On the roof of the last house in a little village was a stork's nest. The mother stork sat in it with her four young ones, who stuck out their heads with their little black beaks. (You see, their beaks had not yet turned red as they would in time.) And a little way off, all alone on the ridge of the roof, stood Father Stork, very upright and stiff. He was really a sentry on guard but, so that he would not be entirely idle, he had drawn up one leg. My, how grand he looked, standing there on one leg! So still you might have thought he was carved from wood!
在小镇上的最后一个房屋的屋顶上有一个鹳鸟巢。鹳鸟妈妈和她的四个孩子坐在鸟巢里，这些孩子伸着她们的头和黑色的嘴。（你知道的，它们的嘴巴会及时的变成红色的，只是目前还没有。）在屋脊的旁边，鹳鸟爸爸独自站着，站着非常笔直坚定。他就像一个一个站岗的哨兵，蜷缩着一条腿站着，并没有闲着。人们看着它用一条腿站在这里的样子多么伟岸，让人以为它是木头雕刻的。
"It must look pretty fine for my wife to have a sentry standing by her nest!" he thought. "People don't know I'm her husband; they'll think I'm a servant, ordered to stand here on guard. It looks very smart, I must say."So he went on, standing on one leg.
“对于我的妻子来说，鸟巢旁有个站岗的士兵看起来一定非常酷。”它想着。“人们不知道我是她的丈夫，他们以为我只是一个仆人，被命令站在这里站岗，我想说，这看起来一定非常酷”。因此它继续用一条腿站着。
A crowd of children were playing down in the street, and, as soon as they saw the storks, one of the boldest boys, followed by the others, began to sing the old song about storks. They sang it just as their leader remembered it:
"Stork, stork, long-legged stork,
Off to your wife you'd better fly.
She's waiting for you in the nest,
Rocking four young ones to rest.
"The first he will be hanged,
The second will be stabbed,
The third he will be burned,
And the fourth will be slapped!"
一群孩子正在街道上玩耍，不就他们看到了鹳鸟，其中一个最胆大的男孩跟着其他默认开始唱着关于鹳鸟的老歌。他们唱歌他们的领导者还记得的内容：
鹳鸟，鹳鸟，快些飞走，
去啊，今天是你老婆呆在家的时候
她正在鸟巢里等你
摇晃着四个孩子睡觉
第一个孩子将会被绞丝
第二个孩子将会被打死
第三个孩子将会被烧死
第四个孩子将会落下来跌死
"Just listen to what they are saying!" cried the little stork children. "They say we're going to be hanged and burned!"
“听一听他们在说什么！”小鹳鸟哭叫着。“他们说我们将会被绞死被烧死。”
"Don't pay any attention to that," replied the mother stork crossly. "Don't listen to them, and then it won't make any difference."
“不要在意那些，”鹳鸟妈妈生气的回答到。“不要管这些，就不会有什么事。”
But the boys went on singing and pointing mockingly at the storks with their fingers. Only one boy, whose name was Peter, said it was a shame to make fun of the birds, and he wouldn't join the others.
但是这些男孩一直在唱着，还用他们的手指指着嘲笑鹳鸟。只有一个叫皮特的男孩嘲笑鸟类是羞耻的，他不会加入他们。
The mother stork tried to comfort her children. "Don't let that bother you at all," she said. "Look how quietly your father is standing, and only on one leg, too!"
鹳鸟妈妈试图安慰她的孩子们。“不要让这些打扰到你们。”她说。“看看你们的父亲，只用一条腿站在那里。”
"But we're very much frightened!" insisted the young storks, and they drew their heads far back into the nest.
“但是我们真的很害怕！”小鹳鸟坚持道，然后它们把头缩回到鸟巢里。
Next day, when the children came out to play and saw the storks, they began their song again:
"The first he will be hanged,
The second will be burned!"
第二日，当孩子们出来玩耍看到鹳鸟们，他们又开始唱起来：
“第一个将会被绞死”
“第二个将会被烧死”
"Are we really going to be hanged and burned?" asked the young storks.
“我们真的会被绞死被烧死吗？”小鹳鸟问道。
"No, certainly not", replied their mother. "You're going to learn to fly! I'll teach you. Then we'll fly out over the meadows and visit the frogs; they'll bow down to us in the water and sing, 'Co-ax! Co-ax!' and then we'll eat them up. That'll be a lot of fun!"
