A fox once fell into a trap, and after a struggle managed to get free, but with the loss of his brush.

有一次，一只狐狸掉进了一个陷阱，经过一番挣扎，他终于摆脱了险境，但失去了他的尾巴。

He was then so much ashamed of his appearance that he thought life was not worth living

从那以后他对自己的外表感到非常自卑，他觉得生活变得枯燥又乏味，

unless he could persuade the other Foxes to part with their tails also,

除非他能说服其他狐狸也割掉尾巴，

and thus divert attention from his own loss.

这样人们就不会注意到他没有尾巴的事实了。

So he called a meeting of all the Foxes, and advised them to cut off their tails;

于是他召集了所有的狐狸来开会，并建议他们割掉尾巴。

"They're ugly things anyhow," he said, "and besides they're heavy, and it's tiresome to be always carrying them about with you."

“不管怎么说，这些尾巴都很难看，”他说，“再说，他们还很重，而且总是带着它们到处走也很累。”

But one of the other Foxes said, "My friend, if you hadn't lost your own tail, you wouldn't be so keen on getting us to cut off ours."

但是其中一只狐狸说道：“我的朋友，要是你自己没有失去尾巴，你就不会这么热心地劝我们割掉尾巴了。”