THE GOLDEN BIRD

A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore golden apples. These apples were always counted, and about the time when they began to grow ripe it was found that every night one of them was gone. The king became very angry at this, and ordered the gardener to keep watch all night under the tree. The gardener set his eldest son to watch; but about twelve o'clock he fell asleep, and in the morning another of the apples was missing. Then the second son was ordered to watch; and at midnight he too fell asleep, and in the morning another apple was gone. Then the third son offered to keep watch; but the gardener at first would not let him, for fear some harm should come to him: however, at last he consented, and the young man laid himself under the tree to watch. As the clock struck twelve he heard a rustling noise in the air, and a bird came flying that was of pure gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with its beak, the gardener's son jumped up and shot an arrow at it. But the arrow did the bird no harm; only it dropped a golden feather from its tail, and then flew away. The golden feather was brought to the king in the morning, and all the council was called together. Everyone agreed that it was worth more than all the wealth of the kingdom: but the king said, 'One feather is of no use to me, I must have the whole bird.'

Then the gardener's eldest son set out and thought to find the golden bird very easily; and when he had gone but a little way, he came to a wood, and by the side of the wood he saw a fox sitting; so he took his bow and made ready to shoot at it. Then the fox said, 'Do not shoot me, for I will give you good counsel; I know what your business is, and that you want to find the golden bird. You will reach a village in the evening; and when you get there, you will see two inns opposite to each other, one of which is very pleasant and beautiful to look at: go not in there, but rest for the night in the other, though it may appear to you to be very poor and mean.' But the son thought to himself, 'What can such a beast as this know about the matter?' So he shot his arrow at the fox; but he missed it, and it set up its tail above its back and ran into the wood. Then he went his way, and in the evening came to the village where the two inns were; and in one of these were people singing, and dancing, and feasting; but the other looked very dirty, and poor. 'I should be very silly,' said he, 'if I went to that shabby house, and left this charming place'; so he went into the smart house, and ate and drank at his ease, and forgot the bird, and his country too.

Time passed on; and as the eldest son did not come back,and no tidings were heard of him, the second son set out, and the same thing happened to him. He met the fox, who gave him the good advice: but when he came to the two inns, his eldest brother was standing at the window where the merrymaking was, and called to him to come in; and he could not withstand the temptation, but went in, and forgot the golden bird and his country in the same manner.

Time passed on again, and the youngest son too wished to set out into the wide world to seek for the golden bird; but his father would not listen to it for a long while, for he was very fond of his son, and was afraid that some ill luck might happen to him also, and prevent his coming back. However, at last it was agreed he should go,for he would not rest at home; and as he came to the wood, he met the fox, and heard the same good counsel. But he was thankful to the fox, and did not attempt his life as his brothers had done; so the fox said, 'Sit upon my tail, and you will travel faster.' So he sat down, and the fox began to run, and away they went over stock and stone so quick that their hair whistled in the wind.

原文翻译与重点词汇

以下翻译如有不足之处，请各位同学们批评指正。

黄金鸟 ①

第一段

从前有个国王拥有一个漂亮的花园，花园里生长着一颗能结金苹果的树。这些苹果经常会被清点好个数。随着时间的流逝，这些苹果渐渐成熟起来，但人们发现，每晚过后，苹果总会少一个。国王对此非常生气，并命令园丁在树下每晚进行站岗。园丁让他的大儿子前去看管，但到了十二点的时候他就睡着了，等到了早晨便丢失了一个苹果。之后，他又让二儿子前去看管，但到了午夜时分二儿子也睡着了，故而第二天又丢失了一个苹果。于是三儿子提议要去站岗，园丁本来不想让他去，因为怕可能给他带来伤害，但最后还是同意他去了，三儿子便躺在树下看守。在钟表的指针指向午夜十二点时，他听到空中出现了一阵沙沙的响声，随后看到一只金色的鸟儿飞了过来，猛地用它的嘴咬住了一个苹果。见状，三儿子一跃而起，并朝这只鸟儿射了一支箭。但这只箭并未给鸟儿造成任何伤害，只从它的尾巴上掉下了一片羽毛，于是便飞走了。第二天，他将金羽毛带给了国王，所有大臣们聚集在一起讨论了起来，大家都认为这比王国所有的财富都要值钱。但国王却说：“只有一片羽毛对我没用，我必须抓来整只鸟儿”！

1.certain除了有形容词确定的意思之外，还有形容词“某一”的意思。

2.grow ripe 成熟

3.keep watch站岗，守夜；防范；望风

4.offer to do sth.提议做某事

5.rustling 瑟瑟声，沙沙声

6.snap v.猛地咬住，折断

7.council n.委员会，政务会

第二段

于是园丁的大儿子动身出发了，他觉得找到这只鸟会非常容易。当他走了一段路后，他来到了一片树林。在森林的边上他看到坐着一只狐狸。正当他拿起弓箭准备射向狐狸时，狐狸开口冲他说:”不要射我！我能提供给你好办法。我知道你的任务是想找到那只黄金鸟，继续向前走，差不多到今晚你会到达一个村庄。等你到了那里，你会发现有两个小客栈彼此相对而建，其中之一的客栈看起来美丽而豪华，但你不要借宿在那里。相反，你要住在另一间看起来破旧的客栈。”然而，大儿子却想：“一只野兽怎么会知道这种事情呢？”于是他拿箭射向了狐狸，但狐狸把尾巴竖在了背上，逃回了树林。紧接着，他继续赶路，并在夜半时分到达了狐狸所说的客栈。其中一个客栈内的人们在一起唱歌，跳舞和举办宴会，而另一间则显得非常脏乱差。“我想我可真蠢！如果我去了那么寒酸的房子借宿，我就会错过如此有魅力的地方啊！”所以他选择了那间漂亮的房子，并在安逸舒适的状态下吃吃喝喝。忘记了找寻黄金鸟的任务，也忘记了他的国家。

1.bow n.弓；鞠躬；船头 v.鞠躬，点头，弯曲

2.counsel:n.协商，讨论；建议；策略；vt.劝告，建议；提供专业咨询。

3.smart除了聪明的意思，还有漂亮的意思

4.ease n.安逸，舒适

第三段

时间过了很久，由于大儿子没有回来，且没有半点消息，二儿子动身出发了，相同的事情再一次发生到了二儿子的身上。他也遇到了提供给他好建议的狐狸，但当他到达那两个客栈后他看到他的哥哥站在窗边进行着欢庆活动，并叫他也进来。二儿子无法承受住诱惑，但一当他进去的同时，也忘却了黄金鸟的事情和他的国家。

1. tidings n.消息(古)

2. merrymaking n.欢乐，狂欢;欢庆活动

3. temptation n.诱惑

第四段

时间又过了很久，小儿子非常想动身前往这广阔的世界寻找黄金鸟。但是他父亲很长时间都不同意，因为他非常喜欢小儿子，并且害怕厄运也会降临到他身上，故而一直不同意。然而，禁不住小儿子总在家中闹腾，最终父亲同意了他前去。当三儿子到了树林后，他遇到了狐狸，也听到了相同的建议。但是，他对狐狸充满了感激，并且没有按他哥哥的做法行进。所以，狐狸对他说：“做到我的尾巴上来吧，你将走的更快。”当他坐上去后，狐狸开始跑了起来，沿途，他们飞速穿过一块块岩石，他们的毛发在风中呼啸。

1. ill luck 厄运

2. whistle 吹口哨，吹哨子，呼啸

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