Once in summer-time the bear and the wolf were walking in the forest, and the bear heard a bird singing so beautifully that he said: —
有一天夏天，熊和狼在森林中散步，突然熊听到一只鸟唱得如此优美，他说道： —

‘Brother wolf, what bird is it that sings so well? —
“狼兄弟，那是什么鸟唱得这么好？ —

’ ‘That is the King of birds, ’ said the wolf, ‘before whom we must bow down. —
” “那是鸟中之王，”狼说，“我们必须向它致敬。” —

’ In reality the bird was the willow-wren. —
实际上，那只鸟是柳莺。 —

‘IF that’s the case,’ said the bear, ‘I should very much like to see his royal palace; —
“既然如此，”熊说，“我非常想去看看它的皇宫。” —

come, take me thither. —
来吧，领我去那里吧。 —

’ ‘That is not done quite as you seem to think, ’ said the wolf; —
‘那不是你认为的那样做的，’狼说道； —

‘you must wait until the Queen comes, ’ Soon afterwards, the Queen arrived with some food in her beak, and the lord King came too, and they began to feed their young ones. —
‘你必须等待女王到来，’ 不久之后，女王带着一些食物在嘴里来了，国王也来了，他们开始喂养他们的孩子们； —

The bear would have liked to go at once, but the wolf held him back by the sleeve, and said: —
熊本想立刻走，但狼拉住了他的袖子说： —

‘No, you must wait until the lord and lady Queen have gone away again. —
‘不，你得等到国王和女王再次离开。 —

’ So they took stock of the hole where the nest lay, and trotted away. —
’ 于是他们盘算着窝在哪里，然后快跑走了； —

The bear, however, could not rest until he had seen the royal palace, and when a short time had passed, went to it again. —
然而，熊无法安心，直到他看到皇宫为止，所以过了一小段时间，他又去了一次； —

The King and Queen had just flown out, so he peeped in and saw five or six young ones lying there. —
国王和女王刚刚飞出去，所以他探头进去看到那里躺着五六个幼崽。 —

‘Is that the royal palace? —
‘那是皇宫吗？ —

’ cried the bear; —
’熊叫道； —

‘it is a wretched palace, and you are not King’s children, you are disreputable children! —
‘那是个可怜的宫殿，你们不是国王的孩子，你们是无耻的孩子！’听到那句话，小鸟们非常生气，尖叫着说：‘不，我们不是！’ —

’ When the young wrens heard that, they were frightfully angry, and screamed: ‘No, that we are not! —
—

Our parents are honest people! Bear, you will have to pay for that!’
我们的父母是诚实的人！熊，你将不得不为此付出代价！

The bear and the wolf grew uneasy, and turned back and went into their holes. —
熊和狼感到不安，转身回到它们的洞中。 —

The young willow-wrens, however, continued to cry and scream, and when their parents again brought food they said: —
然而，小柳树雀继续哭泣和尖叫，当它们的父母再次带来食物时，它们说道： —

‘We will not so much as touch one fly’s leg, no, not if we were dying of hunger, until you have settled whether we are respectable children or not; —
我们甚至不会碰一只苍蝇的腿，不，即使我们快饿死了，除非你们解决我们是否是有面子的孩子； —

the bear has been here and has insulted us! —
熊来过这里并侮辱了我们！ —

’ Then the old King said: —
然后老国王说： —

‘Be easy, he shall be punished, ’ and he at once flew with the Queen to the bear’s cave, and called in: —
放心吧，他将受到惩罚，他立即与皇后一起飞到熊的洞穴里，并喊道： —

‘Old Growler, why have you insulted my children? —
老囔囔，你为什么侮辱我的孩子？ —

You shall suffer for it–we will punish you by a bloody war. —
你将为此受到惩罚-我们将以血腥的战争惩罚你。 —

’ Thus war was announced to the Bear, and all four-footed animals were summoned to take part in it, oxen, asses, cows, deer, and every other animal the earth contained. —
于是战争向熊宣战，所有四足动物都被召集起来参加，牛、驴、母牛、鹿和地球上的其他动物。 —

And the willow-wren summoned everything which flew in the air, not only birds, large and small, but midges, and hornets, bees and flies had to come.
柳莺召集了空中所有飞禽走兽，不仅包括大小鸟类，还有蚊虫、黄蜂、蜜蜂和苍蝇都得来。

