LESSON 19

THE BIRDS SET FREE

小鸟自由了

1．A man was walking one day through a large city. On a street corner he saw a boy with a number of small birds for sale, in a cage.

2．He looked with sadness upon the little prisoners flying about the cage, peeping through the wires, beating them with their wings, and trying to get out.

3．He stood for some time looking at the birds. At last he said to the boy,"How much do you ask for your birds?"

4．"Fifty cents apiece, sir," said the boy. "I do not mean how much apiece," said the man, "but how much for all of them? I want to buy them all."

5．The boy began to count, and found they came to five dollars. "There is your money," said the man. The boy took it, well pleased with his morning's trade.

6．No sooner was the bargain settled than the man opened the cage door, and let all the birds fly away.

7．The boy, in great surprise, cried, "What did you do that for, sir? You have lost all your birds."

8．"I will tell you why I did it," said the man. "I was shut up three years in a French prison, as a prisoner of war, and I am resolved never to see anything in prison which I can make free."

【中文阅读】

1．有一天，一位绅士在一座大城市里穿行。走到一个街角，他看到一个小男孩在兜售笼子里的小鸟。

2．他忧郁地看着那些囚犯似的小鸟在笼子里飞来飞去，透过网格传出了唧唧喳喳地叫声，它们不停地拍打着翅膀，努力想飞出去。

3．他在那里站了一会儿，一直看着这些小鸟。最后，他对小男孩说：“这些鸟，你卖多少钱？”

4．“五毛钱一只，先生，”小男孩说。“我没问你多少钱一只，”这个男人说，“我想知道这一笼鸟卖多少钱？我想买下所有的鸟。”

5．小男孩开始计数，最后发现这些鸟能卖五美元。“这是给你的钱，”这个男人说。男孩接过了钱，很高兴能在早上有这样一桩买卖。

6．就在交易成功的一刹那，这个男人立刻打开了鸟笼的门，所有的鸟儿立刻倾巢而出。

7．男孩惊讶极了，大喊道：“先生，您在做什么呀？您失去了所有的鸟。”

8．这个男人说：“我会告诉你这样做的原因。作为一个战犯，我在一所法国监狱里被囚禁了三年，而且我下定决心，只要我能做到，绝不会再看到任何一个人被关进监狱。”