The Friendly Terns　有情有义的燕鸥

One day Mr.Edward,the Scotch naturalist shot at a tern,hoping to secure the beautiful creature as a specimen.The ball broke the bird's wing,and he fell screaming down to the water.His cries brought other terns to the rescue,and with pitiful screams they flew to the spot where the naturalist stood,while the tide drifted their wounded brother toward the shore.But before Mr.Edward could secure his prize,he observed,to his astonishment,that two of the terns had flown down to the water,and were gently lifting up their suffering companion,one taking hold of either wing.But their burden was rather heavy;so,after carrying it seaward about six or seven yards,they let it down,and two more came,picked it up,and carried it a little farther.By means of thus relieving each other they managed to reach a rock where they concluded they would be safe.

一天，苏格兰自然学家爱德华先生射中了一只燕鸥，想要把这只美丽的鸟制成标本。子弹击穿了燕鸥的翅膀，燕鸥尖叫着掉到了水里。它的哀鸣引来其他燕鸥前来援救，它们凄楚地尖叫着，飞到了自然学家站着的地方。这时，海潮已经把它们受了伤的弟兄冲到了岸边。可是，爱德华先生还没来得及捡起他的战利品，就看到了令他吃惊的一幕。两只燕鸥飞到了水边，一边一个叼住伤者的翅膀，轻轻地抬起了在痛苦中挣扎的同伴。可是，负担太重了，他们向海边飞了大约六七码，就把伤员放了下来。这时，又来了两只燕鸥，重新叼起伤员，又往前飞了一段。就这样，它们轮流替换着，飞到了一块岩石上。对它们来说，到了这里就安全了。