When the time came for the war to begin, the willow-wren sent out spies to discover who was the enemy’s commander-in-chief. —
当战争即将开始时，柳莺派出间谍去查明敌人的统帅是谁。 —

The gnat, who was the most crafty, flew into the forest where the enemy was assembled, and hid herself beneath a leaf of the tree where the password was to be announced. —
最狡猾的蚊子飞到了敌人集结的森林，隐藏在一片树叶下，那里将会宣布密码。 —

There stood the bear, and he called the fox before him and said: —
那里站着一只熊，他召唤狐狸到他跟前说：“狐狸， —

‘Fox, you are the most cunning of all animals, you shall be general and lead us. —
你是最狡诈的动物，你将成为我们的总指挥官。” —

’ ‘Good,’ said the fox, ‘but what signal shall we agree upon? —
“好的，”狐狸说，“那我们该制定什么信号呢？ —

’ No one knew that, so the fox said: —
”没有人知道，所以狐狸说： —

‘I have a fine long bushy tail, which almost looks like a plume of red feathers. —
“我有一条又细又长的浓密尾巴，几乎看起来像一把红色的羽毛。 —

When I lift my tail up quite high, all is going well, and you must charge; —
当我把尾巴高高举起来时，说明一切都顺利，你们就可以冲锋； —

but if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can. —
但如果我让它垂下来，就要快速逃跑。” —

’ When the gnat had heard that, she flew away again, and revealed everything, down to the minutest detail, to the willow-wren. —
听到这个消息，小跳蚤马上飞走了，详细地向柳树小鸟报告了一切，连最微小的细节都没有遗漏。 —

When day broke, and the battle was to begin, all the four-footed animals came running up with such a noise that the earth trembled. —
当天亮了，战斗即将开始时，所有四脚动物奔跑而来，发出如此巨大的噪音，地面都在颤抖。 —

The willow-wren with his army also came flying through the air with such a humming, and whirring, and swarming that every one was uneasy and afraid, and on both sides they advanced against each other. —
柳树小鸟带着他的军队也飞过来了，发出嗡嗡的声音，群集在一起，每个人都感到不安和害怕，并且双方开始互相对抗。 —

But the willow-wren sent down the hornet, with orders to settle beneath the fox’s tail, and sting with all his might. —
但柳树小鸟派出马蜂，命令它在狐狸的尾巴下方停下来，全力刺蜇。 —

When the fox felt the first string, he started so that he lifted one leg, from pain, but he bore it, and still kept his tail high in the air; —
当狐狸感到第一次蜇痛时，它突然抬起一条腿，但它忍住了疼痛，仍然把尾巴高高举起。 —

at the second sting, he was forced to put it down for a moment; —
在第二次蜇痛时，它不得不暂时将尾巴放下。 —

at the third, he could hold out no longer, screamed, and put his tail between his legs. —
在第三次蜇痛时，它再也无法忍受，尖叫起来，把尾巴收在了腿间。 —

When the animals saw that, they thought all was lost, and began to flee, each into his hole, and the birds had won the battle.
当动物们看到这一幕时，他们认为一切已经失去了，纷纷逃入自己的洞穴，鸟儿们赢得了战斗。

Then the King and Queen flew home to their children and cried: —
然后国王和皇后飞回家找他们的孩子们大喊： —

‘Children, rejoice, eat and drink to your heart’s content, we have won the battle! —
“孩子们，欢呼吧，吃喝吧，尽情享受，我们赢得了战斗！ —

’ But the young wrens said: —
’但是小鹪鹩们说： —

‘We will not eat yet, the bear must come to the nest, and beg for pardon and say that we are honourable children, before we will do that. —
“我们还不想吃，熊必须来鸟巢前，请求原谅，并说我们是有荣誉的孩子，然后我们才会吃。 —

’ Then the willow-wren flew to the bear’s hole and cried: —
’然后柳树雀飞到熊的洞里大喊： —

‘Growler, you are to come to the nest to my children, and beg their pardon, or else every rib of your body shall be broken. —
“Growler，你必须来到我的孩子们的鸟巢前，请求他们的原谅，否则你的每根肋骨都会被打断。 —

’ So the bear crept thither in the greatest fear, and begged their pardon. —
’于是熊战战兢兢地爬到那里，请求他们的原谅。 —

And now at last the young wrens were satisfied, and sat down together and ate and drank, and made merry till quite late into the night.
终于小鹪鹩们满意了，一起坐下来吃喝作乐，直到深夜。