Monu the mongoose1 crawled2 out of the ditch3 in the back garden. Hismother was already out with his three little brothers. They had long bodies withshort legs. They did things fast. They were already good hunters4 like their mother.

But Monu was not smart like his brothers. He didn’t like chasing5 mice andgarden rats like they did. He didn’t even like to go for frogs and lizards. And hedisliked snakes most of all！ His brothers laughed at him.“Little coward6！ ”theylaughed at him.“Poor scared baby！ ”

Monu thought chasing grasshoppers were fun. It was also fun to climb up treesand look inside birds’nests7. Monu liked the taste of birds’eggs. And he likedeating roots and berries. But his brothers said that it was a disgrace8 to be socoward. They fought with snakes and often killed them.

Monu’s brothers liked meat best. All of them had sharp9 teeth. It was veryuseful for tearing10 meat and cutting them up into pieces. They did it when theyattacked11 rats， mice and frogs.

“Ma， why do you keep chasing rats and mice like a cat？”Monu asked one day.“I don’t，”said his mother.“The cat attacks mice on the sly12. We don’t！ We alwaysattack animals openly and directly. Why ask？ All you ever do is eating eggs andberries. You should have been a bird and not a mongoose！ ”said Monu’s brothers.

貓鼬莫努從后花園的水溝里爬了出來。它的母親已經(jīng)和它的三個弟弟出去了。它們有長長的身體和短短的腿。它們動作敏捷。它們已經(jīng)像它們的母親一樣是優(yōu)秀的獵手了。

但是莫努不像它的兄弟們那樣聰明。它不喜歡像它們那樣追逐小老鼠和花園里的大老鼠。它甚至不喜歡去抓青蛙和蜥蜴。它最不喜歡蛇！它的兄弟們都嘲笑它。“小懦夫！”它們笑它，“可憐的受驚寶寶！”

莫努認為追逐蚱蜢很有趣，爬到樹上看看鳥巢里面也很有趣。莫努喜歡鳥蛋的味道。它喜歡吃樹根和漿果。但是它的兄弟們說，如此懦弱是一種恥辱。它們和蛇搏斗，經(jīng)常殺死它們。

莫努的兄弟們最喜歡吃肉。它們都有鋒利的牙齒，對于把肉撕開和嚼碎非常有用。當它們攻擊老鼠和青蛙時，它們就是這樣做的。

“媽，你為什么像貓一樣不停地追逐老鼠？”一天，莫努問。“我才沒有呢。”它媽媽說?！柏埧偸峭低档毓衾鲜蟆Ｎ覀儾粫?！我們總是公然而直接地攻擊其他動物。為什么問這個？你只會吃雞蛋和漿果。你應該是一只鳥而不是一只貓鼬！”莫努的兄弟們說。

Monu’s eyes filled with tears. He couldn’t help being different！ He was surethere were other mongooses like him. Unluckily， he didn’t know any！

“Don’t laugh at him，”said their mother.“He is very young yet. I’m sure he， too，will catch a snake some day and we’ll all be proud13 of him.”“Monu catches asnake！ ”laughed the others.“He hasn’t even killed a little mouse as yet！ ”

Monu’s brothers were smart and fast. He often watched them play with snakes.They never got bitten by them. To them it was an exciting game. The hair on theirbody bristled14 whenever they were excited. And it made them look much larger thanthey actually were. Then， just as the snake lowered15 its head to attack， one of hisbrothers would hit the back of the snake’s head， killing it. It was really clever.

The gardener16 did not chase the mongoose family. He left them alone. Monuonce heard him telling his son that they were very useful because they killed rats，mice， snakes， insects and scorpions17.

Monu liked the gardener’s son. He often gave him nuts and berries. And hecalled Monu his friend. Monu’s brothers did not like human beings. They laughed atMonu about his human friend.

One afternoon Monu was all alone in the garden. Thegardener’s son was fast asleep under a tree. Monu saw acobra18 crawling near by. It was very close to the gardener’sson. Would it bite him？ Monu jumped up and was on top ofthe cobra and then hit the back of its head just like he hadseen his brothers do. Taken by surprise， the cobra died onthe place. Monu looked as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Just then Monu’s mother rushed into the garden.“Monu， have you killed this cobra？”she cried excitedly，“None of your brothers did that. I’m proud of you！ ”Monusmiled happily. He had saved his friend from being bitten.

莫努的眼里充滿了淚水。它無法控制自己與眾不同！它確信還有其它像它一樣的貓鼬。不幸的是，它一個也沒見過！

“不要嘲笑他?！彼鼈兊哪赣H說，“他還很年輕。我相信他有一天也會抓到一條蛇，我們都會為他感到驕傲?！薄澳サ缴撸?！”其它貓鼬笑著說，“他甚至連一只小老鼠都沒有殺死過！”

莫努的兄弟們既聰明又敏捷。它經(jīng)?？吹剿鼈兺嫔?。它們從來沒有被咬過。對它們來說，這是一場激動人心的比賽。每當它們興奮起來時，它們身上的毛發(fā)就會豎起來。這讓它們看起來比實際大得多。然后，就在蛇低下頭準備攻擊的時候，其中一個兄弟會攻擊蛇的后腦，一擊斃命。這種做法真的很聰明。

園丁沒有驅逐貓鼬一家，而是任它們自生自滅。莫努曾經(jīng)聽到他告訴他兒子，說它們非常有用，因為它們可以殺死老鼠、蛇、昆蟲和蝎子。

莫努喜歡園丁的兒子。他經(jīng)常給莫努喂堅果和漿果，稱莫努為他的朋友。莫努的兄弟們不喜歡人類。它們嘲笑莫努的人類朋友。

一天下午，莫努獨自在花園里。園丁的兒子在樹下熟睡。莫努看到一條眼鏡蛇在附近爬行。它離園丁的兒子很近。它會咬他嗎？莫努跳起來，在眼鏡蛇的上方，然后打在它的后腦上，就像它看到它的兄弟們所做的那樣。猝不及防之下，眼鏡蛇當場死亡。莫努看起來似乎不敢相信自己的眼睛。

就在那時，莫努的媽媽沖進了花園?！澳銡⒘诉@條眼鏡蛇嗎？”它激動地喊道，“你的兄弟們一個都沒有做到。我為你驕傲！”莫努開心地笑了。它救了它的朋友，讓他不被毒蛇咬傷。