小学英语 英语故事(童话故事)The Parrot 鹦鹉
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The
Parrot
鹦鹉
The
Parrot
Once upon a time
there was a merchant who was supposed to go away
on business, but
he
was
afraid
to
leave
his
daughter
at
home
by
herself,
as
a
certain
king
had
designs
on her
daughter,
he
said,
leaving,
but
you
must
promise
not
to
stick
your
head
out of the door or let anyone in until
I get back
Now that very morning the
daughter had seen a handsome parrot in the tree
outside
her window He was a well-bred
parrot, and the maiden had delighted in talking
with
him
Couldn't
I at least have a parrot to keep me
company?
The
merchant,
who
lived
only
for
his
daughter,
went
out
at
once
to
get
her
a
parrot
He found an old man who sold him one
for a song He took the bird to his daughter,
and after much last-minute advice to
her, he set out on his trip
No sooner
was the merchant out of sight than the king began
devising a way to join
the maiden He
enlisted an old woman in his scheme and sent her
to the girl with a
letter
In
the
meantime
the
maiden
got
into
conversation
with
the
parrot
to
me,
parrot
She was an
only child, with no brothers or sisters, nor did
she have any playmates
So they made her
a doll the same size as herself, with a face and
clothes exactly
like
her
own
Everywhere
she
went
the
doll
went
too,
and
no
one
could
tell
them
apart
One
day
as
king,
daughter,
and
doll
drove
through
the
woods
in
their
carriage,
they
were attacked by
enemies who
killed the king and carried off
his
daughter, leaving
the doll behind in
the abandoned carriage The maiden screamed and
cried so, the
enemies let her go, and
she wandered off into the woods by herself She
eventually
reached
the
court
of
a
certain
queen
and
became
a
servant
She
was
such
a
clever
girl
that the queen liked her better all the
time The other servants grew jealous and
plotted her downfall 'You are aware, of
course,' they said, 'that the queen likes
you very much and tells you everything
But there's one thing which we know and you
don't
She
had
a
son
who
died'
At
that,
the
maiden
went
to
the
queen
and
asked,
'Majesty,
is
it
true
that
you
had
a
son
who
died?'
Upon
hearing
those
words,
the
queen
almost
fainted
Heaven
help
anyone
who
recalled
that
fact!
The
penalty
for
mentioning
that
dead son was no less
than death The maiden too was condemned to die,
but the queen
took pity on her and had
her shut up in a dungeon instead There the girl
gave way
to despair, refusing all food
and passing her nights weeping At midnight, as she
sat
there
weeping,
she
heard
the
door
bolts
slide
back,
and
in
walked
five
men:
four
of
them
were
sorcerers
and
the
fifth
was
the
queen's
son,
their
prisoner,
whom
they
were
taking out for exercise
At that moment,
the parrot was interrupted by a servant bearing a
letter for the
merchant's daughter It
was from the king, who had finally managed to get
it to her
But the girl was eager to
hear what happened next in the tale, which had
reached
the most exciting part, so she
said,
returns Parrot, go on with your
story
The
servant
took
the
letter
away,
and
the
parrot
continued
the
morning
the
jailers
noticed the prisoner had not eaten a
thing and they told the queen The queen sent
for
her,
and
the
maiden
told
her
that
her
son
was
alive
and
in
the
dungeon
a
prisoner
of four sorcerers,
who took him out every night at midnight for
exercise The queen
dispatched
twelve
soldiers
armed
with
crowbars,
who
killed
the
sorcerers
and
freed
her son Then she gave
him as a husband to the maiden who had saved
him
The
serant
knocked
again,
insisting
that
the
young
lady
read
the
king's
letter
well
Now
that
the
story
is
over,
I
can
read
the
letter,
said
the
merchant's
daughter
to say
son
She
settled
for
a
purse
of
money
and
a
man's
outfit
and
moved
on
to
another
city
The
son
of
this
city's
king
was
ill,
and
no
doctor
knew
how
to
cure
him
From
midnight
to dawn he raved like one possessed The
maiden showed up in man's attire, claiming
to be a foreign doctor and asking to
be left
with the youth for
one night The first
thing
she
did
was
look
under
the
bed
and
find
a
trapdoor
She
opened
it
and
went
down
into a
long corridor, at the end of which a lamp was
burning
At that moment the servant
knocked and announced there was an old woman to
see the
young
lady,
whose
aunt
she
claimed
to
be
(It
was
not
an
aunt,
but
the
old
woman
sent
by
the
king)
But
the
merchant's
daughter
was
dying
to
know
the
outcome
of
the
tale,
so she said she was receiving no one
Thus the parrot continued
woman boiling the heart of the king's
son in a kettle, in revenge for the king's
execution of her son The maiden removed
the heart from the kettle, carried it back
to
the
king's
son
to
eat,
and
he
got
well
The
king
said,
'I
promised
half
of
my
kingdom
to
the
doctor
who
cured
my
son
Since
you
are
a
woman,
you
will
marry
my
son
and
become
queen'
a
fine
story,
said
the
merchant's
daughter
that
it's
over,
I
can
receive
that
woman who claims to be my
aunt
listen to this The
maiden in doctor's disguise also refused to marry
that king's
son and was off to another
city whose king's son was under a spell and
speechless
She hid under the bed; at
midnight, she saw two witches coming through the
window
and remove a pebble from the
young man's mouth, whereupon he could speak Before
leaving, they replaced the pebble, and
he was again mute
Someone
knocked
on
the
door,
but
the
merchant's
daughter
was
so
absorbed
in
the
story
that she didn't even hear the knock The
parrot continued
next
night
when
the
witches
put
the
pebble
on
the
bed,
she
gave
the
bedclothes
a
jerk and it dropped on the floor Then she reached
out for it and put it in her
pocket
At
dawn
the
witches
couldn't
find
it
and
had
to
flee
The
king's
son
was
well,
and
they named the maiden physician to the
court
The
knocking
continued,
and
the
merchant's
daughter
was
all
ready
to
say
in,
but first she
asked the parrot,