In the fields, there was a small animal called "wu shu" (the flying squirrel¹).

田野里有一种小动物，名叫“五鼠”。

It would say to everyone it met:

它逢友便说:

"I have five skills: flying, walking, swimming, climbing trees, and digging holes in the ground."

“我有五种本领:会飞、会走、会游泳、会爬树、还会掘土打洞。”

Thereupon, its pals² would laugh at it, saying:

于是，小伙伴们讥笑它说:

"Though you have learned these skills, you have mastered none of them."

“你虽然学了这几种本领，却一种也没有学好。”

"You can fly, but not high; you can swim, but not far; you can climb trees, but not to the treetop;

“会飞，却飞得不高;会游泳，却游得不远;会爬树，却爬不到树顶;

you can dig holes in the ground, but not deep enough."

会掘土打洞，却打得不深。”

When the flying squirrel heard what its pals said, it ran away manger.

b鼠听了小伙伴们的话后，气呼呼地跑了。

Indeed, the flying squirrel had learned five skills, but when put to use, they were useless.

是啊，A鼠是学了五种本领，但是用起来，却一种也不中用。

How could they be called real skills?

这怎么能说是有真本领呢!