매미와 여우
매미가 잎이 무성한 나뭇가지 위에서 맑은 소리로 노래를 부르고 있었습니다. 그런데 지나가던 여우 한 마리가 매미의 노랫소리를 듣게 되었습니다.
"매미가 노래를 부르고 있네. 마침 배도 고픈데 저 녀것이나 잡아 먹어야지. 그런데 높은 나무에 앉아 있으니까 잡아먹을 수가 없구나. 내가 올라갈 수도 없고...어떻게 저 녀석을 내려오게 만들지?"
여우는 잠시 생각에 잠겼습니다.
"그렇게 하면 되겠구나!"
꾀 많은 여우가 웃으면서 뛰어갔습니다. 무엇인가 좋은 생각이 났던 것입니다. 여우는 곧장 매미가 있는 나무 밑으로 가서 이렇게 말했습니다.
"당신은 정말 노래를 잘 부르는 군요. 저 같은 음치도 당신의 노랫소리를 들으니까 저절로 기분이 좋아지네요."
여우는 아주 부드러운 말투로 매미를 칭찬했습니다.
"저는 노래를 잘 부르지 못하기 때문에 당신처럼 노래를 잘 하는 분을 친구로 두는 것이 소원이랍니다. 당신과 친구가 되어서 당신의 노랫소리를 날마다 들을 수 있으면 좋겠어요. 이리 내려와서 저와 같이 놀지 않겠어요? 그렇게 된다면 당신이 좋아하는 맛있는 과일을 많이 따다 줄 수도 있어요."
여우는 아주 친절하고 부드러운 목소리로 매미를 구슬렀습니다. 잠시 후에 매미가 여우를 내려다보면서 말했습니다.
"고맙습니다. 저를 그렇게 칭찬해 주시다니...저도 당신과 친구가 되고 싶어요. 지금 당장 내려가겠어요."
이렇게 말한 매미는 나무 밑으로 내려가는 대신에 나뭇잎을 하나 따서 여우에게 떨어뜨렸습니다.
매미가 떨어지는 줄로 생각한 여우는 재빠르게 달려들었습니다. 그러나 여우가 잡은 것은 매미가 아니라 매미가 떨어뜨린 나뭇잎이었습니다.
"내 그럴 줄 알았지!"
매미는 여우를 약올리면서 계속 말을 이었습니다.
"만약 내가 내려갈 거라고 믿었다면, 네가 잘못 생각한 거야. 나는 여우의 똥에서 매미 친구들의 날개를 발견한 이후로 여우를 믿지 않기로 했거든."
매미는 다른 매미들의 불행을 통해 여우에게 속지 않을 수 있었습니다. 다른 사람에게 닥친 나쁜 일을 보면 나에게도 그런 일이 닥칠 수 있다는 사실을 알 수 있습니다. 다른 사람의 불행을 통해 교훈을 얻을 수 있는 사람은 지혜로운 사람입니다.
여우는 무엇 때문에 매미에게 접근해서 친구가 되자고 했을까요?
매미는 왜 여우의 말을 믿지 않았을까요?
매미는 어떤 점에서 지혜롭다고 말할 수 있을까요? 어째서 매미가 여우에게 속아 넘어가지 않을 수 있었는지 이야기를 해 보세요.
우리 아이들이 혹시라도 한글로 만들어진 영상과 영어로 만들어진 영상을 같이 연달아 본다면 같은 내용이기에 도움이 될수도 있다 생각합니다.
Cicada and a Fox (youtube.com)
A cicada was singing a straightforward song on a leafy branch. A passing fox heard the cicada’s song.
“The cicada is singing. I’m hungry, so I should catch and eat it. But it’s on a high tree, so I can’t catch it. I can’t climb up… How can I make it come down?”
The fox thought for a moment.
“That’s how I’ll do it!”
The cunning fox smiled and ran off. He had thought of a good idea. The fox went straight to the tree where the cicada was and said:
“You sing so well. Even someone like me, who can’t sing, feels happy listening to your song.”
The fox praised the cicada in a very gentle tone.
“I can’t sing well, so I wish to have a friend who sings as well as you. I would love to be your friend and listen to your songs daily. Why don’t you come down and play with me? If you do, I can pick many delicious fruits for you.”
The fox coaxed the cicada with a very kind and gentle voice. After a while, the cicada looked down at the fox and said:
“Thank you for praising me so much… I also want to be your friend. I’ll come down right now.”
Instead of coming down, the cicada picked a leaf and dropped it to the fox.
Thinking the cicada was falling, the fox quickly jumped at it. But the fox caught not the cicada but the leaf the cicada had dropped.
“I knew it!”
The cicada continued to tease the fox.
“If you believed I would come down, you were wrong. I decided not to trust foxes after finding my cicada friends' wings in fox droppings.”
The cicada avoided being deceived by the fox through the misfortune of other cicadas. Seeing bad things happen to others can make you realize that such things can happen to you, too. A wise person learns from the misfortune of others.
The fox approached the cicada to become friends because he wanted to eat it. The cicada didn’t trust the fox’s words because he had seen the wings of his friends in fox droppings. The cicada was wise because he learned from the misfortune of others and didn’t fall for the fox’s trick.
One sunny day in Adventure Bay, Skye was flying around in her helicopter when she heard a beautiful song from a tree. Chickaletta, Mayor Goodway’s pet chicken, sang happily on a leafy branch.
Chase, the police pup, was passing by and heard Chickaletta’s song.
“Chickaletta is singing. I’m hungry, so I should catch and eat her. But she’s on a high tree, so I can’t catch her. I can’t climb up… How can I make her come down?”
Chase thought for a moment.
“That’s how I’ll do it!”
The clever Chase smiled and ran off. He had thought of a good idea. Chase went straight to the tree where Chickaletta was and said:
“You sing so well, Chickaletta. Even someone like me, who can’t sing, feels happy listening to your song.”
Chase praised Chickaletta in a very gentle tone.
“I can’t sing well, so I wish to have a friend who sings as well as you. I would love to be your friend and listen to your songs daily. Why don’t you come down and play with me? If you do, I can fetch many delicious treats for you.”
Chase coaxed Chickaletta with a very kind and gentle voice. After a while, Chickaletta looked down at Chase and said:
“Thank you for praising me so much… I also want to be your friend. I’ll come down right now.”
Instead of coming down, Chickaletta picked a leaf and dropped it to Chase.
Thinking Chickaletta was falling, Chase quickly jumped at it. But Chase caught not Chickaletta but the leaf she had dropped.
“I knew it!”
Chickaletta continued to tease Chase.
“If you believed I would come down, you were wrong. I decided not to trust you after finding my chicken friends’ feathers in your play area.”
Chickaletta avoided being deceived by Chase through the misfortune of other chickens. Seeing bad things happen to others can make you realize that such things can happen to you, too. A wise pup learns from others' misfortunes.
Chase approached Chickaletta to become friends because he wanted to eat her. Chickaletta didn’t trust Chase’s words because she had seen the feathers of her friends in his play area. Chickaletta was wise because she learned from the misfortune of others and didn’t fall for Chase’s trick.