The Turtle Who Wanted to Fly

A turtle looked up at the birds. "I want to fly," he said. The birds said, "You have no wings." "I know," said the turtle. "But I can still try." He climbed the highest rock. He stretched his neck. He jumped. He fell into the grass. It did not hurt, but it did not work either. He climbed again. He jumped again. The same thing happened. The third time, he did not jump. He sat on the rock and looked at the sky. "I cannot fly," he said. "But I can swim. I can dig. I can carry my house with me." A bird landed next to him. "That is a lot," said the bird. "I know," said the turtle. "I just had to stop and see it." Then he went down to the river and swam all afternoon.

【中文对照】 一只乌龟抬头看着小鸟。「我想飞，」他说。 小鸟说：「你没有翅膀。」 「我知道，」乌龟说，「但我还是可以试试。」 他爬上最高的石头，伸长了脖子，跳了下去。 他掉进草里。不疼，但也没成功。 他又爬上去，又跳了一次。还是一样。 第三次，他没有跳。他坐在石头上，看着天空。 「我飞不起来，」他说，「但我会游泳，会挖洞，还能带着自己的房子走。」 一只小鸟落在他旁边。「这已经很厉害了，」小鸟说。 「我知道，」乌龟说，「我只是需要停下来看一看。」 然后他下到河边，游了一整个下午。