English Original
A silken-eared Spaniel, who traced his descent from King Charles the Second of England, chanced to look into a mirror leaning against the wainscoting of a room on the ground floor of his mistress's house. Seeing his reflection, he supposed it to be another dog outside and said:
"I can chew up any such milksoppy pup as that, and I will."
So he ran out-of-doors and around to the side of the house where he fancied the enemy was. It so happened that at that moment a Bulldog sat there sunning his teeth. The Spaniel stopped short in dire consternation, and, after regarding the Bulldog a moment from a safe distance, said:
"I don't know whether you cultivate the arts of peace or your flag is flung to the battle and the breeze and your voice is for war. If you are a civilian, the windows of this house flatter you worse than a newspaper, but if you're a soldier, they do you a grave injustice."
This speech being unintelligible to the Bulldog, he only civilly smiled, which so terrified the Spaniel that he dropped dead in his tracks.
中文翻译
一只丝绒耳朵的西班牙猎犬，自诩是英国国王查理二世的后裔，偶然间瞥见了靠在女主人房子一楼房间护墙板上的一面镜子。看到自己的倒影，他以为那是外面的另一只狗，便说道：
“我能把那种乳臭未干的小狗嚼碎，而且我会的。”
于是他跑到屋外，绕到房子侧面，他以为敌人就在那里。碰巧那时一只斗牛犬正坐在那里晒太阳，龇着牙。猎犬猛地停住，惊恐万分。在安全距离外打量了斗牛犬片刻后，他说：
“我不知道您是崇尚和平艺术，还是您的旗帜已为战斗与微风飘扬，您的声音是为战争而发。如果您是位平民，这房子的窗户对您的奉承比报纸还糟糕；但如果您是位军人，它们可就对您太不公了。”
这番话对斗牛犬来说难以理解，他只是礼貌地笑了笑，这却把猎犬吓得魂飞魄散，当场倒地身亡。