Poor Birds
可怜的小鸟
There was a flock of birds in the jungle near a village. They lived together in a big tree and had a lot of fun every day. This flock of birds usually flew to different places in groups, making a beautiful picture in the sky. Sometimes they have a heated discussion in the tree.
在一个小村庄附近的丛林里有一小鸟，它们共同栖息在一棵大树上，每天过着快乐的生活。这小鸟常常成结队地飞往不同的地方，它们的身姿形成天空一道漂亮的风景。有时，它们会在大树上展开激烈的争论
One day, a farmer went to the jungle to trap some animals for dinner. He saw a lot of birds in the tree, so he threw some corn on the ground and waited until the birds came down to eat. Then he threw a big net over the birds to trap them.
一天，一个农夫到丛林里捕捉猎物用作晚餐。他看到大树上有很多小鸟，于是就在地上撒了些谷物，等着小鸟来吃。然后他支起一张大网捕捉来觅食的小鸟。
When the birds were in the net, they were all afraid and wanted to get out of the net. Some birds in this net said, “Let’s help one other to fly together and push this net up into the tree so we can get out of here.”Everyone listened and count ed, “One, two, three—everyone flies!” They all flew and pushed the net up into the tree and flew out of the net.
被网罩住后，小鸟们都很害怕，想从中逃出去。有些鸟说：“我们
大家一起飞，合力把这张网挂到树上，然后我们就能出去了。大家都听从了这一建议，然后开始数数，‘1，2，3——飞！’所有的小鸟都飞了起来，把网挂到了树上，然后大家都从网中飞了出去。
After that, they sat in the tree and talked to each other. A black bird said,“Do you know why we did not get killed? Because of my idea! If you hadn't had me, you all would have died!! See how smart I was!!”
A white bird said,“No! No! That was my idea, not yours!” Another said, “It wasn't either of your ideas; it was mine only.” Another one said, “OK! OK! If you think you are very clever and have a lot of power, next time you do it. I will not do anything. We will see how clever you are!” All the birds were quarrel ing. Everyone became upset, confused, and angry. They refused to admit other birds’ power to succeed in escaping from the net.
译文翻译
事后，这些小鸟停在树上讨论这件事。一只黑的鸟说：“你知道我们为什么得以逃脱吗？因为我出的主意，要不是我，你们大家都得丧命。看我多聪明啊！”一只白的鸟说：“不对，不对，那是我的主意，不是你的！”另一只说“不是你们两个任何人的主意，完全是我的主意。”又有一只鸟说：“好吧，好吧，如果你们很聪明，很有能力，下一次你们来，我什么都不做。看一下你们到底有多聪明！”所有的小鸟都吵个不停。大家都变得开始烦躁，不解，气愤，都拒不承认在这件事上其它小鸟所起的作用。
A couple of days later, the farmer came to trap some birds again. This time he did the same thing as he had done before. To his surprise, there were still many birds in his net this time, too. Two or three of the birds shouted,“Hurry up! We must get out of this net. Everyone flies together.” But no one paid attention. They just wanted to do everything for themselves. A black bird said to the white bird, “You said that you had lots of power and good ideas. Now you should do something! Help everybody here. I can’t do anything because I am not smarter than you!!!” he ridiculed. Another said,“You said that you w
ere very clever. Now show your intelligence to everyone”
过了一些日子，农夫又来捕鸟了。这次他和之前的做法一样。让他感到吃惊的是，他这次仍然用网捕到很多鸟。其中有两三只鸟大喊
道：“快点，我们必须从网中逃出去。大家一起飞。”但是没有鸟儿听。它们只想着自我行事。黑鸟对白鸟说：“你说过你很有能力和想法，现在该你显身手了，帮帮大家啊，我什么也做不了，因为我没有你聪明！”它语气里带着嘲讽。另一只鸟说，“你们说你们很聪明，那现在展示给大家看啊。”
No one did anything. They just waited to see who would act. Finally, the farmer came to get the birds in the net. The flock didn't have time and chance to escape any more. They all became a delicious food in the farmer's family table.
没有一只鸟行动，它们只是在那儿等着看谁会行动。最后，农夫来收网了。小鸟们再也没有时间和机会逃跑了。它们都成了农夫餐桌上的美食。
(478 words)