还剩2页未读,继续阅读
文本内容:
In theDuck Yard在养鸭场里A duckarrived fromPortugal.Some peoplesaid shecame fromSpain,but that doesn,t reallymatter.She wascalled the Portuguese;she laideggs,and waskilled anddressed andcooked;thats thestoryof herlife.But all the ducklingsthat werehatched fromher eggswere alsocalled Portuguese,and there,s somedistinction inthat.At lastthere wasonly oneleft of her wholefamily inthe duck yard-a yardto whichthe hensalso had access,and wherethe cockstrutted aboutwithendless arrogance.〃IIis loudcrowing annoysme,〃said the Portuguese Duck.But theresno denyinghes ahandsomebird,even ifhe isn,t adrake.Of course,he shouldmoderate hisvoice,but thats an artthatcomes fromhigher education,such asthe little songbirds overin ourneighbours limetrees have.How sweetlythey sing;There,s somethingso touchingover their melodies;I callit Portugal.If Ionly hada littlesongbird like that rd be a kindand goodmother to him,for thatsinmy blood-my Portugueseblood!/zWhile she was speaking,suddenly a littlesongbirdfell headover heelsfrom theroof into theyard.The cathad beenchasing him,but thebird escapedwith abroken wingand felldown intotheduck yard.Thats justlike the cat,that monster!z,said the Portuguese Duck.〃I rememberhis tricksfromwhen Ihad ducklingsof myown.That such a creatureshould bepermitted tolive and roam abouton the roofs!Im suresuch thingscould nothappen inPortugal!,zShe pitiedthe little Songbird,and even the otherducks whoweren,t Portuguesefelt pityforhim,too.“Poor little fellow,〃they said,and thenone afteranother came up tolook athim.〃0f course,we can,t sing,〃they said,“but we have aninner understandingof song,or somethinglikethat.We canfeel it,even if we don,t talkabout it.〃“Then Iwill talkabout it,〃saidthe Portuguese.And I’11do somethingfor thislittlefellow;its onlymy duty.〃And thenshestepped into the watertrough andthrashed herwings aboutthe waterso vigorouslythat thelittle Songbird was almost drownedby theshower hegot,but heknew theDuck meantwell.There,thatsa good deed,“she said.The othersmay observeit andprofit bymy example.〃Peep!〃said the little Bird;one ofhis wingswas broken,and hewas findingit difficulttoshake himself,but hequite understoodthat thebath wasmeant kindly.“You reverykindhearted,madam,z/he said,hoping shewouldn,t givehim another shower.〃I neverthought much about myheart,,z said thePortuguese.But Iknow thismuch-I loveallmy fellowcreatures exceptthecat;nobody couldexpect me to lovehim,for heate uptwo ofmyducklings.Now makeyourself athome,for youcan bequite comfortablehere.I myselfam aforeigner,as youcan tellfrom mybearing andmy featherdress.My drakeis anative ofthiscountry;he doesn,t havemy blood,but stillrmnot proud.If anyonein thisyard canunderstandyou,I maysafely sayit isI.〃“Her beakis fullof portulaca,z,said acommon little Duck,who wasconsidered verywitty.Allthe othercommon ducksdecided theword portulacawas veryfunny,for itsounded likePortugal.They pokedeach otherand said,“Quack!〃He wasreally sowitty!And nowallthe other ducksbeganto payattention tothe little Songbird.“The Portuguesecertainly has a greatcommandof language,z,they said.For ourpart,we haven,t roomin our beaks forsuch bigwords,butwe havejust asmuch sympathy,anyway.Even ifwe don,t actuallydo anythingfor you,at leastwewi11go aboutquietly withyou;and that we thinkis thenicest thingwe cando.〃“You havea lovelyvoice,,z saidone of the olderDucks.〃It must beagreat satisfactiontoyou togive somany asmuch pleasureas youdo.I dontreally understandsinging,so Ikeepmy beakshut;thats betterthan chatteringnonsense toyou theway the others do.〃〃Dont botherhim,〃said thePortuguese.〃He needsrest andcare.My littleSongbird,doyou wantmetogive youanothershowerbath”〃0h,no,please letme staydry!”he begged.“The watercure isthe onlythatdoesme anygood whenIm sick,〃said thePortuguese.“Butamusement helps,too.The neighboringhens willsoon becoming tovisit us;there aretwo Chinesehensamong them.They wearbreeches,are welleducated,and havebeen imported,so theystandhigher thanthe othersin myesteem.z,And the hens came,and the Cock camewith them;today hewas politeenough notto berude.“You rea truesongbird,he said,“and youdo allyou possiblycan withsuch asmall voiceas yours.But youshould havea littlesteam power,so everyonewould hearthat youare amale.〃The two Chinese wereenraptured atthe appearanceof theSongbird.He wasstill verymuch rumpledupafter hisbath,so helooked to them likealittleChina chicken.〃Hes charming!they cried,and thenengaged themselvesin conversationwith him;they talkedin whispersand witha p-sound,in elegantChinese.〃We belongto yourrace.“The Ducks,eventhePortuguese one,are swimmingbirds,asyoumust havenoticed.You dontknow us yet;not verymany peopletake thetrouble toknowus-not evenany ofthehens,thoughwe wereborn tooccupy ahigher perchthan mostoftheothers.But thatdoesn,t botherus;wego ourway quietlyamong theothers,whose idealsare quitedifferent fromours.We lookonlyat thebright sideof things,and mentiononly whatsgood,though itssometimes difficulttofind somethinglikethatwhen there isn,t anything.Besides ustwo and theCock,thereisnoone in the wholehen yardwho istalented.And honestydoes notexist amongthe inhabitantsofthis duckyard.