In the olden time there was a king, who had behind his palace a beautiful pleasure-garden in which there was a tree that bore golden apples. When the apples were getting ripe they were counted, but on the very next morning one was missing. This was told to the King, and he ordered that a watch should be kept every night beneath the tree.

The King had three sons, the eldest¹ of whom he sent, as soon as night came on, into the garden; but when midnight came he could not keep himself from sleeping, and next morning again an apple was gone.

The following night the second son had to keep watch, it fared no better with him; as soon as twelve o’clock had struck he fell asleep, and in the morning an apple was gone.

Now it came to the turn of the third son to watch; and he was quite ready, but the King had not much trust in him, and thought that he would be of less use even than his brothers; but at last he let him go. The youth lay down beneath the tree, but kept awake, and did not let sleep master him. When it struck twelve, something rustled² through the air, and in the moonlight he saw a bird coming whose feathers were all shining with gold. The bird alighted on the tree, and had just plucked off an apple, when the youth shot an arrow at him. The bird flew off, but the arrow had struck his plumage, and one of his golden feathers fell down. The youth picked it up, and the next morning took it to the King and told him what he had seen in the night. The King called his council together, and everyone declared that a feather like this was worth more than the whole kingdom. “If the feather is so precious,” declared the King, “one alone will not do for me; I must and will have the whole bird!”

The eldest son set out; he trusted to his cleverness, and thought that he would easily find the Golden Bird. When he had gone some distance he saw a Fox sitting at the edge of a wood, so he cocked his gun and took aim at him. The Fox cried, “Do not shoot me! and in return I will give you some good counsel. You are on the way to the Golden Bird; and this evening you will come to a village in which stand two inns opposite to one another. One of them is lighted up brightly, and all goes on merrily within, but do not go into it; go rather into the other, even though it seems a bad one.” “How can such a silly beast give wise advice?” thought the King’s son, and he pulled the trigger. But he missed the Fox, who stretched out his tail and ran quickly into the wood.

So he pursued his way, and by evening came to the village where the two inns were; in one they were singing and dancing; the other had a poor,

点击收听单词发音  

1 eldest
adj.最年长的，最年老的
参考例句：
The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。 The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

2 rustled
v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 miserable
adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的
参考例句：
It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。 Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 tavern
n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店
参考例句：
There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。 Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

5 revel
vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢
参考例句：
She seems to revel in annoying her parents.她似乎以惹父母生气为乐。 The children revel in country life.孩子们特别喜欢乡村生活。

6 heed
v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心
参考例句：
You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。 For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

7 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 mishap
n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸
参考例句：
I'm afraid your son had a slight mishap in the playground.不好了，你儿子在操场上出了点小意外。 We reached home without mishap.我们平安地回到了家。

9 repent
v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔
参考例句：
He has nothing to repent of.他没有什么要懊悔的。 Remission of sins is promised to those who repent.悔罪者可得到赦免。

10 regiment
n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制
参考例句：
As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。 They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

11 chamber
n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所
参考例句：
For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。 The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

12 shrill
adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫
参考例句：
Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。 The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

13 grooms
n.新郎( groom的名词复数 )；马夫v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的第三人称单数 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗
参考例句：
Plender end Wilcox became joint grooms of the chambers. 普伦德和威尔科克斯成为共同的贴身侍从。 来自辞典例句 Egypt: Families, rather than grooms, propose to the bride. 埃及：在埃及，由新郎的家人，而不是新郎本人，向新娘求婚。 来自互联网

14 maiden
n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的
参考例句：
The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。 The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

15 forfeited
（因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Because he broke the rules, he forfeited his winnings. 他犯规，所以丧失了奖金。 He has forfeited the right to be the leader of this nation. 他丧失了作为这个国家领导的权利。

16 shovelled
v.铲子( shovel的过去式和过去分词 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份
参考例句：
They shovelled a path through the snow. 他们用铲子在积雪中铲出一条路。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The hungry man greedily shovelled the food into his mouth. 那个饿汉贪婪地把食物投入口中。 来自辞典例句

17 forth
adv.向前；向外，往外
参考例句：
The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。 He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

18 gallop
v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展
参考例句：
They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。 The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

19 WHIMS
虚妄，禅病
参考例句：
The mate observed regretfully that he could not account for that young fellow's whims. 那位伙伴很遗憾地说他不能说出那年轻人产生怪念头的原因。 The rest she had for food and her own whims. 剩下的钱她用来吃饭和买一些自己喜欢的东西。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

20 pranks
n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句 He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

21 squandered
v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He squandered all his money on gambling. 他把自己所有的钱都糟蹋在赌博上了。 She felt as indignant as if her own money had been squandered. 她心里十分生气，好像是她自己的钱给浪费掉了似的。 来自飘（部分）

22 backwards
adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地
参考例句：
He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。 All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

23 moss
n.苔，藓，地衣
参考例句：
Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。 He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

24 upbraided
v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The captain upbraided his men for falling asleep. 上尉因他的部下睡着了而斥责他们。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 My wife upbraided me for not earning more money. 我的太太为了我没有赚更多的钱而责备我。 来自辞典例句

25 ragged
adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的
参考例句：
A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。 Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

26 misery
n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦
参考例句：
Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。 He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。