英文短故事：The Owl and The Swan

Once there were two friends Kanakaksha the owl¹ and Sumitra the swan. Sumitra was the king of the swans. But Kanakaksha was an ordinary owl. He was afraid to let Sumitra know that he was a poor owl. So he told Sumitra that he was also a king and also had subjects. Everyday the owl would fly to the pond where the swan lived. 

 

One day as usual, Kanakaksha flew to the pond to meet his friend. “Good morning Sumitra, how are you today?" he asked. 

 

“Good morning my friend, I am fine. Just caught up with the usual work of a king – solving disputes among my subjects," replied Sumitra. 

 

Just then, one of Sumitra’s subjects came up to him and whispered something in his ear. 

 

“Oh!" exclaimed Sumitra. “Kanakaksha, please give me a moment. I have to settle another dispute between two of my subjects." 

 

“Very well Sumitra," answered the owl. “I will wait right here." After Sumitra left to find his subjects, Kanakaksha thought to himself, “If Sumitra comes to know that I am just an ordinary owl, he will stop being my friend. I have to impress him." 

 

As Kanakaksha was flying through the woods in search of food, he saw a camp of soldiers and their commander. He suddenly got an idea. He flew back to the pond and called Sumitra. “I want you to visit my kingdom," invited the owl. 

 

“One day I will surely visit your kingdom Kanakaksha," answered Sumitra the swan. 

 

“Not someday," urged Kanakaksha. “You should come today. I come to meet you everyday." Sumitra agreed and the owl took the swan to the place where the soldiers had camped. 

 

“This is my kingdom and these are my subjects," said Kanakaksha to Sumitra proudly. Sumitra knew that Kanakaksha was no king. But he did not want to hurt his poor foolish friend’s feelings. 

 

“Wow!" exclaimed Sumitra. 

 

“Are your soldiers getting ready to move?" 

 

“No! How could they without my permission?" The Owl flew over the camp hooting³ aloud “Ho - hoo!" The commander heard the owl and said, “An owl is hooting. It’s a bad omen². We will have to postpone⁴ our march." 

 

The next day Kanakaksha and Sumitra came to the same place. Just as the army got ready to move. Kanakaksha hooted⁵ again. The army stopped again. On the third day again, Kanakaksha hooted just as the commander mounted his horse. 

 

“Oh this omen maker⁶! Will someone take care of him?" shouted the commander angrily. 

 

"This time my poor friend has gone too far," thought Sumitra the swan to himself. 

 

A soldier stepped forward and shot an arrow at the owl perched on a branch. But Kanakaksha spotted⁷ the arrow and swiftly flew away. Sumitra who had been next to Kanakaksha did not see the arrow coming. The arrow hit Sumitra and he died. 

 

“Oh my foolishness has caused the death of my good friend," thought Kanakaksha bitterly to himself.  

1 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

2 omen   

n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示

参考例句：

• The superstitious regard it as a bad omen.迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
• Could this at last be a good omen for peace?这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了？

3 hooting   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩

参考例句：

• He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
• The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。

4 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

5 hooted   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• An owl hooted nearby. 一只猫头鹰在附近啼叫。
• The crowd hooted and jeered at the speaker. 群众向那演讲人发出轻蔑的叫嚣和嘲笑。

6 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

7 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。