The Wren

 A Wren¹ had built its nest on the side of a road. When the eggs were hatched, a Camel passed that way. The little Wrens² saw it and said to their father when he returned from the fields:

 

"O papa, a gigantic animal passed by."

 

The Wren stretched out his foot. "As big as this, my children?"

 

"O papa, much bigger."

 

He stretched out his foot and his wing. "As big as this?"

 

"O papa, much bigger."

 

Finally he stretched out fully³ his feet and legs.

 

"As big as this then?"

 

"Much bigger."

 

"That is a lie; there is no animal bigger than I am."

 

"Well, wait," said the little ones, "and you will see."

 

The Camel came back while browsing⁴ the grass of the roadside.

 

The Wren stretched himself out near the nest. The Camel seized the bird, which passed through its teeth safe and sound.

 

"Truly," he said to them, "the Camel is a gigantic animal, but I am not ashamed of myself."

 

On the earth it generally happens that the vain are as if they did not exist; but sooner or later a rock falls and crushes them.

1 wren   

n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员

参考例句：

• A wren is a kind of short-winged songbird.鹪鹩是一种短翼的鸣禽。
• My bird guide confirmed that a Carolina wren had discovered the thickets near my house.我掌握的鸟类知识使我确信，一只卡罗莱纳州鹪鹩已经发现了我家的这个灌木丛。

2 wrens   

n.鹪鹩( wren的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Other songbirds, such as wrens, have hundreds of songs. 有的鸣鸟，例如鹪鹩，会唱几百只歌。 来自辞典例句

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》