"NOW I shall tell a story，"said the Wind， "No，excuse me，"said the Rain，"now it is myturn！You have stood long enough at the street corner andhowled all that you could howl！"

"Is that your thanks，"said the Wind，"for my having，in your honour，turned many an umbrella outside in；yes，even broken them，when people would have nothing to dowith you！"

"I am going to tell one，"said the Sunshine，"bequiet；"and it was said with dignity and majesty，so thatthe Wind laid itself down all its length，but the Rain driz- zled in the Wind，and said，"Must we stand this！She al－ways breaks through，this Madam Sunshine．We shall notlisten to her！it is not worth the trouble to listen！"

And the Sunshine said：

"There flew a swan over the rolling sea：every featheron it shone like gold；one feather fell down on the big mer-chant ship which glided¹ past under full sail．The featherfell on the curly² hair of the young man who had charge ofthe cargo，the Super-cargo'they called him．The featherof the bird of Fortune touched his forehead，and became apen in his hand，and he soon became a rich merchant，whocould easily buy himself spurs³ of gold，and change goldplate into a nobleman's shield．I have shone upon it，"said the Sunshine．

"The swan flew away over the green meadow，wherethe little shepherd，a boy of seven years old，had laid him－self to rest under the shadow of the single old tree there．And the swan in its flight kissed a leaf of the tree；it fellinto the boy's hand，and the one leaf became three，thenten，then a whole book，and he read in it about the won-ders of nature，about his mother－tongue，and about faithand knowledge．At bedtime he laid the book under hishead，so that he should not forget what he had read，andthe book took him to the school bench and the desk oflearning．I have read his name among those of thelearned！"said the Sunshine．

"The swan flew into the loneliness of the forest，rested there on the still，dark lakes，where the water－lilies and the wild apples grow，where the cuckoo⁴ and thewood－pigeon have their homes． "A poor woman gathered fallen branches for fire－wood，and carried them on her back；she bore her childin her arms，and was on her way home．She saw thegolden swan，the swan of Fortune，fly up from the rush－grown bank．What shone there？A golden egg；she laid itin her bosom，and the warmth remained；there was cer－tainly life in the egg．Yes，there was a tapping inside theshell；she noticed it，and thought it was the beating ofher own heart．

点击收听单词发音  

1 glided
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔
参考例句：
The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。 They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 curly
adj.卷曲的，卷缩的
参考例句：
The little boy has curly hair.这小男孩长着一头卷发。 She is tall and dark with curly hair.她高高的个子，黑皮肤，卷头发。

3 spurs
n.马刺( spur的名词复数 )；支柱；（公路或铁路的）支线；激励因素v.策（马）前进( spur的第三人称单数 )；（尤指用马刺）策（马）加速；鞭策；策马飞奔
参考例句：
Edison won his spurs as an inventor while rather young. 爱迪生很年轻的时候就获得了发明家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》 Pride spurs him to work hard. 自尊心促使他努力工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 cuckoo
n.布谷鸟，杜鹃
参考例句：
The cuckoo lays its eggs in other birds'nests.杜鹃在别的鸟巢中产卵。 The cuckoo is a harbinger of spring.布谷鸟预告春天的来临。

5 plucked
采( pluck的过去式和过去分词 )； 拔掉； 解救； 弹
参考例句：
The actress was only 17 when she was plucked from obscurity and made a star. 这个演员受到提携从无名少女一跃成为明星时年仅17岁。 She plucked out a grey hair. 她拔掉了一根灰白头发。

6 echo
n.回音，共鸣；vi.发出回声；vt.模仿，附和
参考例句：
She shouted on the mountaintop and listened for the echo.她在山顶上大声喊着，然后聆听着回声。 I should like to echo the words of the previous speaker.我想重复前面一位发言者的话。

7 amber
n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的
参考例句：
Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？ This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

8 fragrance
n.芬芳，香味，香气
参考例句：
The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。 The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。