English Original
It was a bright spring day. The sun was high in the blue sky. A herd of sheep was grazing contentedly on the hillside. The little lambs with their soft white coats and curly tails were playing among themselves. The Shepherd, seeing that his flock was safe and happy, had fallen asleep under the spreading branches of a large old tree.
Suddenly an Eagle swooped down from the sky. It pounced on a little lamb and carried it off so swiftly that none of the other lambs even had the time to bleat. The sleeping Shepherd heard nothing.
A Crow was sitting on the tree under which the Shepherd lay asleep. He had seen how the Eagle had caught the lamb and carried it off to his nest.
‘What a wonderful way to get dinner!’ he thought. 'Why do crows look for old smelly food?’
The Crow decided to do exactly as the Eagle had done. It had looked easy enough. All he had to do was to decide which sheep he wanted, swoop down upon it, hold it as firmly as he could in his claws and fly off with it… Easy!
If the Eagle could do it, then so could he!
The Crow looked down at the flock of sheep to decide which sheep he wanted.
Just below the tree, by the Shepherd, a big, old Ram was grazing. He had curling horns and a thick heavy fleece.
'Aha! He should be a good meal for me!' thought the Crow greedily. He was very hungry and the thought of a large juicy ram for lunch made his mouth water.
The Crow swooped silently and swiftly down onto the Ram, just as he had seen the Eagle do and grasped it firmly by its fleece.
‘And now to fly off with it to my nest,' said the Crow to himself. He flapped his wings with all his strength, but could not lift the Ram.
The Ram was large. He was much too heavy for the Crow to carry. The Crow tried again and again, but without success.
The Ram felt the Crow on its back and was most annoyed. 'Just what do you think you are doing, you pesky bird?' he snapped, glaring at him over his shoulder.
The Crow flapped harder still, trying to carry the Ram away.
‘Now stop that!' cried the Ram. ‘Go away! Shoo! Leave me in peace!’ He jumped and bucked and tried to shake the Crow off his back.
‘Oh oh!' thought the Crow, alarmed at the Ram’s fierce antics. ‘Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all! Perhaps I should look for my dinner somewhere else! I had better let the Ram be!'
The Crow tried to fly away, but he found he could not move. His claws were caught in the Ram’s thick fleece! The Crow pulled his feet this way and that. He flapped his wings as hard as he could. But no matter what he did, he only seemed to get stuck more firmly.
Oh, how was he ever going to get free? The Crow squawked loudly in fear and despair. The Ram started running around the tree, bellowing with rage. The Shepherd woke up with a start. Who was making that horrible noise? Were his sheep in danger? He sat up.
What a sight met his eyes! The Ram was running round and round the tree. On his back was the Crow, squawking and trying to rise into the air.
The Shepherd began to laugh. At last, wiping his eyes, the Shepherd stood up. He stopped the Ram as he ran by and calmed him with gentle words.
When the Ram was still, the Shepherd took a pair of shears from his sack. Holding the Crow with one hand, he deftly snipped the fleece until the Crow was free.
‘What did you think you were doing, my fine friend?' asked the Shepherd, looking at the Crow. ‘Playing at being an Eagle, were you?'
The Shepherd burst out laughing again.
The Crow was too embarrassed even to croak. He wished only that the Shepherd would let him go so he could fly away to his nest and hide his foolish head.
Finally, when the Shepherd let the Crow go, the Crow flapped his wings and flew off as fast as he could.
‘And the next time you want to be an Eagle, make sure you pick an animal your size!' called the Shepherd after him.
The Crow, feeling silly and foolish, promised himself that from now on he would only do as other crows did!
中文翻译
一个明媚的春日，太阳高挂在蓝天上。一群羊正在山坡上心满意足地吃草。小羊羔们披着柔软的白毛，卷着尾巴，互相嬉戏。牧羊人见羊群安然无恙、怡然自得，便在一棵枝繁叶茂的老树下睡着了。
突然，一只老鹰从天空俯冲而下。它猛扑向一只小羊羔，迅速将其叼走，快得其他羊羔甚至来不及咩咩叫。熟睡的牧羊人什么也没听见。
一只乌鸦正停在牧羊人睡觉的那棵树上。它目睹了老鹰如何抓住羊羔并将其带回巢穴。
“多棒的觅食方法啊！”它想。“为什么乌鸦要找又老又臭的食物呢？”
乌鸦决定完全效仿老鹰的做法。这看起来够简单的。它只需要选定想要的羊，俯冲下去，用爪子尽可能牢牢抓住它，然后飞走……轻而易举！
如果老鹰能做到，那它也能！
乌鸦低头看着羊群，想决定要哪只羊。
就在树下，牧羊人旁边，一只又大又老的公羊正在吃草。它长着弯曲的角，披着厚重浓密的羊毛。
“啊哈！这应该是我的一顿美餐！”乌鸦贪婪地想。它非常饿，一想到午餐有只肥美多汁的公羊，就直流口水。
乌鸦悄无声息地迅速俯冲向公羊，就像它看到老鹰做的那样，并用爪子紧紧抓住了羊毛。
“现在把它带回我的巢穴吧，”乌鸦自言自语道。它用尽全力拍打翅膀，却无法提起公羊。
公羊体型庞大。对乌鸦来说，它太重了，根本带不动。乌鸦试了一次又一次，但都失败了。
公羊感觉到背上的乌鸦，非常恼火。“你这讨厌的鸟，你到底想干什么？”它厉声说道，扭头怒视着乌鸦。
乌鸦更加用力地拍打翅膀，试图带走公羊。
“快停下！”公羊喊道。“走开！嘘！让我安静会儿！”它又跳又尥蹶子，想把乌鸦从背上甩掉。
“哦，哦！”乌鸦被公羊激烈的动作吓到了，心想。“也许这终究不是个好主意！或许我该去别处找晚餐！我最好放过这只公羊！”
乌鸦试图飞走，却发现动弹不得。它的爪子被卡在公羊浓密的羊毛里了！乌鸦左拉右扯它的脚。它用尽全力拍打翅膀。但无论它做什么，似乎只是卡得更牢了。
哦，它要怎么才能脱身呢？乌鸦恐惧而绝望地大声呱呱叫。公羊开始绕着树跑，愤怒地吼叫。牧羊人惊醒了。是谁发出这么可怕的声音？他的羊有危险吗？他坐了起来。
映入眼帘的是怎样一番景象啊！公羊正一圈圈地绕着树跑。它的背上站着那只乌鸦，一边呱呱叫一边试图飞起来。
牧羊人笑了起来。最后，牧羊人擦了擦眼睛，站了起来。当公羊跑过时，他拦住了它，并用温和的话语安抚它。
等公羊安静下来，牧羊人从他的袋子里拿出一把剪刀。他一只手抓住乌鸦，灵巧地剪断羊毛，直到乌鸦获得自由。
“我的好朋友，你以为你在干什么？”牧羊人看着乌鸦问道。“在扮演老鹰，是吗？”
牧羊人再次大笑起来。
乌鸦尴尬得连呱呱叫都发不出了。它只希望牧羊人放了它，这样它就能飞回巢穴，藏起它那愚蠢的脑袋。
最后，当牧羊人放开乌鸦时，乌鸦拍打翅膀，以最快的速度飞走了。
“下次你想当老鹰的时候，记得选个和你体型相配的动物！”牧羊人在它身后喊道。
乌鸦感到自己又傻又蠢，暗自保证从今以后只做其他乌鸦做的事！