The Eagle and the Kite

英语自学网

The Eagle and the Kite
        AN EAGLE, overwhelmed with sorrow, sat upon the branches of a
        tree in company with a Kite.
        "Why," said the Kite, "do I see you
        with such a rueful look?'
        "I seek," she replied, "a mate suitable
        for me, and am not able to find one."
        "Take me," returned the
        Kite, "I am much stronger than you are."
        "Why, are you able to
        secure the means of living by your plunder?'
        "Well, I have often
        caught and carried away an ostrich in my talons."
        The Eagle,
        persuaded by these words, accepted him as her mate.
        Shortly
        after the nuptials, the Eagle said, "Fly off and bring me back
        the ostrich you promised me."
        The Kite, soaring aloft into the
        air, brought back the shabbiest possible mouse, stinking from the
        length of time it had lain about the fields.
        "Is this," said the
        Eagle, "the faithful fulfillment of your promise to me?'
        The Kite
        replied, "That I might attain your royal hand, there is nothing
        that I would not have promised, however much I knew that I must
        fail in the performance."