想象奇特、构思精巧的寓言故事在给后人以教益的同时,也让后人获得了许多精彩的典故词语和有趣的表达方法,下面这些是小编为大家推荐的几篇短篇英文寓言故事。

短篇英文寓言故事1：The King With One Gray Hair

A very very long time ago, there were people wholived much longer than they do today. They lived many thousand years. At that time, the Enlightenment Being was born as a baby named Makhadeva. He lived 84,000 years as a child and crown prince. At the time of our story, he had been a young king for 80,000 years.

One day, Makhadeva told the royal barber, "If you see any gray hair on my head, you must tell me immediately!" Of course, the barber promised to do so.

Another 4,000 years passed, until Makhadeva had been a young king for 84,000 years. Then one day, while he was cutting the king's hair, the royal barber saw just one little gray hair on all the king's head. So he said, "Oh my lord, I see one gray hair on your head." The king said,"If this be so, pull it out and put it in my hand." The barber got his golden tweezers1(镊子，小钳子) ,plucked out(拔出) the single little gray hair, and put it in the king's hand.

At that time, the king still had at least another 84,000 years left to live as an old king! Looking at the one gray hair in his hand, he became very afraid of dying. He felt like death was closing in on him, as if he were trapped in a burning house. He was so afraid, that the sweat rolled down his back, and he shuddered2(发抖，战栗) .

King Makhadeva thought, "Oh foolish king, you have wasted all this long life and now you are near death. You have made no attempt to destroy your greed and envy, to live without hating, and to get rid of your ignorance by learning the truth and becoming wise."

As he thought this, his body burned and the sweat kept rolling down. Then he decided3 once and for all(一劳永逸地，彻底地) , "Itis time to give up the kingship, be ordained4(命令，注定) as a monk5, and practice meditation6!" Thinking so, he granted the income of a whole town to the barber. It amounted to one-hundred-thousand per year.

Then the king called his oldest son to him and said,"My son, I have seen a gray hair. I have become old. I have enjoyed the worldly(世俗的) pleasures of great wealth and power. When I die, I want to be reborn in a heaven world, to enjoy the pleasures of the gods. So I will be ordainedas a monk. You must now take the responsibility of rulingthe country. I will live the life of a monk in the forest."

Hearing of this, the royal ministers and the rest of the court rushed to the king and said, "Our lord, why do you suddenly want to be ordained?"

The king held up the gray hair in his hand and said, "My ministers and subjects, I have realized that this gray hair shows that the three stages of life youth, middleage and old age--are coming to an end. This first gray hair was the messenger of death sitting on my head. Gray hairs are like angels sent by the god of death. Therefore, this very day is the time for me to be ordained."

The people wept at the news of his departure. King Makhadeva gave up his royal life, went into the forest, and was ordained as a monk. There he practiced what holy men call the 'Four Heavenly States of Mind'. First is loving-kindness, tender affection for all. Second is feeling sympathy and pity for all those who suffer. Third is feeling happiness for all those who are joyful7. And the fourthstate is balance and calm, even in the face of difficulties or troubles.

After 84,000 years of great effort meditating8 andpracticing these states as a humble9forest monk, theBodhisatta died. He was reborn in a high heaven world, tolive a life a million years long!

The moral is: Even a long life is too short to waste.

短篇英文寓言故事2:Village Doe and Mountain Buck

Once upon a time, in northern India, there was a herd1 of(一群) village deer. They were used to being near villages; they were born there and grew up there. They knew they had to be very careful around people. This was especially true at harvest time, when the crops were tall,and the farmers trapped and killed any deer who came near.

At harvest time, the village deer stayed in the forest all day long. They only came near the village during the dark of the night. One of these was a beautiful young doe(母鹿) .She had soft reddish-brown fur, a fluffy2(蓬松的) white tail and big wide bright eyes.

During this particular season, there was a young mountain buck3 who had strayed4 into the same low forest. One day, he saw the beautiful young doe, and immediately became infatuated with(迷恋) her. He didn't know anything about her. But he imagined himself to be deeply in love with her, just because of her reddish-brown fur and her fluffy white tail and her big wide bright eyes. He even dreamed about her, although she did not know he existed!

After a few days, the young mountain buck decided5 to introduce himself. As he was walking out into the clearing where she was grazing6, he was entranced by her appearance and could not take his eyes off her. He began speaking: "Oh my sweet beauty, as lovely as the stars and as bright as the moon, I confess to you that I am deeply--" Just then the young buck'shoof7(蹄) got caught in a root, he tripped and fell, and his face splashed8 in a mudpuddle9(泥潭) ! The pretty village doe was flattered10, so she smiled. But inside, she thought this mountain buck(雄鹿) was really rather silly!

Meanwhile, unknown to the deer, there was a dan of tree fairies(精灵) living in that part of the forest. They had been watching the mountain buck, while he secretly watched thevillage doe. When he walked out into the clearing, began his speech, and fell in the mud puddle -- the fairies laughed and laughed. "What fools these dumb animals are!" they cried. But one fairy did not laugh. He said, "If ear this is a warning of danger to this young fool?

The young buck was a little embarrassed, but he didnot see it as any kind of warning. From then on, he followed the doe wherever she went. He kept telling her how beautiful she was and how much he loved her. She didn't pay much attention.

Then night came, and it was time for the doe to go down to the village. The people who lived along the way knew the deer passed by at night. So they set traps to catch them. That night a hunter waited, hiding behind a bush.

Carefully, the village doe set out. The mountain buck, who was still singing her praises(赞美诗), went right along with her. She stopped and said to him, "My dear buck, you are not experienced with being around villages. You don't know how dangerous human beings are. The village, and the way to it, can bring death to a deer even at night. Since you are so young and inexperienced (and she thought to herself, 'and foolish'), you should not come down to the village with me. You should remain in the safety of the forest."

