讀點好英文:The Sparrow 麻雀

The Sparrow 麻雀

An old Japanese man kept a sparrow of which he was very fond. One day it flew away and the old man became sad.He went out looking all over the place for his sparrow.At last, near a certain mountain, he met his sparrow.The old man said joyously，“I missed you very much, sparrow.Will you follow me home?”Though the sparrow was happy to see the old man, it shook its head.

“Take me to your home and let me see how you live.”the old man pleaded.“I will go away happy to see if you are safe.”So the sparrow led the old man to his home. There were many other birds.They all looked healthy and enjoyed each other's company.

“I am glad you are well and have good companions, dear sparrow. I can go back in peace，”said the old man.

When it was time for the old man to leave, the sparrow gave him a basket to take home with him as a present.

“Well，”said the old man's wife angrily when he returned，“where have you been all day?And what have you here?”

“I have been to the home of my lost sparrow and received this basket as a present，”replied he.

When she opened the basket she was amazed to find it was full of gold and silver.

The old woman, who was very greedy, decided that she would like a basket of gold, so she set out for the sparrow's home. Unlike the old man who was kind to the sparrow, the wife used to treat it very badly.

“Hello, sparrow, how are you?I missed you very much，”cried the old woman hypocriticaIIy. The sparrow said nothing and she finally decided to go home.Still the sparrow did not give her any present she had hoped for.Before she left, she unashamedly asked for a present.“My husband got a basket of gold and silver from you，”she reminded the bird.

“Alright，”replied the sparrow，“for your husband's sake, I offer you two choices. One basket is light and the other is heavy.Just choose one！But you can only open the basket when you reach home！”

The greedy old woman cried out，“I'll take the heavy one，”as she thought its weight will contain more gold and silver.“Are you sure?”asked the sparrow.

“Yes. As sure as you see me standing before you！I'll take the heavy basket，”she replied.So the old woman panted and puffed breathlessly as she carried the heavy basket all the way.But when she arrived home and opened the basket, it was full of stones.

一位上了年紀的日本人養(yǎng)了一只麻雀，他非常喜歡它。一天，麻雀飛走了，老人很傷心，到處尋找。最后，在某一座高山附近，他遇到了麻雀。老人高興地說：“麻雀啊，我很想你，跟我回家吧！”盡管麻雀見到老人很高興，但它還是搖了搖頭。

“那把我?guī)У侥愕男录?，讓我看看你生活得怎樣?rdquo;老人請求道，“如果你很安全，那我就可以安心地回家了。”于是麻雀把老人領到它的家，那兒有好多其他鳥兒，看起來都很健康，彼此相處得很愉快。

“親愛的麻雀，我很高興你生活得很好，有那么多好同伴，我可以放心回去了。”老人說。

他正要離開時，麻雀給他一個籃子作為禮物讓他帶回家。

“喂！”老人回家后，他妻子生氣地說，“你一整天都跑到哪兒去了？你拿的是什么？”

“我到我們失蹤的麻雀家里去了，這籃子是麻雀送我的禮物。”他回答道。

她打開籃子，驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)里面裝滿了金子和銀子。

老婦人很貪心，覺得自己也應該有一籃子金子，于是她也到麻雀家去了。老婦人沒有老人對麻雀那么好，她過去就一直虐待麻雀。

“嗨，麻雀，你好嗎？我很想你！”老婦人虛偽地叫道。麻雀什么也沒說。最后老婦人決定回去，麻雀也沒給她想要的禮物。但她離開前厚顏無恥地開口要禮物。“我家老頭子從你這兒得到了一籃子金子和銀子。”她提醒麻雀說。

“好吧！”麻雀答道，“看在你丈夫的面子上，我給你兩個籃子供你選擇，一個籃子輕，一個籃子重，你只能選一個，而且只有回家后才能打開。”

貪心的老婦人叫道：“我要重的那一個。”因為她想重籃子里一定裝了更多的金子和銀子。“你確定要重的嗎？”麻雀問道。

“是的，確定無疑。我要重的籃子。”她答道。于是，老婦人一路上背著重重的籃子，累得氣喘吁吁。但是，當她回家打開一看，里面全是石頭。