The Swan is said to sing but once in its life—when it knows that it is about to die. A certain man, who had heard of the song of the Swan, one day saw one of these birds for sale in the market, and bought it and took it home with him. A few days later he had some friends to dinner, and produced the Swan, and bade it sing for their entertainment: but the Swan remained silent. In course of time, when it was growing old, it became aware of its approaching end and broke into a sweet, sad song. When its owner heard it, he said angrily, “If the creature only sings when it is about to die, what a fool I was that day I wanted to hear its song! I ought to have wrung its neck instead of merely inviting it to sing.”
据说，天鹅一生只能唱一次歌，就是在它知道自己要死的时候。有一个人曾经听到过天鹅之歌，后来有一天，在集市上看到有卖天鹅的，就买了一只回家。过了些天，他请客人吃饭，便推出了天鹅，让它唱歌哄客人们开心。但是天鹅沉默无声。日子一天天过去，天鹅越来越老，它意识到自己的生命到了尽头，于是唱出了一支甜美而悲伤的歌。主人听到了，十分愤怒地说：“这个鬼东西，只有要死了才唱歌！那天我想听它唱歌是多蠢啊！我当时应该扭断它的脖子，而不是恳求它唱歌。”