At this, the tree fairies applauded11(赞同，称赞) . But of course, the deer could not hear them.

The young buck paid no attention to the doe's warning. He just said, "Your eyes look so lovely in the moonlight!" and kept walking with her. She said, "If you won't listen to me, at least be quiet!" He was so infatuated with her, that he could not control his mind. But he did finally shut his mouth!

After a while, they approached the place where the hunter was hiding behind a bush. The fairies saw him, and became agitated12(激动的，焦虑的) and frightened for the deer's safety. They flew nervously13 around the tree branches, but they could only watch.

The doe could smell the hiding man. She was afraid of a trap. So, thinking to save her own life, she let the buck go first. She followed a little way behind.

When the hunter saw the unsuspecting mountain buck, he shot his arrow and killed him instantly. Seeing this, the terrified doe turned tail and ran back to the forest clearing as fast as she could.

The hunter claimed his kill. He started a fire, skinned the deer, cooked some of the venison(鹿肉，野味) and ate his fill. Then he threw the carcass(尸体，残骸) over his shoulder and carried it back home to feed his family.

When the fairies saw what happened, some of them cried. As they watched the hunter cut up the once noble looking buck, some of them felt sick. Others blamed the careful doe for leading him to the slaughter14.

But the wise fairy, who had given the first warning, said, "It was the excitement ofinfatuation(迷恋，醉心) that killed this foolish deer. Such blind desire brings false happiness at first, but ends in pain and suffering."

The moral is: Infatuation leads to destruction.

短篇英文寓言故事3:Sacrifice your own wrong doing

Once upon a time, King Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares, in northern India. TheEnlightenment(启蒙运动) Being was born as his son, the prince. Being quite intelligent, he completed his entire education by the age of 16. So, at this early age, his father made himsecond in command(副指挥，第二把手) .

In those days, most people in Benares worshipped gods. They were very superstitious1(迷信的) . They thought gods caused things to happen to them, rather than being results of their own actions. So they would pray to these gods and ask special favors. They would ask for a lucky marriage, or the birth of a child, or riches, or fame.

They would promise the gods that, if their prayers were answered, they would pay them by making offerings to them. In addition to flowers and perfumes, they imagined the gods desired the sacrifice of animals. So, when they thought the gods had helped them, they killed many animals — goats, lambs, chickens, pigs and others.

The prince saw all this and thought, "These helpless animals are also subjects of the king, so I must protect them. The people commit these unwholesome(不健康的) acts due to ignorance and superstition2. This cannot be true religion.

For true religion offers life as it really is, not killing3. True religion offers peace of mind, not cruelty.

"I fear these people believe in their superstitions4 too strongly to give them up. This is very sad. But perhaps their beliefs can at least be put to good use. Some day I will become king. So I must begin to make a plan to let their superstitions help them. If they must offer sacrifices, let them kill their own greed and hatred5, instead of these helpless animals! Then the whole kingdom will benefit."

So the prince devised a clever long term plan. Every so often, he rode in his grand chariot(二轮战车) to a popular banyan6 tree(菩提树) just outside the city. This was a huge tree, where the people prayed and made offerings to a god they thought lived there. The prince came down from his chariot and made the same offerings as the others — incense7(香) , flowers, perfumes and water — but not animal sacrifices.

In this way he made a great show, and the news spread about his offerings. Pretty soon, all the people thought he was a true believer in the great god of the banyan tree.

In due time, King Brahmadatta died and his son became king. He ruled as a righteous(正直的，公正的) king, and the people benefited. So all his subjects came to trust and respect him as a just and honorable king.

Then one day, he decided8 it was the right time to carry out the rest of his plan. So he called all the leading citizens of Benares to the royal assembly hall. He asked them, "Worthy9ministers and loyal subjects, do you know how I was able to make sure that I would become king?" No one could answer.

He said, "Do you remember that I often gave wonderful sweet offerings to the great god of the banyan tree?" "Yes, our lord," they said.

The king continued, "At each of those times, I made a promise to the powerful god of the tree. I prayed, 'Oh mighty10 one, if you make me King of Benares, I will offer a special sacrifice to you, far greater than flowers and perfumes.'

"Since I am now the king, you all can see for yourselves that the god has answered my prayers. So now I must keep my promise and offer the special sacrifice."

All those in the assembly hall agreed. They said, "We must prepare this sacrifice at once. What animals do you wish to kill?"

The king said, "My dear subjects(人民) , I am glad you are so willing to cooperate. I promised the great god of the banyan tree that I would sacrifice anyone who fails to practice the Five Training Steps. That is, anyone who destroys life, takes what is not given, does wrong in sexual ways, speaks falsely, or loses his mind from alcohol. I promised that, if any do these things, I will offer their guts11(内脏) , and their flesh and blood on the great god's altar(祭坛，圣坛) !"

Being so superstitious, all those in the hall agreed that this must be done, or the god would surely punish the king and the kingdom.

The king thought, "Ah, such is the power of superstition that these people have lost all common sense! They cannot see that, since the first training step is to give up killing, if I sacrificed one of my subjects, I would be next on the altar! And such is the power of superstition that I could make such a promise, and never have to carry it out!"

So, with full confidence in the power of superstition, the king said to the leading citizens, "Go into all the kingdom and announce the promise I made to the god. Then proclaim(宣告，公布) that the first one-thousand who break any of the training steps will have the honor of being sacrificed, to keep the king's promise."

Lo and behold12(你瞧) , the people of Benares became famous for carefully practicing the Five Training Steps. And the good king, who knew his subjects so well, sacrificed no one.

The moral is: Sacrifice your own wrong doing, not some helpless animal.