A boy found an eagle's egg and he put it in the nest of a prairie chicken. The eagle hatched and thought he was a chicken. He grew up doing what prairie chicken do-scratching at the dirt for food and flying short distances with a noisy fluttering of wings. It was a dreary life. Gradually the eagle grew older and bitter. One day he and his prairie chicken friend saw a beautiful bird soaring on the currents of air, high above the mountains. "Oh, I wish I could fly like that!" said the eagle. The chicken replied, "Don't give it another thought. That's the mighty eagle, the king of all birds-you could never be like him!" And the eagle didn't give it another thought. He went on cackling and complaining about life. He died thinking he was a prairie chicken. My friends, you too were born an eagle. The Creator intended you to be an eagle, so don’t listen to the prairie chickens!
一位小男孩发现了一只老鹰下的蛋,把它放进了一只山鸡的窝里。鹰被孵出来了,但他以为自己是一只山鸡。渐渐的他长大了,却做着山鸡所做的事---从泥土里寻找食物,做短距离的飞翔,翅膀还啪啪作响。生活非常沉闷,渐渐地鹰长大了,也越来越苦恼。有一天,他和他的山鸡朋友看见一只美丽的鸟在天空翱翔,飞的比山还高。 “哦,我要能飞的那么高该多好啊!”鹰说。山鸡回答说,“不要想了,那是凶猛无比的鹰,鸟中之王---你不可能像他一样!”于是鹰放弃了那个念头。他继续咯咯地叫,不停的抱怨生活。最后他死了,依然认为自己是一只山鸡。朋友们,你们天生就是雄鹰。造物主有意把你造就成一只雄鹰,所以不要听信山鸡的话!
THE BEASTS of the field and forest had a Lion as their king. He was neither wrathful, cruel, nor tyrannical, but just and gentle as a king could be. During his reign he made a royal proclamation for a general assembly of all the birds and beasts, and drew up conditions for a universal league, in which the Wolf and the Lamb, the Panther and the Kid, the Tiger and the Stag, the Dog and the Hare, should live together in perfect peace and amity.
The Hare said, "Oh, how I have longed to see this day, in which the weak shall take their place with impunity by the side of the strong." And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life.