There was once a lonely girl who longed so much for love. One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving songbirds. She took them home and put them in a small cage. She cared them with love and the birds grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song. The girl felt great love for the birds.

One day the girl left the door to the cage open. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl was so frightened that he would fly away. As he flew close， she grasped him wildly. Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him. Suddenly she felt the bird go limp. She opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird. Her desperate love had killed him.

She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage. She could feel his great need for freedom. He needed to soar into the clear， blue sky. So she lifted him from the cage and tossed him softly into the air. The bird circled once， twice， three times.

The girl watched delightedly at the birds enjoyment. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss. She wanted the bird to be happy. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest melody that she had never heard.

從前，有一個(gè)寂寞的女孩非?？释麗?ài)。一天，她走在叢林中，發(fā)現(xiàn)兩只快要餓死的鳴鳥(niǎo)。她把它們帶回家，放入一個(gè)小籠子。經(jīng)過(guò)她悉心的照料，這兩只鳥(niǎo)一天天強(qiáng)壯起來(lái)。每天早晨，它們都要用美妙的歌聲向她表示問(wèn)候。女孩不由得愛(ài)上了這兩只小鳥(niǎo)。

一天，女孩把鳥(niǎo)籠的門敞開(kāi)著。那只較大、較壯的鳥(niǎo)兒飛出了鳥(niǎo)籠。女孩非常害怕它會(huì)飛走。所以當(dāng)鳥(niǎo)兒飛近時(shí)，她死命地將它抓住。她十分高興，終于把它捉了回來(lái)。突然，她感覺(jué)到鳥(niǎo)兒四肢無(wú)力。她張開(kāi)手，驚恐地盯著手中已死的鳥(niǎo)。是她不顧一切的愛(ài)害死了這只鳥(niǎo)。

她注意到另一只鳥(niǎo)兒在籠邊撲扇著翅膀。她可以感受到它對(duì)自由的無(wú)限向往、它渴望沖向明凈的藍(lán)天。因此她將它舉起，輕輕地拋向空中。鳥(niǎo)兒在空中盤旋了一圈、兩圈、三圈。

看到鳥(niǎo)兒快樂(lè)的樣子，女孩很高興。她的內(nèi)心不再計(jì)較自己的得失。她希望鳥(niǎo)兒能活得開(kāi)心。突然，鳥(niǎo)兒飛近她，輕輕地落在她的肩上，唱起了她從未聽(tīng)過(guò)的最動(dòng)人的歌。

Vocabulary

long v. 渴望

starving adj. 極餓的

greet v. 問(wèn)候，招呼

frightened adj. 害怕的

desperate adj. 不顧一切的

lift v. 舉起

delightedly adv. 高興地，欣喜地