乌鸦与天鹅的飞行比赛

A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow(乌鸦) was jumping around.
一群天鹅飞到海滩上，一只乌鸦正在那里跳来跳去。

The crow watched them with disdain (轻蔑).
乌鸦轻蔑地看着它们。

“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans.
“你们根本没有飞行技巧！”他对天鹅们说。

“All you can do is to move your wings.
“你们只会扇动翅膀。”

Can you turn over in the air? No, I don’t think you can do it!
你们能在空中翻转吗？不，我认为你们做不到！

Let’s have a flying competition.
我们来一场飞行比赛吧。

I’ll show you what real flying is!”
我会让你们见识什么是真正的飞行！”

One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge.
其中一只天鹅——一只强壮的年轻雄性——接受了挑战。

The crow flew up and began to show his skills.
乌鸦飞起来，开始展示他的技巧。

He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
他绕圈飞行，表演了其他飞行特技，然后降落下来，骄傲地看着天鹅。

Now it was the swan’s turn.
现在轮到天鹅了。

He flew up, and began flying over the sea.
他飞起来，开始在海面上空飞行。

The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments (评价) about his flying.
乌鸦紧随其后，对他的飞行做出各种评论。

They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides.
他们一直飞，直到看不见陆地，四周只有水。

The crow was making fewer and fewer comments.
乌鸦的评论越来越少。

He was now so tired that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle (挣扎) to keep himself from falling into the water.
他现在太累了，难以保持在空中，不得不挣扎着避免掉入水中。

The swan pretended (假装) not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick?”
天鹅假装没注意到，说道：“兄弟，你为什么一直碰水？那是另一个把戏吗？”

“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition.
“不，”乌鸦说。他知道他已经输了比赛。

“I’m in trouble because of my pride (自大)!
“我因为自大而陷入困境！

If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life…”
如果你不帮我，我会丧命……”

The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.
天鹅同情他，把他驮在肩上，飞回了海滩。