The Eagle and the Fox

英语自学网

The Eagle and the Fox
        AN EAGLE and a Fox formed an intimate friendship and decided to
        live near each other.
        The Eagle built her nest in the branches
        of a tall tree, while the Fox crept into the underwood and there
        produced her young.
        Not long after they had agreed upon this
        plan, the Eagle, being in want of provision for her young ones,
        swooped down while the Fox was out, seized upon one of the little
        cubs, and feasted herself and her brood.
        The Fox on her return,
        discovered what had happened, but was less grieved for the death
        of her young than for her inability to avenge them.
        A just
        retribution, however, quickly fell upon the Eagle.
        While
        hovering near an altar, on which some villagers were sacrificing
        a goat, she suddenly seized a piece of the flesh, and carried it,
        along with a burning cinder, to her nest.
        A strong breeze soon
        fanned the spark into a flame, and the eaglets, as yet unfledged
        and helpless, were roasted in their nest and dropped down dead at
        the bottom of the tree.
        There, in the sight of the Eagle, the
        Fox gobbled them up.