兒童寓言故事-《老婦人和鷹》大綱

這篇故事的寓意非常深刻，也非常直白易懂，讀了，就會明白爲什麼我們不要隨便根據自己的見識去改變孩子。很有意思的閱讀，強烈推薦：

Once upon a time, when cups were plates and when knives and forks grew in the ground, there was an old woman who had never seen an eagle.

在和現在非常不一樣的從前，有一位老婦人，她從來沒見過鷹。

One day, an eagle was flying high in the sky and decided to stop for a rest. He swooped down and landed — where do you think?

有一天，一隻高高飛翔的鷹想歇息一會兒，就從天上飛下來，停在了 ... 你猜哪裏?

He landed right at the front door of the old woman’s house.

對了，就在這位老婦人的門前。

The old woman took a long, hard look at the eagle and said, “Oh my, what a funny pigeon you are!” She figured he was a pigeon, you see, because although she had never seen an eagle, she had seen lots of pigeons.

“I am not a pigeon at all,” said the eagle, drawing himself up to his full height.

老婦人仔細瞧了鷹很久，她說：“哦，你真是一隻看上去很可笑的鴿子”。她認爲這隻鷹是鴿子，因爲她從沒見過鷹，但見過很多鴿子。

“我不是鴿子”，鷹說，還努力地立起來，讓老婦人好好看看自己。

“Nonsense!” said the old woman. “I’ve lived for more years than you’ve got feathers in your wings, and I know a pigeon when I see one.”

“If you’re so sure that I’m a pigeon,” said the eagle, “then why do you say I’m a funny pigeon?”

“胡說!”老婦人說。“我活得年數比你翅膀上的羽毛還多，我不會認錯一隻鴿子。”

“如果你這麼確定我是一隻鴿子”，鷹說，“那你爲什麼說我很可笑?”

“Well, just look at your beak,” said the old woman. “It’s all bent. Pigeons have nice, straight beaks. And look at those claws of yours! Pigeons don’t have long claws like that. And look at the feathers on top of your head! They are all messed up and need to be brushed down. Pigeons have nice, smooth feathers on their heads.”

“看看你的喙”，老婦人說：“它是彎的，鴿子的喙很直很好看。再看看你的爪子，鴿子的爪子沒那麼長。還有你頭上的羽毛，亂哄哄豎立着，應該梳平，像鴿子頭上的毛那樣順。”

And before the eagle could reply, she got hold of him and carried him into the house. She took her clippers and trimmed his claws until they were quite short.

鷹還沒來得及回答，老婦人就把他抱起來，帶進屋子裏，拿出剪刀，把他的爪子剪短剪平了。

She pulled on his beak until it was quite straight. And she brushed down the lovely tuft of feathers on top of his head until it was quite flat.

把它的嘴巴拉直，把頭上的那簇毛也梳平了。

“Now you look more like a pigeon!” said the old woman. “That’s so much better!” But the eagle didn’t feel any better. In fact, he felt quite sad.

“好了，你現在終於看上去像一隻鴿子了”，老婦人說，“真棒”。但是鷹的感覺可不好，他覺得很悲傷。

As soon as the old woman let him go he flew to the top of a tree. As he was sitting there wondering what to do, another eagle came along and alighted on the bough beside him.

“Well, well,” said the new bird. “Aren’t you a funny looking eagle!”

“Well, at least you know I’m an eagle,” said the first eagle. “Thank goodness for that!”

“What happened to you?” asked the new eagle.

所以當老婦人放下他，他馬上飛到了樹頂上;正在考慮下一步做什麼的時候，另外一隻鷹飛過來，立在他身邊。

第二隻鷹說：“哈哈，你真是一隻看上去很好笑的鷹!”

“好吧，至少你知道我是一隻鷹”，第一隻鷹說，“謝天謝地。”

“發生了什麼事?”第二隻鷹問。

“Well,” said the first eagle, “An old woman thought I was a pigeon. And since pigeons don’t have long claws, she trimmed my claws. And since pigeons don’t have hooked beaks, she straightened my beak. And since pigeons don’t

have tufts of feathers on their heads, she brushed my tuft down.”

“是這樣的”，第一隻鷹說，“一位老婦人認爲我是一隻鴿子。因爲鴿子的爪子不長，她就把我的爪子剪短了。因爲鴿子沒有彎彎的嘴巴，她就把我的嘴巴拉直了。因爲鴿子頭頂上沒有那一簇毛，她就把我的毛梳平了。”

“She must be a very foolish old woman, indeed,” said the new eagle.

And with that, he took a brush from under his wing, and he brushed the first eagle’s feathers back into a tuft. And with his claws he bent the eagle’s beak down until it was nicely rounded once again.

“她一定是一個非常愚蠢的老婦人”，第二隻鷹說。

說到這，第二隻鷹從翅膀下拿出一把梳子，把第一隻鷹頭頂上的那簇毛又梳出來了;然後用自己的爪子去掰第一隻鷹的喙，恢復了它原來彎彎的形狀。

“There now!” he said, “you look like an eagle again. Don’t worry about your claws, they’ll soon grow back.”

“Thank you, my friend!” said the first eagle.

“Think nothing of it,” said his new friend.

“好了”，他說，“你現在看上去又像一隻鷹啦。不要擔心你的爪子，它們會長回來的。”

“謝謝你，我的朋友”，第一隻鷹說。

“沒有什麼好謝的”，他的新朋友說。

“But remember this,” he continued, “there are a lot of silly people in the worldwho think that pigeons are eagles, or that eagles are pigeons, or that all sorts of things are other things. And when they are silly like that, they do very foolish things. We must be sure to keep away from that silly old woman and the people like her.”

“但是記住”，他繼續說，“世界上有許多很傻的人，他們把鴿子當做鷹，把鷹當做鴿子，把各種事情搞得亂七八糟。他們犯傻的時候，會做非常愚蠢的事情。我們必須要遠離這些人，比如那個老婦人，還有像她那樣的人。”

And with that, the eagles flew back to their own country and returned to their own nests. And they never went near that silly old woman again.

And so everyone lived happily ever after.

說完，這兩隻鷹就飛向了他們自己的國度，回到了他們的家。他們再也沒有接近過那位老婦人。

從此，大家都快快樂樂地生活。

我們的孩子

如果他是一隻鷹，就讓他成爲一隻鷹

如果是一隻鴿子，就讓他成爲一隻鴿子

不要讓社會、家長、老師的無知和成見

去逼迫他們背離自己

成爲一個不懂得自己是誰、不快樂的人