The Jay and the Peacock

Jupiter announced that he intended to appoint a king over the birds, and named a day on which they were to appear before his throne, when he would select the most beautiful of them all to be their ruler.

朱庇特宣布，他打算为鸟类册立一位国王，并定下一个日子，让所有鸟儿都到他的宝座前集合，届时他将从中选出最美丽的一只，立为它们的统治者。

Wishing to look their best on the occasion they repaired to the banks of a stream, where they busied themselves in washing and preening their feathers.

鸟儿们都希望在这个场合展现出最好的样子，纷纷来到溪边，忙着梳洗、整理自己的羽毛。

The Jackdaw was there along with the rest, and realised that, with his ugly plumage, he would have no chance of being chosen as he was: so he waited till they were all gone, and then picked up the most gaudy of the feathers they had dropped, and fastened them about his own body, with the result that he looked gayer than any of them.

寒鸦也和其他鸟儿一起来了，它意识到，凭自己那身丑陋的羽毛，是绝无可能被选中的：于是它等到大家都离开后，捡起它们掉落的最鲜艳的羽毛，一根根地插在自己身上，结果它看起来比谁都要绚丽夺目。

When the appointed day came, the birds assembled before Jupiter's throne; and, after passing them in review, he was about to make the Jackdaw king, when all the rest set upon the king-elect, stripped him of his borrowed plumes, and exposed him for the Jackdaw that he was.

到了约定的日子，鸟儿们齐聚在朱庇特的宝座前；朱庇特一一审视过后，正要立寒鸦为王，这时其他鸟儿一拥而上，扑向这位“准国王”，把它身上借来的羽毛全都扯了下来，让它露出了自己那副寒鸦的本来面目。