双语·《伊索寓言》 猫头鹰和其他鸟

THE OWL AND THE BIRDS

The Owl is a very wise bird; and once, long ago, when the first oak sprouted in the forest, she called all the other Birds together and said to them, “You see this tiny tree? If you take my advice, you will destroy it now when it is small: for when it grows big, the mistletoe will appear upon it, from which birdlime will be prepared for your destruction.” Again, when the first flax was sown, she said to them, “Go and eat up that seed, for it is the seed of the flax, out of which men will one day make nets to catch you.” Once more, when she saw the first archer, she warned the Birds that he was their deadly enemy, who would wing his arrows with their own feathers and shoot them. But they took no notice of what she said: in fact, they thought she was rather mad, and laughed at her. When, however, everything turned out as she had foretold, they changed their minds and conceived a great respect for her wisdom. Hence, whenever she appears, the Birds attend upon her in the hope of hearing something that may be for their good. She, however, gives them advice no longer, but sits moping and pondering on the folly of her kind.

猫头鹰和其他鸟

猫头鹰是一种非常聪明的鸟，很久之前，当森林中第一棵橡树刚开始萌芽的时候，猫头鹰将其他鸟都召集过来，对他们说：“你们看到这棵小树了吗？如果你们愿意接受我的建议，那么就趁现在它还小的时候毁掉它，因为它会长大，而槲寄生会出现在树上，槲寄生能提炼出黏鸟胶，到时候就是你们毁灭的时候了。”第一株麻被种下的时候，猫头鹰对其他鸟说：“去把那种子吃掉，那是麻的种子，人类会用麻编成罗网来抓捕你们。”还有一次，猫头鹰看到了第一个弓箭手，便警告其他鸟那是他们的死敌，他会用鸟羽装饰箭支，然后再射向鸟类。但是鸟儿们都没有听从猫头鹰的忠告，实际上，大家都认为她疯了，还嘲笑她。但是当事情的发展果然同她的预言一样时，他们便改变了看法，开始非常佩服猫头鹰的智慧。从此，无论何时，只要猫头鹰出现，百鸟便聚集在她身边，希望能够听到一些对他们有好处的事情，但是猫头鹰却不再给他们建议，只是悠闲地栖息在枝头，心里思索着鸟类的愚蠢。