〃We warnyou,littleSongbird,don,t trustthat oneover therewith theshort feathersin hertail-shes tricky.The spottedone there,with thecrooked stripeson herwings,is alwayslookingfor anargument andwon tlet anybodyhave thelast word,though she,s alwaysin thewrong.The fatDuck overthere neverhas a good thingto sayabout anybody,and thatis contrarytoour nature;ifwehavent somethinggood tosay,we keepourbeaksshut.The Portugueseisthe onlyone whohasalittle educationand whomone canassociate with,but she,s hot-temperedand talkstoo muchabout Portugal.,z〃How those two Chineseare alwayswhispering!,z saidone ofthe Ducks.They annoyme;I haveneverspoken tothem.”Now the Drake cameup;and hethought thelittleSongbird wasasparrow.“Nell,I don,t seeany difference,he said.Its allthe same,anyway.Hes justa plaything,and ifyou haveone,why,you haveone.〃〃Dont payany attentionto whathe says,〃thePortuguesewhispered.〃He isa veryrespectablebusinessman,and withhim businessalways comesfirst.But nowIm goingto liedown fora rest.You owethat toyourself,so you11be niceand fatwhen thetime comesto beembalmed withapplesand plums.〃And thenshe lay down inthe sunand blinkedone eye;she layso comfortablyand feltso well,and soshe slept very comfortably.The littleSongbird busiedhimself withhis brokenwing,but finallyhe toolaydown,pressedclose besidehis patroness;the sunwas brightand warm;it wasagoodplace tobe.The neighbor,s hensscurried about,scratching upthe earth,for,to tellthe truth,they hadcomevisiting solelyfor thesake ofgetting somethingto eat.The Chinesewere thefirst toleavetheduckyard,and theother henssoon followedthem.The wittylittleDuckwas talkingaboutthePortugueseand said the oldlady wasonthebrink ofDuckdoms dotage.z,At thistheother Duckschuckled.Duckdon sdotage!”they cackled.Thats unusuallywitty!”Then theyrepeatedtheotherjoke aboutportulaca-that wasvery amusingtothem-and thenthey laydown.They hadbeen sleepingfor sometime whensuddenly somefood wasthrown infor them.It landedwithsuch athump thatthe wholeflock startedup fromsleep andflapped theirwings.The Portuguesewokeup,too,and rolledover ontheotherside,squeezing thelittleSongbirdvery hardas shedidso.〃Peep!〃he said.You steppedso hardon me,madam.,z“Well,why doyou lieintheway”she said.You mustn,tbeso touchy.I havenerves,too,but Ihave neveryet said,Peep!’“Please dontbe angry,〃said thelittle Bird.ThePeep,slipped offmy beakbefore Iknewit.〃The Portuguesedidnt listento him,but begangobbling asfast asshe could,until she had madeagood meal.When shehad finished,she laydown again,andthelittle Birdcameupand triedtoplease herby singing:Tillee-lilly-lee,Of yourheart withgleeI shallsing withlove WhenI flyabove!〃I needto restafter mymeal,said thePortuguese.z,While yourehere youmust followthe houserules.I wantto takea napnow.”The littleSongbirdwasquite bewildered,for hehad onlytried toplease her.When sheawokelater hestood beforeher witha grainof cornhehadfound andlaid itin frontofher;butas shehadnt sleptwell shewas ina verybad humor.“You cangive thatto achicken!z,she said.And don,t standand hangover me!〃“Why areyouangry withme〃he asked.〃What haveI done”“Done”said thePortuguese.〃Your mannerof expressionisn,tveryrefined;I mustcall yourattentionto that.〃“Yesterday itwas allsunshine here,〃said thelittle Bird.But todayits darkand cloudy.It makesme verysad.〃“You don,t knowmuchaboutweather,I guess,〃said thePortuguese,The dayisn,t overyet.Dont juststand there looking stupid.〃“But you,relookingat mejust asthosetwowicked eyesdid whenI fellintotheyard!〃,zImpudent!〃said thePortuguese.Comparing mewith thecat-a beastof prey!Theres notadrop ofwicked bloodin me!Ive stoodup foryou,and I11have toteach yougood manners.Andwith thatshe bitoff theSongbirds head,and helay theredead.“Now whatdoes thismean”she said.Couldnt heeven standthat Thenhe certainlywasnt intendedfor thisworld.I knowIvebeen likea mothertohim,because Ihave suchagoodheart.〃And thenthe neighborsCock stuckhis headintotheyard andcrowed likea steamengine.“Your crowingwill killme!”she cried.〃Its allyour fault!Ile,s losthis head,andrvenearly lostmine.〃“There isn,t muchleft of him,〃said theCock.“You speakofhimwith respect,〃saidthePortuguese,“because hehadavoice anda fineeducation.He was tender and soft,and thatsas goodin animalsas inso-called humanbeings.,zAnd allthe Ducksgathered aroundthelittledead Songbird.Ducks havestrong passions,whetherthey feelenvy orpity,and sincethere wasno onehere toenvy,they allfelt pity,andsodideven thetwoChinesehens.〃We’11never findsuchasongbird again;hewasalmost aChinese,z/and theyboth weptwitha greatclucking noise.All theother chickensclucked,too,but theDucks walkedaround withthereddest eyes.〃We havehearts,〃they said.Nobody candeny that.〃“Hearts!”saidthePortuguese.〃Yes,thatwehave;they,re almostastenderas inPortugal.,z“Let usnow thinkabout gettingsomething inour stomachs,,z saidtheDrake.Thats themostimportant thing.If oneof ourplaythings isbroken,why,wehaveplenty moreof them!”。