Long, long ago, two birds and their fledglings lived near a farm. Every morning and evening, the parents would go out to find food for their little ones. One day, when they brought the food home, the baby birds said to them frantically, "Pa! Mom! This is the end of us!" Startled, the parent birds asked, "What happened? Tell us quickly."

    好久以前，有兩只小鳥(niǎo)，它們跟它們的小孩一起住在一個(gè)農(nóng)場(chǎng)旁邊。每天早晚，它們會(huì)出去找食物回來(lái)給它們小孩吃。有一次，當(dāng)它們帶食物回去的時(shí)候，那些小鳥(niǎo)小孩很激動(dòng)地跟它們說(shuō)：「哎呀！爸爸、媽媽，完了、完了！」它們兩個(gè)就很驚訝地問(wèn)：「有什么事？趕快跟我們講。」

    The baby birds said, "We heard that the owner of the farm has asked his relatives and friends to come and help harvest the crops tomorrow. We will have nothing left to eat." Their parents comforted them, saying, "Don't worry about it. No matter what, his relatives and friends will definitely not come." The baby birds were confused, but they believed there must be some truth to their parents' words, because they were older, more experienced, and must know everything. Reassured, the baby birds ate heartily. Several days went by, and true enough, none of the farmer's relatives and friends came to help with the harvest.

    那些小鳥(niǎo)小孩說(shuō)：「聽(tīng)說(shuō)明天農(nóng)場(chǎng)主人會(huì)去找他們的親戚朋友來(lái)幫他們收割，那我們就沒(méi)東西吃了。」那兩只小鳥(niǎo)父母說(shuō)：「別擔(dān)心，不會(huì)怎么樣，他們親戚朋友一定不會(huì)來(lái)幫忙他們的。」那些小鳥(niǎo)小孩就感到很奇怪，不過(guò)父母講的話一定有它們的道理存在，因?yàn)樗鼈兒芾狭耍��?jīng)驗(yàn)豐富，一定會(huì)知道。所以它們就安心了，吃得很高興。幾天以后，果然農(nóng)場(chǎng)主人的親戚朋友都沒(méi)有來(lái)幫忙收割。

    Then, a few more days later, when the parent birds came back with food, their little ones told them again, "This is the end! We heard that the farmer has asked all his children to come home tomorrow to help reap the crops. We will have no more food. We are in serious trouble!" Their parents laughed and reassured them, "No! It won't happen! Don't worry. Their children will definitely not come to help them. Don't be afraid." The baby birds were happy to hear that. Their parents had made the correct prediction last time, so they must be right again this time. The family enjoyed their dinner joyously, and truly, as predicted, none of the children came to help the farmer harvest his crops.

    過(guò)了幾天，有一次當(dāng)小鳥(niǎo)父母帶食物回來(lái)時(shí)，它們的小孩又說(shuō)：「哎呀！完了、完了！聽(tīng)說(shuō)明天那個(gè)農(nóng)夫會(huì)叫他所有的小孩回來(lái)幫他們收割，那我們就沒(méi)東西吃了，麻煩大了！」那對(duì)小鳥(niǎo)父母笑嘻嘻地說(shuō)：「不會(huì)、不會(huì)！你們安心，他們的小孩一定不會(huì)回來(lái)幫忙他們的，你們不要怕。」小鳥(niǎo)小孩聽(tīng)了很高興，上次它們的父母講對(duì)了，這次一定也對(duì)，大家就很高興地吃晚餐。果然如是，沒(méi)有一個(gè)小孩來(lái)幫他們收割。

    Again, several days went by, and when the parent birds returned to the nest with dinner for their babies, the little ones again told them, "We are in trouble! We are in danger! We heard that the farmer and his wife have decided to harvest the crops by themselves tomorrow. They are not going to rely on others or ask for help." This time, the parents were really worried and said, "This is indeed the end!" The little ones asked, "This is strange! Why is that? The last two times we told you that they were going to get help from their relatives, friends, and children, you were delighted and said that nothing would happen. Why are you so shocked this time that they are going to reap the harvest by themselves and not rely on others?" The parents explained to them, "You don't understand. If they really rely on themselves, they will definitely do it. You cannot depend on others. Now that they have decided to be self-reliant, they will definitely do it. We will have no more food. We had better move to another farm."

    又過(guò)了好幾天，有一次小鳥(niǎo)父母從外面帶晚餐回來(lái)給它們的小孩吃的時(shí)候，那些小鳥(niǎo)小孩又說(shuō)：「哎呀！麻煩了！危險(xiǎn)了！聽(tīng)說(shuō)農(nóng)場(chǎng)主人夫婦決定明天要自己收割了，他們不靠外人，不請(qǐng)求任何人幫忙了。」那個(gè)時(shí)候那對(duì)小鳥(niǎo)父母好懊惱地說(shuō)：「這次真的是完了！」那些小鳥(niǎo)小孩說(shuō)：「奇怪！怎么這樣子呢？前兩次我們說(shuō)他們會(huì)請(qǐng)親戚朋友來(lái)、請(qǐng)他們的小孩來(lái)幫忙收割，你們都很高興，說(shuō)不會(huì)有事；這一次我們說(shuō)他們要靠自己，自己去收割，你們?yōu)槭裁茨敲凑鸷衬兀俊谷缓笮▲B(niǎo)父母說(shuō)：「你們有所不知，他們?nèi)绻�靠自己的話，他們真正的�?huì)去做。靠別人當(dāng)然不可靠，現(xiàn)在他們決定要靠自己的話，他們一定會(huì)做得成功，所以我們以后沒(méi)東西吃了，我們最好要搬走了，搬到別的農(nóng)場(chǎng)去。」