“不，当然不会。”他们的妈妈回答道。“你将会学习飞翔！我会教你，然后我们会飞过湿地，拜访青蛙，他们会在水里像我们鞠躬然后唱到‘呱-呱，然后我们会吃掉他们，那将多有趣啊！’”
"And then what?" asked the young storks.
“然后呢？”小鹳鸟们问道。
"Then the storks from all over the country will assemble for the autumn maneuvers," their mother continued. "And it is of great importance that you know how to fly well then, for if you can't, the general will stab you dead with his beak; so when I start to teach you, pay attention and learn well."
“然后全国各地的鹳鸟们为了秋季演习将会聚集一起，”他们的妈妈继续道，“然后你们要知道如何飞的更好对你们来说非常重要，因为如果你不会飞，将军将会用它的嘴戳死你；因此当我开始教你的时候，你们要注意力集中好好学习。”
"Oh, then we'll be stabbed, just the way the boys say! And listen, there they go, saying it again!"
“噢，就像那些男孩唱的一样，我们会被打死！听啊，他们又来了，又开始唱起来了！”
"Never mind them; pay attention to me," said Mother Stork. "After the big maneuvers, we'll fly away to the warm countries, oh, so far away from here, over mountains and forests. We'll get to Egypt, where they have three-cornered houses of stone that come up to a point higher than the clouds. They call them pyramids, and they're even older than a stork could imagine. They have a river there too, that runs out of its bed, and turns the whole land to mud! We walk about in that mud, eating frogs."
“不要在意他们，注意力放在我身上，”鹳鸟妈妈说，“在大演习之后，我们将会飞离这里去温暖的国家，哦，那里离这里很远，飞过高山和森林，我们将会飞去埃及，那儿有三角石头房子，房顶是尖的，高高的伸进云层，人们叫它金字塔,它甚至比任何鹳鸟所能想象的还年长。他们那里有一条河，河水从河床流出，会让整个陆地变成泥地！我们在泥地上走着，吃着青蛙。”
"Oh!" cried the young storks.
“噢！”小鹳鸟们尖叫着。
"Yes, indeed. It's wonderful there. You don't do anything but eat all day long. And while we're so comfortable there, back here there isn't a green leaf left on the trees, and it's so cold that the clouds freeze to pieces and fall down in little white rags."
“是的，确实，那里真的美妙极了。你每天什么都不用做只要吃就行，当我们在那里感到非常舒适，这里的树上却连一片绿叶都没有，这里如此寒冷以至于云朵都被冻成碎片，像小小的白色的碎布衣服一样飘下来。”
She meant snow of course, but she didn't know any other way to explain it to the young ones.
她指的是下雪的过程，但是她不知道用其他方法来给小鹳鸟们解释。
"And do the naughty boys freeze to pieces, too?" asked the young storks
“那些淘气的男孩也会被冻成碎片吗？”小鹳鸟们问道。
"No, they don't quite do that," their mother replied. "But they come pretty close to it, and have to sit moping in a dark room. But we, on the other hand, fly about in foreign lands, among the flowers and in the warm sunshine."
“不，他们不会那样，”他们的妈妈回答道。“但是他们已经很接近了，他们必须烦闷的坐在黑暗的房间里。但是另一方面，我们在充满鲜花和温暖的阳光的外国陆地上飞翔。”
Some time passed, and the young storks grew large enough so that they could stand up in the nest and look at the wide world around them. Every day Father Stork brought them beautiful frogs and delicious little snakes and all sorts of dainties that storks like. And how they laughed when he did tricks to amuse them! He would lay his head entirely back on his tail, and clap his beak as if it were a rattle. And then he would tell them stories, all about the marshes that they would see some day.
度过了一段时间，小鹳鸟们长的足够大了以至于它们能够在鸟巢里站起来，看着它们周围的整个世界。每天鹳鸟爸爸都会带回来美味的青蛙和小蛇以及一些鹳鸟爱吃的美味。当它变戏法逗它们的时候它们笑的很开心！它让自己的头整个的藏在尾部，然后拍打这自己的嘴巴，就好像一个拨浪鼓。他会跟他们讲故事，所有的关于它们有一天会看到的沼泽地。
At last one day Mother Stork led them all out onto the ridge of the roof.
最后一天 鹳鸟妈妈让他们从屋脊上出去。
"Now", she said, "it's time for you to learn to fly." Oh, how they wobbled and how they tottered, trying to balance themselves with their wings, and nearly falling off the roof!
“现在”，她说，“你们学习飞翔的时间到了。”喔，它们摇摇晃晃着，蹒跚着，试图用它们的翅膀让自己保持平衡，它们几乎要从屋顶上摔下去了。
"Watch me now," their mother called. "Hold your head like this! Move your legs like that! One, two! One, two! That'll help you get somewhere in the world!"
