"NOW I shall tell a story，"said the Wind， "No，excuse me，"said the Rain，"now it is myturn！You have stood long enough at the street corner andhowled all that you could howl！"
"Is that your thanks，"said the Wind，"for my having，in your honour，turned many an umbrella outside in；yes，even broken them，when people would have nothing to dowith you！"
"I am going to tell one，"said the Sunshine，"bequiet；"and it was said with dignity and majesty，so thatthe Wind laid itself down all its length，but the Rain driz- zled in the Wind，and said，"Must we stand this！She al－ways breaks through，this Madam Sunshine．We shall notlisten to her！it is not worth the trouble to listen！"
And the Sunshine said：
"There flew a swan over the rolling sea：every featheron it shone like gold；one feather fell down on the big mer-chant ship which glided past under full sail．The featherfell on the curly hair of the young man who had charge ofthe cargo，the Super-cargo'they called him．The featherof the bird of Fortune touched his forehead，and became apen in his hand，and he soon became a rich merchant，whocould easily buy himself spurs of gold，and change goldplate into a nobleman's shield．I have shone upon it，"said the Sunshine．
"The swan flew away over the green meadow，wherethe little shepherd，a boy of seven years old，had laid him－self to rest under the shadow of the single old tree there．And the swan in its flight kissed a leaf of the tree；it fellinto the boy's hand，and the one leaf became three，thenten，then a whole book，and he read in it about the won-ders of nature，about his mother－tongue，and about faithand knowledge．At bedtime he laid the book under hishead，so that he should not forget what he had read，andthe book took him to the school bench and the desk oflearning．I have read his name among those of thelearned！"said the Sunshine．
"The swan flew into the loneliness of the forest，rested there on the still，dark lakes，where the water－lilies and the wild apples grow，where the cuckoo and thewood－pigeon have their homes． "A poor woman gathered fallen branches for fire－wood，and carried them on her back；she bore her childin her arms，and was on her way home．She saw thegolden swan，the swan of Fortune，fly up from the rush－grown bank．What shone there？A golden egg；she laid itin her bosom，and the warmth remained；there was cer－tainly life in the egg．Yes，there was a tapping inside theshell；she noticed it，and thought it was the beating ofher own heart．
"At home in her poor room she took out the goldenegg．'Tick，tick，'it said，as if it were a valuable goldwatch，but it was an egg with living life．The egg burst，and a little cygnet，feathered like pure gold，stuck itshead out；it had four rings round its neck，and as thepoor woman had just four boys，three at home，and thefourth which she had carried with her in the forest，sheunderstood at once that here was a ring for each of thechildren；and just as she understood it，the little goldenbird flew away．
"She kissed each ring，and let each of the childrenkiss one of the rings，laid it on the child's heart，andplaced it on the child's finger．
"I saw it！"said the Sunshine，"I saw what followedthis！"
"The one boy seated himself in the clay pit，took alump of clay in his hand，turned it with the fingers，andit became a figure of Jason，who fetched the goldenfleece．
"The second boy ran out at once into the meadowwhere the flowers stood with all the colours one couldthink of：he plucked a handful，clutched them so firmlythat the sap sprang into his eyes and wetted the ring；there came life and movement into his thoughts and intohis hand，and after a year and a day，the great towntalked of the great painter．
"The third of the boys held the ring so fast in hismouth that it gave out a sound，an echo from the bottom ofhis heart．Thoughts and feelings lifted themselves inmelody，lifted themselves like singing swans，dived likeswans down into the deep sea，the deep sea of thought．Hebecame the great master of melody．Every country may nowthink'He belongs to me！' "The fourth little one；ah，he was the outcast．Theysaid he'had the pip'，and ought to have pepper and but－ter，like the sick chickens！'Pepper and bootter， 'was howthey said it，and he got that；but from me he got a sun－shine kiss，"said the Sunshine，"he got ten kisses for one．He had a poet's nature and got both knocks and kisses；but he had the ring of Fortune from Fortune's golden swan．His thoughts flew out like a golden butterfly，the symbol ofimmortality"
"That was a long story！"said the Wind．
"And tiresome！"said the Rain；"blow on meso thatI may come to myself again．" And the Wind blew，and the Sunshine went on：
——"The swan of Fortune flew away over the deep bay，where the fishers had spread their nets．The poorest ofthem had thought of getting married，and so he got mar－ried．
"The swan brought a piece of amber to him；amberattracts to itself，it drew hearts to the house．Amber is theloveliest incense．There came a fragrance as fro m thechurch；there came a fragrance from God's nature．Theyfelt truly the happiness of home，content with their lowlycondition，and so their life became a real sunshine Story．
"Shall we stop now？"said the Wind．"Sunshine hastalked long enough now．I am tired of it！"
"I also，"said the Rain．
What do we others，who have heard the stories，say？
We say…now they are finished．
阳光的故事
“现在我要讲一个故事！”风儿说。
“不成，请原谅我，”雨儿说，“现在轮到我了！你在街头的一个角落里呆得已经够久了，你已经拿出你最大的气力、大号大叫了一通！”
