大家好，我是Fiona老師。
今天我們的英語閱讀系列要閱讀的文章同樣還是關於動物的一篇文章，The Crow and The Eagle 烏鴉和老鷹
到底他們之間發生了什麼樣的事情呢，到底他們誰更加聰明呢？
The Crow and The Eagle:
It was a bright spring day. The sun was high in the blue sky. A herd of sheep was grazing contentedly on the hillside. The little lambs with their soft white coats and curly tails were playing among themselves. The Shepherd, seeing that his flock was safe and happy, had fallen asleep under the spreading branches of a large old tree.
Suddenly an Eagle swooped down from the sky. It pounced on a little lamb and carried it off so swiftly that none of the other lambs even had the time to bleat. The sleeping Shepherd heard nothing.
A Crow was sitting on the tree under which the Shepherd lay asleep. He had seen how the Eagle had caught the lamb and carried it off to his nest.
『What a wonderful way to get dinner!』 he thought. 'Why do crows look for old smelly food?』
The Crow decided to do exactly as the Eagle had done. It had looked easy enough. All he had to do was to decide which sheep he wanted, swoop down upon it, hold it as firmly as he could in his claws and fly off with it… Easy!
If the Eagle could do it, then so could he!
The Crow looked down at the flock of sheep to decide which sheep he wanted.
Just below the tree, by the Shepherd, a big, old Ram was grazing. He had curling horns and a thick heavy fleece.
'Aha! He should be a good meal for me!' thought the Crow greedily. He was very hungry and the thought of a large juicy ram for lunch made his mouth water.
The Crow swooped silently and swiftly down onto the Ram, just as he had seen the Eagle do and grasped it firmly by its fleece.
『And now to fly off with it to my nest,' said the Crow to himself. He flapped his wings with all his strength, but could not lift the Ram.
The Ram was large. He was much too heavy for the Crow to carry. The Crow tried again and again, but without success.
The Ram felt the Crow on its back and was most annoyed. Just what do you think you are doing, you pesky bird?' he snapped, glaring at him over his shoulder.
The Crow flapped harder still, trying to carry the Ram away.
『Now stop that!' cried the Ram. 『Go away! Shoo! Leave me in peace!』 He jumped and bucked and tried to shake the Crow off his back.
『Oh oh!' thought the Crow, alarmed at the Ram’s fierce antics. 『Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all! Perhaps I should look for my dinner somewhere else! I had better let the Ram be!'
The Crow tried to fly away, but he found he could not move. His claws were caught in the Ram’s thick fleece! The Crow pulled his feet this way and that. He flapped his wings as hard as he could. But no matter what he did, he only seemed to get stuck more firmly.
Oh, how was he ever going to get free? The Crow squawked loudly in fear and despair. The Ram started running around the tree, bellowing with rage. The Shepherd woke up with a start. Who was making that horrible noise? Were his sheep in danger? He sat up.
What a sight met his eyes! The Ram was running round and round the tree. On his back was the Crow, squawking and trying to rise into the air.
The Shepherd began to laugh. At last, wiping his eyes, the Shepherd stood up. He stopped the Ram as he ran by and calmed him with gentle words.
When the Ram was still, the Shepherd took a pair of shears from his sack. Holding the Crow with one hand, he deftly snipped the fleece until the Crow was free.
『What did you think you were doing, my fine friend'' asked the Shepherd, looking at the Crow. 『Playing at being an Eagle, were you?'
The Shepherd burst out laughing again.
The Crow was too embarrassed even to croak. He wished only that the Shepherd would let him go so he could fly away to his nest and hide his foolish head.
Finally, when the Shepherd let the Crow go, the Crow flapped his wings and flew off as fast as he could.
『And the next time you want to be an Eagle, make sure you pick an animal your size!' called the Shepherd after him.
The Crow, feeling silly and foolish, promised himself that from now on he would only do as other crows did!
