The Monkey and the Dolphin
When people go on long voyages, they often take their pets, such as pugs or monkeys, with them to kill time. So a man took a pet monkey with him on a ship back to Athens from the East. As they neared the coast of Attica, they were suddenly struck by strong winds and waves, in which the ship capsized.
Everything on the boat fell into the water, and people tried to escape by swimming, including monkeys. A dolphin sees the monkey and thinks it is a man. He takes the monkey on his back and swims to the shore. When they arrived at Piraeus, a port in southeastern Greece, the dolphin asked the monkey if he was from Athens. The monkey answered yes and said he came from a very respectable family. "So you know Piraeus, of course?" "Continued the dolphin. Thinking that the dolphin was referring to a high official or some other person, the monkey replied, "Oh, yes, he is an old friend of mine." Thus, the dolphin found the monkey's hypocrisy. He was so angry that he immediately dived under the water. The unfortunate monkey was soon drowned.
A person who blurts out his words and pretends to understand will still reveal his secret in the end.
猴子和海豚
人们出海远航时,经常随身带着哈巴狗或猴子等宠物来消磨时间。因此,有一个人在从东方返回雅典的船上随身带了一只宠物猴。当他们靠近阿提卡海岸时,突然遭遇了狂风大浪的袭击,航船在风浪中翻没。
船上所有的一切都落入水中,人们试图通过游泳逃生,猴子也在其中。一只海豚看见了猴子,以为是一个人,就把猴子背在自己的背上,向岸边游去。当它们到达希腊东南部港口比雷埃夫斯时,海豚问猴子是不是雅典人。猴子回答说是,并说自己来自一个非常有名望的家族。“那么,你自然知道比雷埃夫斯喽?” 海豚继续问道。猴子以为海豚提及的是一个高官或其他人,便回答说: “噢,是的,他是我的老朋友。” 由此,海豚发现了猴子的虚伪,它极其恼怒,当即潜入水下,不幸的是猴子很快被淹死了。
信口开河,不懂装懂的人最终依然会露馅。