英语巴士网

The cage-bird and the bat 笼子里的鸟与蝙蝠

分类: 英语故事 

A singing-bird was confined in a cage which hung outside a window, and had a way of singing at night when all other birds were asleep. One night a bat came and clung to the bars of the cage, and asked the bird why she was silent by day and sang only at night. "I have a very good reason for doing so," said the bird: "it was once when I was singing in the daytime that a fowler was attracted by my voice, and set his nets for me and caught me. Since then I have never sung except by night." But the bat replied, "It is no use your doing that now when you are a prisoner. If only you had done so before you were caught, you might still have been free."

Precautions are useless after the event.

一只画眉鸟被囚禁在窗外挂着的一个笼子里,当其他鸟儿都酣睡时,她却在夜里唱歌。有一个夜晚,蝙蝠飞过来,抓住鸟笼的栅栏,问她为什么白天默默无声,却在夜里放声歌唱。小鸟回答说:“我这样做是有道理的,曾经有一次,当我在白天唱歌时,一个捕鸟人被我的歌声吸引,就用鸟笼子捉住了我。从此我只在夜里歌唱。”可是,蝙蝠却说:“你现在这样做根本没用了,因为你已经成为阶下囚。若是在被捉住之前这样做就好了,那样或许你依然是自由之身!”

待事情发生之后再预防,为时已晚。

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