1.1 Freedom parrot 呼喊自由的鹦鹉

Freedom parrot

呼喊自由的鹦鹉

　　A man, a great man, a fighter for freedom was traveling in the mountains. He stayed in a caravans 1① for the night. He was amazed that in the caravans there was a beautiful parrot in a golden cage, continually repeating “Freedom! Freedom!”. And it was such a place that when the parrot repeated the word “Freedom!” it would go on echoing in the valleys, in the mountains.

　　The man thought: “I have seen many parrots, and I have thought they must want to be free from those cages... but I have never seen such a parrot whose whole day, from the morning to the evening when he goes to sleep, is spent in calling out for freedom.” He had an idea. In the middle of the night, when the owner was fast asleep, he got up and opened the door of the cage. He whispered to the parrot, “Now get out.”

　　But he was very surprised that the parrot was clinging to the bars of the cage. He said to him again and again, “Have you forgotten about freedom? Just get out! The door is open and the owner is fast asleep; nobody will ever know. You just fly into the sky; the whole sky is yours.”

　　But the parrot was clinging so deeply, so hard, that the man said, “What is the matter? Are you mad?” He tried to take the parrot out with his own hands, but the parrot started pecking② at him, and at the same time he was shouting, “Freedom! Freedom!” The valleys in the night echoed and re-echoed, but the man was also stubborn③; he was a freedom fighter.

　　He pulled the parrot out and threw him into the sky; and he was very satisfied, although his hand was hurt. The parrot had attacked him as forcefully as he could, but the man was immensely satisfied that he had made a soul free. He went to sleep.

　　In the morning, as the man was waking up, he heard the parrot shouting, “Freedom! Freedom!” He thought perhaps the parrot must be sitting on a tree or on a rock. But when he came out, the parrot was sitting in the cage. The door was open.

　　① caravan 2 n. 商队大旅店　　② peck v. 啄　　③ stubborn a. 顽固的，固执的

一个人，一个了不起的人，一个为了自由而战的斗士，正在山峦间穿行。今晚他留在一个大旅店里过夜。旅店里有一个金鸟笼，里面有一只漂亮的鹦鹉在不停地反复呼喊着“自由！自由！”，这让他很震惊。那里是这样的一种地方，当这只鹦鹉不断地反复呼喊“自由！”的时候，这个词便会在山峦间、在深谷中久久回荡。

　　这个人想：“我看到过很多鹦鹉，也曾想过他们一定想从这些笼子里飞出去获得自由……但是，我从没有见过这样的鹦鹉，从早到晚，直到入睡，一整天都在呼喊着自由。”他有了一个想法……午夜，当店主熟睡的时候，他悄悄起身，打开了鸟笼门，小声地对鹦鹉说：“现在，出去吧。”

　　但是令他吃惊的是这只鹦鹉竟抓着鸟笼的横木不放。他对它一遍又一遍地说：“你忘了自由了吗？快出去！门开着，店主熟睡着，没有人会看到。你只要飞向天空，整片天空就是你的了。”

　　但是鹦鹉仍然牢牢地用力抓着横木不放，于是他说：“怎么了？你疯了吗？”他试图用手把鹦鹉弄出来，但是鹦鹉却开始啄他，同时大喊：“自由！自由！”深夜的山谷里荡起了一声又一声的回音，可是这个人也一样地顽固，谁让他是个自由之士呢。

　　他把鹦鹉拽出来，扔向空中。他很满意，尽管他的手受伤了。虽然鹦鹉全力地攻击他，但是他却心满意足，因为他使得一个灵魂自由了。他便回去继续睡他的觉。

　　早上，他睡醒了，听见鹦鹉正在大喊：“自由！自由！”他想也许鹦鹉正落在一棵树上或一块石头上呢。但当他出来的时候，鹦鹉正在笼子里，笼门还开着。

　　懂得什么是真正的自由，再去渴望和呼喊自由。