从前,有一头河马.他住在一棵大树旁的河边.
有一天,一只鸟来了,在树上筑巢.这只鸟的声音很美妙.她每天早上都唱歌,有许多其他动物前来欣赏她的歌声.河马很嫉妒鸟的甜美歌声,他脑子里什么都想不出来.他就是很不高兴自己是头河马.他真希望自己是一只鸟.鸟知道了之后,她前来到安慰河马,并试图让他高兴起来.她告诉河马说,他身躯这么庞大真幸运.更重要的是,他是个出色的游泳健儿.但鸟的话没起作用,河马还是不高兴.他多么渴望能像鸟一样是个好的歌手.
最后,河马做了一只决定.他走出了河,要爬上树,站在树枝上,并开始唱歌.他拼命爬上树,但他失败了,因为他没有翅膀和爪子来攀附树干.
河马觉得很沮丧.他知道自己永远都做不来,所以他很愤怒,出尽全力地把树推倒.现在,他可以站在树上.河马觉得自己像个胜利者.他开始唱歌.
不幸的是,河马还是不会唱歌.从他的嘴里发出来的只是可怕的噪音.其他动物听到他唱歌,就跑过来看看发生了什么事.他们看到河马站在一棵倒下的树枝上,并企图唱像鸟一样唱歌,他们都笑了起来.
河马觉得非常尴尬.他决定再也不因为自己是河马而感到遗憾,也后悔把树推倒.他用尽全力把树拉起来,重新栽种和照料它,直到树完全复元.
原文如下:
Once upon a time,there was a hippo.He lived in a river next to a big tree.
One day,a bird came and nested in the tree.The bird had a beautiful voice.She sang every morning and many other animals came to appreciate her songs.The hippo was so jealous of the bird's sweet voice that he couldn't think of anything else.He was unhappy about being a hippo.He wished he were a bird.After knowing that,the bird came to the hippo and tried to cheer him up.She told the hippo that he was so lucky to be so big.More importantly,he was such a good swimmer.But the bird's words didn't work.The hippo was still unhappy.He was so eager to be a good singer like the bird.
Finally,the hippo made a decision.He would come out of the river,climb the tree,stand on the branch and start singing.He tried hard to climb the tree,but he failed because he didn't have wings or claws to climb with.
The hippo felt so frustrated.He knew he would never make it,so he angrily used all his strength to push down the tree.Now he could stand on the tree.The hippo felt like a winner.He began singing.
Unfortunately,the hippo couldn't sing,either.All that came from his mouth were terrible noises.When other animals heard him singing,they came to see what was happening.After seeing the hippo standing on the branch of a fallen tree and trying to sing like a bird,they all laughed.
The hippo was greatly embarrassed by this.He decided to never again regret being a hippo.He also felt bad about having knocked the tree over.He used all his strength to raise the tree back up again,replant it,and look after it until it completely recovered.