第14章 STORY OF A PARROT 鹦鹉的故事

A POOR man had a parrot. The parrot had been taught to say the words, “There is no doubt about it.” These words were all it could learn, and it might have been heard all daylong either whistling a tune, or calling out, “There is no doubt about it!” — “There is no doubt about it!”

To every question Poll always gave the same reply — “There is no doubt about it!”

One day its master went to market to sell it. “Who'll buy my parrot?” cried he. “Twenty pounds for my parrot!”

A man, hearing the high price that was asked, turned to the parrot, and said, “Poll, art thou worth twenty pounds?”

“There is no doubt about it!” was Poll's reply. The man was so pleased, that he bought the bird, and carried it home.

Some time after, he was sorry for his bargain. Standing beside the cage of the parrot, he said, “What a fool I was, to throw so much money away!”

“There is no doubt about it!” cried the bird. And this time the parrot was right.

Questions

What words had the parrot been taught to say? What price did its master ask for it? What did the man say to the parrot? What did the parrot answer? What did the man then do? What did he say when he was sorry for his bargain? What did the bird cry? And this time the parrot?

Pronunciation

par'-rot whis'-tling ques'-tion mas'-ter twen'-ty car'-ried

ei'-ther call'-ing al'-ways mar'-ket hear'-ing stand'-ing

Write

doubt learn asked price

taught might pounds throw

LITTLE THINGS

Little moments make an hour;

Little thoughts, a book;

Little seeds, a tree or flower;

Water-drops, a brook;

Little deeds of faith and love

Link the earth to heaven above.

一个穷人有一只鹦鹉。他教给鹦鹉说：“不容置疑。”这是鹦鹉所学到的。鹦鹉一整天所听到的，或者是唱出来，或者喊出来，“不容置疑！”——“不容置疑！”

对于每一个问题，波尔总是给出相同的回复——“不容置疑！”

有一天它的主人去市场上卖它。

他喊道，“谁买我的鹦鹉？”“我的鹦鹉20磅。”

有个人听到如此高的叫卖价格，转向鹦鹉，对着它说：“波尔，你值20磅吗？”

“不容置疑！”波尔回复到。这个人很高兴，他就买了鹦鹉，带回了家。

过了不久，他为自己的行为后悔了。

站在鹦鹉笼子旁，他说道：“我真是个傻瓜，浪费那么多钱！”

“不容置疑”。鹦鹉叫道。那个时候鹦鹉是对的。

微不足道的小事物

一个时刻就是一个小时；

一些想法就是一部书籍；

一些种子就是一棵树或一朵花；

一些水滴就是一条小河；

展现信任和爱的小事，

将大地与天堂连在了一起。