A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore golden apples. These apples were always counted, and about the time when they began to grow ripe it was found that every night one of them was gone. The king became very angry at this, and ordered the gardener to keep watch all night under the tree. The gardener set his eldest son to watch; but about twelve o'clock he fell asleep, and in the morning another of the apples was missing. Then the second son was ordered to watch; and at midnight he too fell asleep, and in the morning another apple was gone. Then the third son offered to keep watch; but the gardener at first would not let him, for fear some harm should come to him: however, at last he consented, and the young man laid himself under the tree to watch. As the clock struck twelve he heard a rustling noise in the air, and a bird came flying that was of pure gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with its beak, the gardener's son jumped up and shot an arrow at it. But the arrow did the bird no harm; only it dropped a golden feather from its tail, and then flew away. The golden feather was brought to the king in the morning, and all the council was called together. Everyone agreed that it was worth more than all the wealth of the kingdom: but the king said, 'One feather is of no use to me, I must have the whole bird.'

从前有位国王，他有一座漂亮的花园，花园里面有一棵苹果树，树上挂着金灿灿的苹果。 树上苹果的数量都有记录，但是，当苹果快熟的时候，人们发现，每天晚上苹果都会少掉一个。 国王知道后很生气， 命令园丁要整夜地看守苹果树。 于是，园丁派了他的大儿子去看守苹果树，但是到了晚上12点的时候，园丁的大儿子睡着了。当他第二天早上醒来时，发现树上的苹果又少了一个。园丁这次派他的第二个儿子去看守苹果树。 不过，二儿子也在12点的时候睡着了，结果苹果又少了一个。 这时，园丁的第三个儿子自告奋勇去看守苹果树，园丁一开始没有答应，因为他害怕有什么东西会伤害他的小儿子，但最后还是答应了。 于是，园丁的第三个儿子来到苹果树下躺下。 当大钟刚敲过12点，小伙子听到天上一阵沙沙的响声，一只全身都是金色的鸟飞了下来。 当那只鸟猛然用嘴叼住树上的一个苹果时，小伙子嚯地跳了起来，朝那只鸟放了一箭。 不过，射出的箭没有伤着那只鸟，只是把它尾巴上的一根金色的羽毛射了下来。 鸟飞走了。 第二天早上，那根金色的羽毛被送到了国王的面前， 同时，所有大臣也被招集到一起讨论金色羽毛的事情。 大家都认为，这根羽毛比这个王国里的所有财富加起来都要值钱。 不过，国王并不满足，他说，"一根羽毛对我来说没什么用，我一定要那只鸟"。
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