从前，有个官员过生日。

In the past, an official celebrated his birthday.

他手下的一个小官听说他属“鼠”，为了巴结他，就让人用金子铸了一只金老鼠作为寿礼，登门祝寿。

A small official under him heard that the official was born in the year of the rat. To curry the official’s favour, he asked someone to cast a gold rat as a birthday present and went to the official’s house to congratulate him on his birthday.

这个官员一见金老鼠，很是高兴，说：

The official was very pleased at the sight of the gold rat and said:

“你们知道吗？过几天，我的夫人也要过生日了，她是属‘牛’的。”

“Do you know? In a few days my wife will celebrate her birthday too. She was born in the year of ‘the ox’.”

*选自明朝冯梦龙（公元1574—1646年）的《笑府》

*Selected from the book Storehouse of Funny Stories by Feng Menglong (1574-1646 A.D.) of the Ming Dynasty

【生词与短语 New Words & Expressions】

1.夫人属“牛” [fū rén shǔ niú]  My Wife Was Born in the Year of “the Ox”

2.属…… [shǔ]  v.born in the year of...

3.巴结 [bā jiē]  v.curry favour

4.铸 [zhù]  v.cast

5.寿礼 [shòu lǐ]  n.birthday present

6.登门 [dēng mén]  v.go to somebody’s house

7.祝寿 [zhù shòu ]  v.congratulate someone on his / her birthday