02 The Golden Bird金鸟（第二集）

Then he went his way, and in the evening came to the village where the two inns were; and in one of these were people singing, and dancing, and feasting; but the other looked very dirty, and poor. 'I should be very silly,' said he, 'if I went to that shabby（破败的） house, and left this charming（迷人的） place'; so he went into the smart house, and ate and drank at his ease, and forgot the bird, and his country too.

 Time passed on; and as the eldest son did not come back, and no tidings（消息） were heard of him, the second son set out, and the same thing happened to him.

 He met the fox, who gave him the good advice: but when he came to the two inns, his eldest brother was standing at the window where the merrymaking（制造快乐的） was, and called to him to come in; and he could not withstand（承受） the temptation（诱惑）, but went in, and forgot the golden bird and his country in the same manner.

Time passed on again, and the youngest son too wished to set out into the wide world to seek for（搜寻） the golden bird; but his father would not listen to it for a long while, for he was very fond ofthis son, and was afraid that some ill luck might happen to him also, and prevent his coming back. However, at last it was agreed he should go, for he would not rest at home; and as he came to the wood, he met the fox, and heard the same good counsel.

 But he wasthankful（感激的） to the fox, and did not attempt his life as his brothers had done; so the fox said, 'Sit upon my tail, and you will travel faster.' So he sat down, and the fox began to run, and away they went over stock and stone so quick that their hair whistled（吹口哨，呼啸） in the wind. When they came to the village, the son followed the fox's counsel, and without looking about him went to the shabby inn and rested there all night at his ease.

In the morning came the fox again and met him as he was beginning his journey, and said, 'Go straight forward, till you come to acastle（城堡）, before which lie a whole troop of soldiers fast asleep（熟睡） andsnoring（打呼噜）: take no notice of them, but go into the castle and pass on and on till you come to a room, where the golden bird sits in a wooden cage; close by it stands a beautiful golden cage; but do not try to take the bird out of the shabby cage and put it into the handsome one, otherwise you will repent（后悔） it.'

Then the fox stretched out his tail again, and the young man sat himself down, and away they went over stock and stone till their hair whistled in the wind. Before the castle gate all was as the fox had said: so the son went in and found thechamber（房间） where the golden bird hung in a wooden cage, and below stood the golden cage, and the three golden apples that had been lost were lying close by it.

Then he thought to himself, 'It will be a very droll thing to bring away such a fine bird in this shabby cage'; so he opened the door and took hold of it and put it into the golden cage. But the bird set up such a loud scream that all the soldiers awoke, and they took himprisoner（俘虏，囚犯） and carried him before the king.

The next morning thecourt（法院） sat to judge him; and when all was heard, itsentenced（判决） him to die, unless he should bring the king the golden horse which could run asswiftly（快） as the wind; and if he did this, he was to have the golden bird given him for his own.