A farmer once caught an eagle
in a trap.
"I cannot let a magnificent
bird like you end up in a cage,"*
he said, releasing the spring
that held the bird's leg. "You
should be free to fly over the mountains and soar
in the sky."
The bird looked at him gratefully
and flew off. A few days later the farmer was resting at midday in
the shade of an old wall. He was
dozing comfortably after his lunch
of bread and cheese, when suddenly the eagle swooped
down and plucked off his cap.
"What's that?" cried the farmer with a start,
leaping to his feet and running
after the bird. "Give me back my cap this minute! What kind of
gratitude is that?"
The eagle flew several yards
away, then dropped the cap and hopped
about on the ground beside it. The farmer picked the cap up, dusted
it down, and turned crossly away.
He was just 16in time to see a large section
of the wall where he had been sitting crumble
and fall in a heap.
"Why, you saved my life, eagle," he said, looking round
for the bird. But the eagle had flown away, and was only a speck
in the clear sky. |
eagle [ `i:gl
] n .鹰
trap [ trAp ] n.&vt. 圈套
magnificent [ mAg`nifis[nt ] a. 美丽的
end up … 结束
cage [ keidV ] n. 鸟笼
release [ ri`l:s ] vt.&n. 松开
spring [ spriN ] n.&vi. 弹簧
hold [ h[uld ] vt.&n. 夹住
soar [ sR: ] vi.&n. 翱翔
gratefully [ g`reitfuli ] ad. 感激地
shade [ Feid ] n. 树荫
doze [ d[uz ] vi. 打瞌睡
cheese [ tFi:z ] n. 奶酪
swoop [ swu:p ] vi.&vt. 猛扑
pluck [ plQk ] vi.&n. 拖
start [ sta:t ] n.&vt. 吃惊
leap [ li:p ] vi.&vt. 跳跃
gratitude [ g`rAtitju:d ] n 感恩
yard [ ja:d ] n.. 码
hop [ hRp ] vi&vi. 齐足跳行
turn [ t[:n ] vt.&vi. 转身
crossly [` `krRsli ] ad. 相反地
section [ ``sekF[n ] n .&vt. 一部分
crumble [ `krQmbl ] vi.&vt.&n.
崩溃; 面包屑
heap [ hi:p ] n. 堆
speck [ spek ] n.&vt. 斑点；有斑点 |