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The Swallows Learn a Lesson
燕子的一课
Did you know that birds have lessons to learn?
你知道小鸟也要上课吗？
This story tells about a hard lesson that all young swallows must learn.
这则故事讲述了所有的小燕子都要学习的艰难一课。
Did you ever watch swallows flying around a barn-yard, and did you notice that they darted about instead of going straight ahead?
你看到过燕子在谷场附近飞吗？你注意到它们在快速灵活的飞翔而不是直冲吗？
Most other birds fly straight ahead because they are just going from one place to another.
大多数的鸟是直飞，因为它们仅仅是从一处飞到另一处。
But the swallows dart all around because they are catching flies and other insects in the air.
而燕子却敏捷的飞翔，它们在捕捉空中的蚊子和其它昆虫。
They do not like to eat crumbs and seeds, as many other birds do, and the insects they catch are their only food.
它们不像其它鸟类一样喜欢吃面包屑和种子，它们唯一的食物就是它们捕捉到的昆虫。
So a young swallow has to learn to dart after insects and catch them a s they fly through the air.
年幼的燕子必须学会紧跟在昆虫之后，并在飞行中捉住它们。
How does he learn to do this so well? The older birds teach him.
小燕子怎样才能学好这一招呢？年长的燕子会教它的。
One summer day I saw a father and a mother swallow teaching their little ones how to get their food.
夏季的一天，我看到燕子爸爸和燕子妈妈在教它们的小燕子如何捕食。
Three young swallows, almost as big as their mother and father, were sitting on a telephone wire.
三只小燕子的个头几乎跟它们的父母一样大，它们站在电线上。
They seemed frightened at the big world about them.
它们好像对周围的这个偌大的世界有些害怕。
How far it looked down to the ground, and how high it looked up to the sky!
往下看，地面是那么地遥远，往上看，天空是那么地高不可攀。
So the young swallows sat close to each other on the wire.
小燕子们站在电线上，彼此都挨得很近。
Every little while their mother or father would fly up to them and flutter about them.
每过一会儿它们的爸爸妈妈就会飞到它们上方，在它们周围拍打着翅膀。
Then the baby swallows would all tip up their heads and open their mouths just as wide as they could.
然后小燕子便会仰起头、尽量张开它们的嘴巴。
At once the mother or father bird would drop a fly or other insect into one of the open mouths, and then dart away to get more food for the young swallows.
燕子爸爸和燕子妈妈立刻把蚊子或是其它昆虫放进一张张开的嘴巴里，然后飞走，再为小燕子们寻找更多的食物。
They did this for a long time.
它们这样来来回回重复了很长一段时间。
At last the older birds thought that it was time for the baby swallows to learn a lesson.
最终，老燕子认为是时候让小燕子们学习这一课了。
They flew to the young birds, but this time they did not bring them anything to eat.
此时它们飞向小燕子，但这次它们什么吃的也没带来。
