The feathers of a Goose put the newly-fallen snow to the blush. Proud of this dazzling gift of Nature, she considered herself intended for a Swan, rather than for that which she was.
Accordingly , separating herself from her companions, she swam, solitarily and majestically, round the pond. She now stretched her neck, the treacherous shortness of which she endeavored to obviate with all her might. Now she tried to give it the graceful bend, which designates the beautiful Swan the bird of Apollo.
But in vain, it was too stiff, and with all her pains, she remained a ridiculous Goose, without inspiring a single beholder with the least idea of her resemblance to a Swan.
How many geese are there, without wings, who, for similar assumption, become laughing-stocks to their neighbors !
翻译:
有多少没有翅膀的鹅，因为同样的自负，而成为周围动物的笑柄！
可是白费劲儿，她的脖子太硬了。她费尽全力，还是只可笑的鹅，没有任何一个观看者会觉得她和天鹅有什么相像之处。
于是，她离开同伴们，独自在池塘里神气地游来游去，她伸伸脖颈，竭力想拉长她那短短的脖子。她又试图优雅地把脖子弯一下，美丽的天鹅正是因此而被称为太阳神之鸟的。
有一只鹅，羽毛洁白如玉，连刚刚飘落的白雪都不能与之媲美。她对大自然给予她的这份光彩炫目的礼物大为骄傲，以为自己终会成为一只天鹅，而不再是现在这般模样。