“现在看着我，”它们的妈妈说着，“像这样稳住你们的头部！像那样移动你们的腿！一，二！一，二！这讲帮助你们到达这个世界的某地。”
Then she flew a little way from the roof, and the young ones made a clumsy attempt to follow. Bumps! There they lay, for their bodies were still too heavy.
然后她从屋顶上飞了一小段距离，小鹳鸟们笨拙的想要跟上。撞击！因为他们身体太重了所以它们摔倒了。
"I don't want to fly," complained the youngest one, creeping back into the nest. "I don't care about going to the warm countries at all!"
“我不想飞了，”最小的鹳鸟抱怨着，蹒跚着回到鸟巢。“我一点都不关心飞到温暖的国家去。”
"Oh, so you want to freeze to death here, when the winter comes, do you?" demanded his mother. "You want the boys to come and hang you and beat you and burn you, do you? All right, I'll call them!"
“哦，当冬天来临，所以你想要冻死在这里，是吗？”它的妈妈责备道，“你想让男孩们过来绞死你打死你烧死你，是吗？好的，我会叫他们过来。”
"Oh, no! Don't do that!" cried the little stork, and hopped out on the ridge again with the others.
“噢，不！不要那么做！”小鹳鸟哭叫着，和其他鹳鸟一起从屋脊上跳出来。
By the third day they could fly a little, and so they thought they could soar and hover in the air without moving their wings, but-when they tried it - bumps!-down they fell! They soon found they had to move their wings to keep up in the air.
到第三天它们可以费一小段距离，所以它们觉得自己可以不移动翅膀的情况下在空中飞翔盘旋，当时当它们尝试这样做的时候--摇晃！--他们摔下来了！它们很快发现它们在空中必须移动他们的翅膀保持稳定。
That same day the boys came back and began their song again:
"Stork, stork, long-legged stork!"
那天，男孩们回来再次开始唱起来：
“鹳鸟，鹳鸟，快飞走吧！”
"Shall we fly down and pick their eyes out?" asked the young storks eagerly.
“我们可以飞下去，啄出他们的眼睛吗？”小鹳鸟们生气的问。
"Certainly not," replied his (NB! = their) mother promptly. "Let them alone. Pay attention to me. That's much more important. One, two, three! Now we fly around to the right. One, two, three! Now to the left around the chimney. That was very good. That last flap of the wings was so perfect that you can fly with me tomorrow to the marshes. Several very nice stork families go there with their young ones, and I want to show them that mine are much the nicest. Don't forget to strut about; that looks very well and will get you consideration."
“当然不行，”他们的妈妈及时的说道。“不要管他们，注意力放在我身上，这个非常重要。一，二，三！现在我们向右飞一圈。一，二，三！想在我们围绕烟囱向左飞一圈。非常好，你们的翅膀最后拍的那一下非常完美所以你们明天可以和我一起飞到沼泽地。几个非常美丽的鹳鸟家族会带着他们的小鹳鸟们去那里，我想让他们看到我的孩子们更美丽。不要忘记抬起头，那样看起来会非常好看，会得到别人的钦佩.”
"But can't we take revenge on those rude boys first?" asked the young storks.
"但是我们不应该先去找这些粗鲁的孩子复仇吗？"小鹳鸟问道？
"Oh, let them scream as much as they like," replied their mother. "You'll fly with the clouds, and way off to the land of the pyramids while they'll be freezing. There won't be a green leaf or a sweet apple here then."
“噢，随他们去喊叫吧，”他们的妈妈回答道，当他们正在忍受寒冷时，他们得不到一片绿叶或者一个甜甜的苹果的时候你们会随着云层飞到金字塔的陆地上。”
"But we will have our revenge!" the young storks whispered to each other, and went on practicing their flying.
“但是我想要复仇！”小管你澳门互相低语着，然后继续练习飞翔。
Now, among the boys down there in the street, the worst of all was the boy who had begun the teasing song. He was a very little boy, hardly more than six years old, but the young storks thought he was at least a hundred, for he was much bigger than Mother and Father Stork, and how could they know how old children and grownups can be?
现在，男孩们在街道上，其中最坏的那个男孩，就是他带头唱嘲笑之歌。他是一个非常小的男孩，几乎不超过6岁，但是小鹳鸟们觉得他至少有100岁了，因为他比他们的爸爸和妈妈还要大，它们怎么会知道小孩和大人的年纪是多大呢？
The young storks made up their minds to take revenge upon this boy, because he was the first to start the song, and he always kept on. As they grew bigger, they were determined to do something about it. At last, to keep them quiet, their mother had to promise them that they would be revenged, but they were not to learn about it until the day before they left the country.
