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 fl ying 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 fi ve 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 fl y 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】

1.一天，一位先生在一座大城市里慢行。在大街的一个角落里，他看到一个小男孩在兜售笼子里的小鸟。

2.他伤心地看着那些囚犯似的小鸟在笼子里飞来飞去，透过丝网向外观望，它们不停地拍打翅膀，想努力飞出来。

3.他一直站在那里看着那些小鸟。最后，他问小男孩：“这些鸟多少钱？”

4.“五十美分一只，先生。”小男孩说。“我不是问你多少钱一只，”那个男人说，“我是问你这些鸟总共多少钱。”

5.小男孩开始计算，然后说一共五美元。“给你钱。”男人说道。小男孩拿到钱，很高兴能在早上做成这么一笔买卖。

6.交易刚刚完成，那个男人就打开笼子，让所有的鸟儿倾巢而出，飞向天空。

7.那个男孩吃惊极了，大喊道：“先生，您在做什么呀？您失去了所有的鸟。”

8.那个男人说：“我告诉你我为什么要这么做。作为战犯，我在法国的一所监狱里被囚禁了整整三年。我下定决心，只要我有能力，我绝不想看到任何东西被关进监狱。”