which I will venture to impart for the benefit of my young readers, 鉴于年轻读者的需要，我乐于勇敢地传教。

　　who may regard him with the same unqualified envy and admiration which I once indulged. 这些年轻人可能与我当时沉湎的感觉相同，那么嫉妒和赞赏食米鸟。

　　I have shown him only as I saw him at first, in what I may call the poetical part of his career, 当第一眼看到它，我便为之心颤，称它具有生命的诗意。

　　when he, in a manner, devoted himself to elegant pursuits and enjoyments, 从某种意义上说，食米鸟追求高雅以及享受的表达，

　　and was a bird of music, and song, and taste, and sensibility, and refinement. 它迷恋音乐、歌声，关注品位、敏感还有精致，

　　While this lasted he was sacred from injury;  因此，这种神圣的鸟类不容丝毫伤害，

　　the very schoolboy would not fling a stone at him, and the merest rustic would pause to listen to his strain. 甚至学校那些淘气鬼们不会冲它投掷石块，淳朴的农民时而停下脚步聆听它歌唱。

　　But mark the difference. 当然，不妨关注这些差异。

　　As the year advances, as the clover blossoms disappear, and the spring fades into summer, 随着光阴流逝，苜蓿草花儿凋谢，春天隐退，夏天到来，

　　he gradually gives up his elegant tastes and habits, doffs his poetical suit of black, assumes a russet, dusty garb, 食米鸟不再执著于自己的高雅品位，它逐渐褪去诗意的黑色装束，换上赤褐色的粗鄙外表；

　　and sinks to the gross enjoyment of common vulgar birds. 它整日沉溺享受安乐，与那些常见的恶俗鸟儿没什么两样；

　　His notes no longer vibrate on the ear; he is stuffing himself with the seeds of the tall weeds on which he lately swung and chanted so melodiously. 它的歌唱不再悦耳，胃囊里也装满草籽，就在那些飞扬的野草上，它刚才还在摇晃着优美身躯，反复吟唱动听的歌谣。

　　He has become a bon vivant, a gourmand: with him now there is nothing like the "joys of the table." 如今它过得很好，气色不错，不过饕餮之徒而已。

　　In a little while he grows tired of plain, homely fare, and is off on a gastronomic tour in quest of foreign luxuries. 很快，它便厌倦了简朴的生活方式，到处寻觅丰馔珍肴，对它来说，没有任何东西能比过享用美食大餐的受用。