小鹳鸟们想要对这个小男孩复仇，因为他就是第一个开始唱嘲笑之歌的人，他还一直在唱着。当它们越长越大，它们决定为这事做点什么。最后，为了让他们保持安静，它们的妈妈允许它们去复仇，但是它们必须在离开这个国家的最后一天去行动。
"First, we'll have to see how you behave at the big maneuvers," she warned them. "If you don't do well, so that the general has to stab you with his beak, the boys will be right, at least in that way. We'll see."
"首先，我们必须知道在大演习时候你们表现的怎么样，"她警告他们。“如果你们做的不好，将军不得不用它的嘴刺你们，至少在某些方面，那些男孩是对的，我们瞧吧。”
"Yes, you'll see," replied the young ones, and my! how they worked! They practiced every day, until they could fly so neatly and lightly that it was a pleasure to watch them.
“是的，你看吧。”小鹳鸟们回到道，天哪！它们多么努力，每天都练习，知道他们能够如此整齐又轻松的飞翔，看着它们飞翔就很享受了。
At last the autumn came on, and all the storks began to assemble before flying away to the warm countries to get away from the winter up here. What a review that was! All of the young storks had to fly over forests and villages to show how well they had learned, for they had a very long journey before them. And the young storks did so well that their report cards were marked, "Remarkably well, with frogs and snakes!" That was the highest mark, and meant that they could eat frogs and snakes as a prize. And that is what they did!
最后秋季来临，所有的鹳鸟们在远离这儿的冬季飞去温暖的国家之前，开始聚集一起，这真是一场检阅！所有的小鹳鸟们必须飞过森林和村庄去展示它们学的怎么样，因为它们知道这是一场大规模的飞行。小鹳鸟们做的非常好，所以得到了一个“非常善于捉青蛙和小蛇”的评语的成绩。这是最高的评语，意味着它们可以吃青蛙和小蛇作为奖品，它们也这样做了。
"Now we will have our revenge!" they cried to their mother.
“现在我们要去复仇了！”它们向妈妈叫着。
"Yes," their mother agreed. "What I have thought of will be just the right thing to do. I know the pond where all the little human babies lie until the storks come to take them to their parents. The pretty little babies lie in that pond, dreaming more sweetly than they ever dream afterwards. All parents want a little baby, and every child wants a little sister or brother. Now, we'll go to that pond and bring a little baby sister or brother for each of the children who didn't sing that wicked song or make fun of us. But those that did won't get any."
“好的，”它们的妈妈同意了。“我想到了一个好主意，我知道所有的人类小宝宝躺在一个池塘里，直到鹳鸟飞来把他们带到他们父母面前。池塘里躺着可爱的小宝宝，做着比它们做过的还要甜美的梦。所有的父母都想要一个小宝宝，甚至小孩子也想要一个小妹妹或者小弟弟。现在，我们去那个池塘，然后带一个小弟弟或者小妹妹给那些没有唱嘲笑之歌或者嘲弄我们的小孩子。但是那些唱嘲笑之歌或者嘲弄我们的孩子将什么都得不到。”
"But that naughty, ugly boy who began the song?" demanded the young storks. "What shall we do with him?"
“但是那个淘气的丑陋的最开始唱嘲笑之歌的小男孩呢？”小鹳鸟询问道，“我们要对他做什么？”
"In that pond," said his mother slowly, "there is a little baby that has dreamed itself to death; we'll bring that to him. And then he'll cry because we've brought him a little dead brother. But don't forget that good little boy who said it was a shame to make fun of us! We'll take him both a brother and a sister! And since his name is Peter, you shall all be called Peter, too!"
“在那个池塘里，”他的妈妈慢慢的说，“那里有一个做梦做死了的死宝宝，我们把死宝宝带给他，那他将会哭泣，因为我们带给他一个死掉的小弟弟，但是不要忘记那个说嘲笑我们是耻辱的善良的小男孩！我们给他带去一个弟弟和一个妹妹！”既然他的名字叫做皮特，你们也都可以叫皮特。
It was done just the way she said. And all the young storks were named Peter, and so they are all called even now.
他们照着她说的方法做了，所有的小鹳鸟们都叫皮特，直到今天所有的鹳鸟都还被叫做皮特。
