The Dog in the Manger is a fable attributed to Aesop, concerning a dog who one afternoon lay down to sleep in the manger. On being awoken, he ferociously kept the cattle in the farm from eating the hay on which he chose to sleep, even though he was unable to eat it himself, leading an ox to mutter the moral of the fable:

People often begrudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves.

The phrase is proverbial, referring to people who prevent others from having something that they themselves have no use for. A typical example is the child who discards a toy — until a sibling tries to play with it. Then the first child becomes possessive about something they no longer wanted.

A twist on the story was used by Charles Schulz in a "Peanuts" strip, in which Lucy van Pelt acquires a baseball card of Charlie Brown's favorite player, and she refuses to give it to him. After he leaves disconsolately, she decides she doesn't really like the card that well, and throws it away.

In Spanish, the story is called El Perro del Hortelano, or The Vegetable Gardener's Dog.

The metaphor is also attributed to Jesus in The Gospel of Thomas by comparing the dog with the Pharisees.

e a Helen of Troy in her family. Because of this she and her husband quarreled for a long time.4.The Trojan horse: the hidden danger; the covert wreckers; to engage in underhand activitiesThe superpowers are always sending the Trojan Horses to many countries in the world.They are defeated only because of the Trojan horse to many countries in the world.They are defeated only because of the Trojan horse in their country.5.Greek Gifts:a gift with some sinister purpose of the enemy. A gift sent in order to murder somebody. = when the fox preaches, take care of your geese.1.he is always buying you expensive clothes, I'm afraid they are Greek gifts for you.2.Comrades, be on guard against the Greek gifts.6.A Penelope's web, the web of Penelope:a chaste woman, a Penelope's web, the tactics of delaying sth on purpose; the task that can never be finished.1. Mr. Jones made a long speech at the meeting. Everyone else though it a Penelope's web.7.Swan Song: black swan. A last or fare well appearance; the last work before death.1. all the tickets have been sold for the singer's performance in London this week----the public clearly believes that this will be her swan song.2. The Tempest was Shakespeare's swan song in 1612.3. before turning over the gavel, he delivered the swan song as chairman of the board.4. this building turned out to be the swan song of Victorian architecture.8.Win/gain laurels: to win reputation; to acquire honor.9.To look to one's laurels: to beware of losing one's reputation; to keep one's record from being beaten by others. 卫冕。

7.英语小故事40篇

1\\Mrs Black was eighty, but she had a small car, and she always drove to the shops in it on Saturday and bought her food. She did not drive fast because she was old, but she drove well and never hit anything. Sometimes her grandchildren said to her,"Please don't drive your car, Grandmother. We can take you to the shops." But she always said,"No, I like driving.I began to drive fifty years ago, and I'm not going to stop now." Last Saturday she stopped her car at the traffic lights because they were red, and then she couldn't start the car again. The lights were green,then yellow, then red , then green again, but her car did not start. 2. A young woman went to her doctor complaining of pain. " Where are you hurting?" asked the doctor. " You have to help me, I hurt all over" , said the woman. " What do you mean, all over?" asked the doctor, " be a little more specific." The woman touched her right knee with her index finger and yelled, " Ow, that hurts." Then she touched her left cheek and again yelled, " Ouch! That hurts, too." Then she touched her right earlobe, " Ow, even that hurts" , she cried. The doctor checked her thoughtfully for a moment and told her his diagnosis, " You have a broken finger." 2\\Once upon a time, there was a mouse father. （很久很久以前，有一个老鼠爸爸） He wanted to marry his daughter to the greatest person in the world. （他想要将他的女儿嫁给世界上最伟大的人） But, who was the greatest person in the world？ （但是，谁是世界上最伟大的人呢？） Oh! The sun! He must be the greatest person in the world. （啊！是太阳！他一定是世界上最伟大的人） The mouse father went to talk to the sun. （老鼠爸爸就去找太阳说话） “Hello! Mr. Sun. I know you are the greatest person in the world. （哈啰！太阳先生，我知道你是世界上最伟大的人） Would you marry my daughter？” （你愿意娶我的女儿吗？） “What? I'm not the greatest person in the world. The greatest person is the cloud. （什么？我才不是世界上最伟大的人呢！最伟大的应该是云） If he comes out, I'll be covered.” （只要他一出现，我就被遮住了） The mouse father went to talk to the cloud. （老鼠爸爸就去找云） “Hello! Mr. Cloud. I know you are the greatest person in the world. （哈啰！云先生，我知道你是世界上最伟大的人） Would you marry my daughter？” （你愿意娶我的女儿吗？） “What? I'm not the greatest person in the world. The greatest person is the wind. （什么？我才不是世界上最伟大的人呢！最伟大的应该是风） If he comes out, I'll be blown away.” （只要他一出现，我就被吹的远远的） The mouse father went to talk to the wind. （老鼠爸爸就去找风） “Hello! Mr. Wind. I know you are the greatest person in the world. （哈啰！风先生，我知道你是世界上最伟大的人） Would you marry my daughter？” （你愿意娶我的女儿吗？） “What? I'm not the greatest person in the world. The greatest person is the wall. （什么？我才不是世界上最伟大的人呢！最伟大的应该是墙） If he comes out, I'll be stopped.” （只要他一出现，我就被挡住了） The mouse father went to talk to the wall. （老鼠爸爸就去找墙） “Hello! Mr. Wall. I know you are the greatest person in the world. （哈啰！墙先生，我知道你是世界上最伟大的人） Would you marry my daughter？” （你愿意娶我的女儿吗？） “What? I'm not the greatest person in the world. The greatest person is YOU, the mouse.” （什么？我才不是世界上最伟大的人呢！最伟大的其实是你们！是老鼠！） “The greatest person in the world is … mouse？” （世界上最伟大的人…是老鼠？） “Yes, the greatest person in the world is mouse. See? If mouse comes out, I'll be bit！” （没错！世界上最伟大的就是老鼠，你看，只要你们一出现，我就被挖洞了！） The mouse father was very happy. （老鼠爸爸好开心！） He finally knew mouse was the greatest person in the world. （他终于知道世界上最伟大的人了，就是老鼠。）

He would marry his daughter to the handsome mouse next door. （他决定要将自己的女儿嫁给隔壁英俊的鼠小弟。）。