夫子奚不时来入观乎？”
东海之鳖左足未入，而右膝已扎矣。于是逡巡而却，告之海曰：“夫千里之远，不足以举其大；千仞之高，不足以极其深。禹之时，十年九潦，而水弗为加益；汤之时，八年七旱，而崖不为加损。夫不为顷久推移，不以多少进退者，此亦东海之大乐也。”
于是，坎井之蛙闻之，适适然惊，规规然自失也。
——《庄子》

The Frog in the Well
A frog lived in a shallow well.
"Look how well off I am here!" he told a big turtle from the Easton Ocean. "I can hop along the coping of the well when I go out, and rest by a crevice in the bricks on my return. I can wallow to my heart's content with only my head above water, or stroll ankle deep through soft mud. No crabs or tadpoles can compare with me. I am master of the water and lord of this shallow well. What more can a fellow ask? Why don't you come here more often to have a good time?"
Before the turtle from the Eastern Ocean could get his left foot into the well, however, he caught his right claw on something. So he halted and stepped back, then began to describe the ocean to the frog.
"It's more than a thousand li across and more than ten thousand feet deep. In ancient times there were floods nine years out of ten yet the water in the ocean never increased. And later there were droughts seven years out of eight yet the water in the ocean never grew less. It has remained quite constant throughout the ages. That is why I like to live in the Eastern Ocean."
Then the frog in the shallow well was silent and felt a little abashed.
Zhuang Zi

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