THE WILLOW-WREN AND THE BEAR
Once in summer-time the bear and the wolf were walking in the forest, and the bear heard a bird singing so beautifully that he said: Brother wolf, what bird is it that sings so well?That is the King of birds, said the wolf, before whom we must bow down. In reality the bird was the willow-wren. IF thats the case, said the bear, I should very much like to see his royal palace; come, take me thither.That is not done quite as you seem to think, said the wolf; you must wait until the Queen comes, Soon afterwards, the Queen arrived with some food in her beak, and the lord King came too, and they began to feed their young ones. The bear would have liked to go at once, but the wolf held him back by the sleeve, and said: No, you must wait until the lord and lady Queen have gone away again. So they took stock of the hole where the nest lay, and trotted away. The bear, however, could not rest until he had seen the royal palace, and when a short time had passed, went to it again. The King and Queen had just flown out, so he peeped in and saw five or six young ones lying there. Is that the royal palace? cried the bear; it is a wretched palace, and you are not Kings children, you are disreputable children! When the young wrens heard that, they were frightfully angry, and screamed: No, that we are not! Our parents are honest people! Bear, you will have to pay for that!
The bear and the wolf grew uneasy, and turned back and went into their holes. The young willow-wrens, however, continued to cry and scream, and when their parents again brought food they said: We will not so much as touch one flys leg, no, not if we were dying of hunger, until you have settled whether we are respectable children or not; the bear has been here and has insulted us! Then the old King said: Be easy, he shall be punished, and he at once flew with the Queen to the bears cave, and called in: Old Growler, why have you insulted my children? You shall suffer for itwe will punish you by a bloody war. Thus war was announced to the Bear, and all four-footed animals were summoned to take part in it, oxen, asses, cows, deer, and every other animal the earth contained. And the willow-wren summoned everything which flew in the air, not only birds, large and small, but midges, and hornets, bees and flies had to come.
When the time came for the war to begin, the willow-wren sent out spies to discover who was the enemys commander-in-chief. The gnat, who was the most crafty, flew into the forest where the enemy was assembled, and hid herself beneath a leaf of the tree where the password was to be announced. There stood the bear, and he called the fox before him and said: Fox, you are the most cunning of all animals, you shall be general and lead us.Good, said the fox, but what signal shall we agree upon? No one knew that, so the fox said: I have a fine long bushy tail, which almost looks like a plume of red feathers. When I lift my tail up quite high, all is going well, and you must charge; but if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can. When the gnat had heard that, she flew away again, and revealed everything, down to the minutest detail, to the willow-wren. When day broke, and the battle was to begin, all the four-footed animals came running up with such a noise that the earth trembled. The willow-wren with his army also came flying through the air with such a humming, and whirring, and swarming that every one was uneasy and afraid, and on both sides they advanced against each other. But the willow-wren sent down the hornet, with orders to settle beneath the foxs tail, and sting with all his might. When the fox felt the first string, he started so that he one leg, from pain, but he bore it, and still kept his tail high in the air; at the second sting, he was forced to put it down for a moment; at the third, he could hold out no longer, screamed, and put his tail between his legs. When the animals saw that, they thought all was lost, and began to flee, each into his hole, and the birds had won the battle.
Then the King and Queen flew home to their children and cried: Children, rejoice, eat and drink to your hearts content, we have won the battle! But the young wrens said: We will not eat yet, the bear must come to the nest, and beg for pardon and say that we are honourable children, before we will do that. Then the willow-wren flew to the bears hole and cried: Growler, you are to come to the nest to my children, and beg their pardon, or else every rib of your body shall be broken. So the bear crept thither in the greatest fear, and begged their pardon. And now at last the young wrens were satisfied, and sat down together and ate and drank, and made merry till quite late into the night.
单身歧视Singlism:是汪就要被歧视吗?
灵魂深处发掘你的可贵品质
一味标新立异的“建筑短视”,到底是什么
Generation XL:上学也胖放假也胖的“超重一代”
另类时差:新手爹妈们的“宝贝时差”
手机党都有的“低电量焦虑”,你中了吗?
“替酒师”:妈妈再也不用担心我酒驾回家了
50年拍5万姑娘,他才是真正的街拍鼻祖
“我们不要川普当总统”,川普这么不受待见?
英语说奥运:那个跨栏选手用游泳姿势赢了比赛
普京:美国似乎唯一超级大国,但仍然管不着我们的事
“午饭恐惧症”:午饭没饭友也会恐惧?
宽容自己,亦须多给他人一点耐心
未经历过这11种情感体验,你的人生就不算完整
四种方法让迷失了的你不再彷徨
抖森:和霉霉谈恋爱是什么体验
都说凯特王妃嫁得好,其实她妹嫁得更好!
面对压力,你是“重启一代”还是“IPOD”?
LOL理论:自带不正经因子的一种理论
戴安娜皇家保护官:王妃之死的真正凶手是他
你知道吗?这些奥运项目都起源于英国!
成功灾难:成功之后要小心自己的心态变化
Dumpster Fire:垃圾箱着火,便没救火必要了?
路痴的痛:没有方向感是什么体验
若改变不了环境,何不试着改变心境
desk psychology办公桌心理:从办公桌窥视你的心理秘密
头脑风暴众所周知,“批评风暴”是什么鬼?
职场热词:“过劳模”&“看表族”
失业也淡定的“失业快乐族”
世界名人的饮食怪癖,表示不知该如何表示
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |