There was once a town where the thingeveryone feared the most was getting lost atnight in the“Cave of Fear”. No one had everreturned from there， and whenever anyonegot lost and ended up there， the last that washeard was a great cry of terror， followed by afew enormous1 guffaws2. The people livedin fear that one day the monster would leavethe cave. So they regularly left gifts and foodat the mouth of the cave， and these alwayssoon disappeared.

從前，在一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)上，每個(gè)人最害怕的事情就是晚上在“恐懼之洞”里迷路。從來沒有人從那里回來過，每當(dāng)有人迷路，并最終走到那里去的時(shí)候，最后人們聽到的是一聲恐怖的驚叫，接著是幾聲狂笑。鎮(zhèn)上的居民生活在恐懼中，害怕有一天怪物會(huì)離開山洞。所以他們經(jīng)常在洞口留下禮品和食物，而這些東西總是很快就消失了。

One day， a young man came to the town，and， as he heard about the situation with thecave， he thought that it was unfair. So hedecided to enter the cave and confront3 themonster. The young man asked for some help，but everyone was so afraid that no one wantedto go to the mouth of the cave with him. Hewent inside， finding his way with a torch4，and calling out to the monster， wanting to talkwith it and discuss the situation. At first， the"monster had a good long laugh， and theyoung man followed the sound of themonster’s voice. But then the monsterwent quiet， and the young man had tocarry on， not knowing in which directionto go.

一天，一個(gè)年輕人來到鎮(zhèn)上，當(dāng)他聽說這個(gè)洞穴的情況時(shí)，他認(rèn)為這是不公平的。所以他決定進(jìn)入洞穴會(huì)會(huì)那只怪物。年輕人請求幫助，但每個(gè)人都很害怕，沒有一個(gè)人愿意跟他走到洞口。他走了進(jìn)去，舉著火把找路，大聲向怪物喊話，想和它談?wù)?，討論一下現(xiàn)在的情況。一開始，怪物笑了很久，年輕人跟著怪物的聲音走。但之后怪物安靜了下來，年輕人只好繼續(xù)往前走，但不知道該往哪個(gè)方向走。

Finally he arrived at a huge cave.At the bottom of the cave he thought hecould make out the figure of the monster，and as he stepped close to it， he felt thatsomething hit him hard on his back. Thispushed him towards a hole in the rock.He couldn’t avoid it， and fell through.Believing that he was about to die， he letout one last cry. Then he heard the greatguffaws.

最后，他來到了一個(gè)巨大的洞穴。在洞穴的底部，他覺得自己可以辨認(rèn)出那個(gè)怪物的身影。當(dāng)他走近它時(shí)，他感到有什么東西重重地砸在他的背上。這把他推向巖石上的一個(gè)洞。他躲閃不及，掉了下去。他以為自己就要死了，于是最發(fā)出了最后一聲哀嚎。然后他聽到了一陣哄笑。

“Damn it， I think the monster hasswallowed5 me，”he said while falling.

“該死，我想怪物把我吞下去了?！彼贿呁碌粢贿呎f。

However， as he fell， he heard music，and voices. They got clearer， and when hemade a soft landing at the bottom， heheard a group of people shout，

然而，當(dāng)他往下掉時(shí)，他聽到了音樂和人聲。聲音越來越清晰，當(dāng)在洞底部安全著陸時(shí)，他聽到一群人喊道：

“Surprise！ ”

“驚喜！”

Hardly believing it， he found himselfright in the middle of a big party. Thepartygoers were all those people who hadnever returned to the town. Theyexplained to him that this place had beenthe idea of an old mayor6 of the town.That mayor had tried to accomplish greatthings， but was always held back by thefears of the people around him. So themayor invented the story of the monster todemonstrate7 to people how such anattitude was so limiting8. So the youngman stayed there， enjoying the party andthe company of all those who had dared toget into the cave.

難以置信的是，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己正置身于一場盛大的聚會(huì)之中。參加聚會(huì)的人都是那些再也沒有回到鎮(zhèn)上的人。他們向他解釋說，這個(gè)地方是鎮(zhèn)上一位老鎮(zhèn)長的主意。那位鎮(zhèn)長曾想干一番大事業(yè)，但他周圍人的恐懼總是使他裹足不前。所以鎮(zhèn)長編造了這個(gè)怪物的故事來向人們證明這種態(tài)度是多么的狹隘。那個(gè)年輕人就待在那里，享受著這個(gè)派對，享受著那些敢于走進(jìn)洞穴的人的陪伴。

And what about the town？ In the townthey still believe that to enter the Cave ofFear is the worst of all punishments9...

那小鎮(zhèn)呢？在鎮(zhèn)上，人們?nèi)匀徽J(rèn)為進(jìn)入“恐懼之洞”是最糟糕的懲罰……

（英語原文選自：freestoriesforkids.com）