The
Crow in Borrowed Feathers
|
to borrow – взять взаймы
feather(s) – перо( перья)
a long time ago
– много времени назад
to look their
best – выглядеть лучше
beast – животное
pigeon ( = dove ) – голубь
to please – порадовать
a stork – аист
vain –
тщеславный
bathe –
купаться
jay – сойка
peacock – павлин
turkey – индюк
robin –
малиновка
pheasant – фазан
eagle – орел
to make up one’s
mind - решить
|
A long time ago all the birds I the forest met to
discuss the problem of a king.
“ Why have we not got a king?” they cried. “ The
beasts have a king- the lion. And the birds must have a king too.”
“ Let us find a judge and he will help us choose a
king for the birds, “ said a stork.
So they went to the cave where the lion lived and
asked him to see all their candidates for the post of a king. The lion smiled
and said : “ My friends, if you want to have a king, you must choose the most
beautiful bird. Let all the birds come to my cave tomorrow, and I shall choose
the most beautiful bird to be your king.”
This pleased the birds very much, because, as you
know, they are vain and each bird thinks that it is much more beautiful than
all the other birds. They thought that the lion was very clever. They wanted to
look their best next day, and so the birds decided to clean their feathers properly.
They went to the bank of the river and jumped into the
water to bathe and then dried and cleaned their feathers. Only the crow did
not know anything about choosing a king, because he was in a bad temper on the
day the birds met and stayed away from the other birds. When the crow saw the
birds taking their baths, he wanted to know what the matter was.
“ Why are you cleaning your feathers?” he asked.
“ The lion is going to choose a king for us. The most
beautiful bird will be our king. Tomorrow we shall go to his cave and he will
see all the candidates.”
“ Ah, it is very fine to be a king,” thought the crow.
“ All the birds will bring him many presents and their best food. I want to be
a king.”
The crow like this idea so much that he walked away
from the other birds and began to think. He wanted to be a king but he also
knew that he had ugly black feathers and he was not at all beautiful. But the
crow had a plan.
Late at night, when all the other birds were asleep,
the crow went to the river bank. He collected blue feathers from the jay, red
ones from the robin, bronze ones from the turkey and green ones from the
peacock.
“ Now I shall make myself beautiful,” thought the
crow happily, as he carried the feathers to his nest.
He sat the whole night and fastened those green and
blue and red feathers over his ugly black ones. The long green feathers of the
peacock he fastened to his tail, and now it was three times longer than before.
In the morning the lion came and sat on a big stone.
All the birds came to this place too.
“ Let us begin,” said the lion at last.
The small birds came first and the lion looked at them
with a smile. He like the robin with his red feathers and the blue jay and many
others, but he sent them away, and they returned to the forest sadly.
Then the bigger birds came and there were many
beautiful birds among them- bronze and green pheasant, bright parrots and many
others. It was very difficult to choose the best bird.
Then the biggest birds came – turkeys, golden eagles,
peacocks, beautiful flamingoes and graceful storks. The lion looked at them
all and could not make up his mind. But when the peacock spread his tail and
walked proudly up to the lion, all the birds applauded.
Everybody thought that the peacock was the most
beautiful bird, but suddenly a bird of many colours appeared. Of course it was
our crow in the feathers of all the other birds!
“ Who can this be?” the birds asked each other. “ He
is very beautiful, but why have we never seen him before?”
At first they could not recognize the crow, but then
the robin cried: “ He is wearing one of my feathers!” and with the beak he
pulled out his red feather,
“ His whole tail is made up of my feathers,” cried the
peacock in an angry voice, and he pulled out his feathers too.
In a moment the birds recognized their feathers and
pulled them out. They were very angry, and they pecked the crow with their
beaks. They punished him for his ambition and cheating.
But from that day to this, the crow has always dreamt
of being a king. When he sees something bright or shining he carries it to his
nest.
Exercise 1. True or False?
1. A
long time ago all the beasts in the forest met to discuss the problem of a
king. ( T / F )
2. The
birds asked the lion to choose a king for them. ( T / F )
3. The
crow did not know anything about choosing a king. ( T / F )
4. The
crow wanted very much to be a king. ( T / F )
5. The
crow appeared before the lion in his own feathers. ( T / F )
6. There
were many beautiful birds in the forest. ( T / F )
7. The
birds punished the crow for his ambition and cheating. ( T / F )
Answers : 1- False 2-
True 3- True 4- True 5- False 6- True 7- True
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