A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore golden apples. These apples were always counted, and about the time when they began to grow ripe it was found that every night one of them was gone. The king became very angry at this, and ordered the gardener to keep watch all night under the tree. The gardener set his eldest son to watch; but about twelve o'clock he fell asleep, and in the morning another of the apples was missing. Then the second son was ordered to watch; and at midnight he too fell asleep, and in the morning another apple was gone. Then the third son offered to keep watch; but the gardener at first would not let him, for fear some harm should come to him: however, at last he consented, and the young man laid himself under the tree to watch. As the clock struck twelve he heard a rustling noise in the air, and a bird came flying that was of pure gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with its beak, the gardener's son jumped up and shot an arrow at it. But the arrow did the bird no harm; only it dropped a golden feather from its tail, and then flew away. The golden feather was brought to the king in the morning, and all the council was called together. Everyone agreed that it was worth more than all the wealth of the kingdom: but the king said, 'One feather is of no use to me, I must have the whole bird.'
從前有位國王，他有一座漂亮的花園，花園裡面有一棵蘋果樹，樹上掛著金燦燦的蘋果。 樹上蘋果的數量都有記錄，但是，當蘋果快熟的時候，人們發現，每天晚上蘋果都會少掉一個。 國王知道後很生氣， 命令園丁要整夜地看守蘋果樹。 於是，園丁派了他的大兒子去看守蘋果樹，但是到了晚上12點的時候，園丁的大兒子睡著了。當他第二天早上醒來時，發現樹上的蘋果又少了一個。園丁這次派他的第二個兒子去看守蘋果樹。 不過，二兒子也在12點的時候睡著了，結果蘋果又少了一個。 這時，園丁的第三個兒子自告奮勇去看守蘋果樹，園丁一開始沒有答應，因為他害怕有什麼東西會傷害他的小兒子，但最後還是答應了。 於是，園丁的第三個兒子來到蘋果樹下躺下。 當大鐘剛敲過12點，小夥子聽到天上一陣沙沙的響聲，一隻全身都是金色的鳥飛了下來。 當那隻鳥猛然用嘴叼住樹上的一個蘋果時，小夥子嚯地跳了起來，朝那隻鳥放了一箭。 不過，射出的箭沒有傷著那隻鳥，只是把它尾巴上的一根金色的羽毛射了下來。 鳥飛走了。 第二天早上，那根金色的羽毛被送到了國王的面前， 同時，所有大臣也被招集到一起討論金色羽毛的事情。 大家都認為，這根羽毛比這個王國裡的所有財富加起來都要值錢。 不過，國王並不滿足，他說，「一根羽毛對我來說沒什麼用，我一定要那隻鳥」。
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