第39章 鸛鳥 The Storks(第3/10 頁)

會。” 媽媽說。“我會教你們飛，等你們學會了，我們就飛到草地上去，去拜訪青蛙，它們會在水裡向我們鞠躬，呱呱叫著，然後我們就把它們吃掉；那會很有趣。”

“No, certainly not,” said the mother. “I will teach you to fly, and when you have learnt, we will fly into the meadows, and pay a visit to the frogs, who will bow themselves to us in the water, and cry ‘croak, croak,’ and then we shall eat them up; that will be fun.”

“然後呢？” 小鸛鳥們問。

“And what next?” asked the young storks.

“然後，” 媽媽回答，“這個國家的所有鸛鳥都會聚集在一起，進行秋季演習，所以對每一隻鸛鳥來說，知道如何正確飛行是非常重要的。如果它們不會飛，將軍會用它的喙刺穿它們，然後殺死它們。所以你們必須努力學習，以便在訓練開始的時候做好準備。”

“then,” replied the mother, “all the storks in the country will assemble together, and go through their autumn manoeuvres, so that it is very important for every one to know how to fly properly. If they do not, the general will thrust them through with his beak, and kill them. therefore you must take pains and learn, so as to be ready when the drilling begins.”

“那麼我們最終可能還是會像那些男孩說的那樣被殺死；聽！他們又在唱歌了。”

“then we may be killed after all, as the boys say; and hark! they are singing again.”

“聽我的，別聽他們的。” 鸛鳥媽媽說。“大檢閱結束後，我們就飛往離這兒很遠的溫暖國家，那裡有高山和森林。去埃及，在那裡我們會看到用石頭建造的三角形房子，房頂尖尖的，幾乎觸到雲端。它們被叫做金字塔，比一隻鸛能想象到的還要古老。在那個國家，有一條河會氾濫，然後退去，只留下一片泥濘。在那裡我們可以四處走走，盡情吃青蛙。”

“Listen to me, and not to them,” said the mother stork. “After the great review is over, we shall fly away to warm countries far from hence, where there are mountains and forests. to Egypt, where we shall see three-cornered houses built of stone, with pointed tops that reach