那是一個晴朗的春天。藍天下的太陽很高。一群羊在山坡上愜意地吃草。小羊羔穿著柔軟的白大衣和捲曲的尾巴，在他們中間嬉戲。牧羊人看到他的羊群安然無恙，就在一棵大樹的枝條下睡著了。
突然，一隻鷹從空中俯衝下來。它撲向一隻小羊羔，迅速地把它叼走，其他羔羊都沒有時間咩咩叫。睡著的牧羊人什麼也沒聽見。
一隻烏鴉坐在樹上，牧羊人睡在樹下。他看到鷹是如何抓住羔羊並把它帶到窩裡去的。
多麼美妙的晚餐方式啊！他想。烏鴉為什麼尋找老臭的食物？』
烏鴉決定像鷹那樣做。看起來很簡單。他所要做的就是決定他想要哪只羊，猛撲下來，緊緊抓住它的爪子，然後飛走。
如果鷹能做到，那麼他也能做到！
烏鴉低頭看著羊群來決定他想要哪只羊。
在牧羊人的正下方，一隻又大又老的公羊正在吃草。他有捲曲的犄角和厚重的羊毛。
啊哈！他應該是我的一頓美餐！貪婪地想著烏鴉。他非常餓，想到午餐吃了一大口多汁的公羊，他就垂涎三尺。
烏鴉悄悄地飛快地跳到公羊身上，就像他看到鷹做的那樣，用它的毛緊緊抓住它。
「現在飛到我的巢裡去，」烏鴉對自己說。他使勁地拍打翅膀，但舉不起那隻公羊。
這隻公羊很大。他太重了，烏鴉扛不動。烏鴉一次又一次地嘗試，但沒有成功。
公羊覺得烏鴉在背上，非常惱火。你覺得你在做什麼，你這個討厭的傢伙？」他啪地一聲，怒視著他的肩膀。
烏鴉搖搖晃晃地掙扎著，試圖把公羊帶走。
「現在停下來！」公羊喊道。走開！噓！讓我安寧吧！他跳了又跳，試圖把烏鴉從背上抖下來。
「哦，哦！」烏鴉想，公羊的兇狠的舉動使他驚恐萬分。也許這畢竟不是個好主意！也許我應該在別的地方找我的晚餐！我最好還是讓那隻公羊來吧！
烏鴉想飛走，但他發現他不能動彈。他的爪子被抓在羊的厚毛裡！烏鴉以這種方式拉著他的腳。他使勁地拍打翅膀。但不管他做了什麼，他似乎只會更加堅定地堅持下去。
哦，他是怎麼得到自由的？烏鴉在恐懼和絕望中大聲叫喊。公羊怒吼著，開始在樹上跑來跑去。牧羊人驚醒了。是誰製造了可怕的噪音？他的羊處於危險之中嗎？他坐了起來。
他看到了多麼美麗的景象啊！那隻公羊在樹上跑來跑去。烏鴉的背上，烏鴉叫著，試圖飛到空中。
牧羊人笑了起來。最後，他擦了擦眼睛，牧羊人站了起來。他跑過去攔住公羊，用溫和的話使他平靜下來。
當羊羔靜止時，牧羊人從袋子裡拿出一把剪刀。他用一隻手握住烏鴉，靈巧地剪斷了羊毛，直到烏鴉掙脫出來。
「你以為你在幹什麼呢，我的好朋友？」牧羊人看著烏鴉問道。「玩鷹是嗎？」
牧羊人又突然大笑起來。
烏鴉太難堪了，連呱呱叫都不敢說。他只希望牧羊人能讓他走，這樣他就可以飛到他的窩裡去藏他愚蠢的頭。
最後，當牧羊人放走烏鴉時，烏鴉張開翅膀，飛快地飛走了。
下次當你想成為一隻老鷹時，一定要選一個你體型這麼大的動物！他叫牧羊人。
烏鴉感到愚蠢和愚蠢，答應自己，從現在起，他只會像其他烏鴉一樣做！