Raven

梁小明

Once upon a time， a long time ago， inthe Pacific Northwest， there lived amagical bird named Raven. Raven was ashape shifter3. He could turn himself intoa man and then back again into a birdsimply by pulling his beak4 over his head，like a mask.

Raven practiced and practiced untilhe could turn himself into any animal.Raven could fool other animals intothinking he was， well， just anybody.

Raven was very smart. He was also athief and a liar. Raven used his charm tomake his lies sound like truth. Animalswho trusted Raven often found themselvesin big trouble. But Raven did not care.Raven was as selfish5 as he was clever.

One day， Raven looked up at the sky.“Winter is coming，”he said， in a surprisedsort of way. “The snows will fall soon. I bet6Squirrel has stored up lots of food by now.”

But when he flew by Squirrels house，Squirrel shouted at him， “Go away， Raven.You are not stealing food from me. Not onesingle nut7.”

Raven spread his wings and soared8away.“Bear will have food，”he thought. Butwhen Raven arrived at Bears cave9， Bearwas sound asleep for the winter. All Bearsfood was stored in Bears belly10.

Raven soared off to the top of a tree tothink things over. An idea took shape in hismind. Raven soared off in search of Crow11.Crow was Ravens cousin.

“Crow！ ” Raven called out when hefound him. “Everyones talking about yourbeautiful voice！ They cant wait to hear yousing. You should have a potlatch！ ”

Crow knew Raven was selfish. Crowknew that Raven was a thief. He knew thatRaven often lied. Just the same， it was hardto resist12 Ravens compliment13. Crow didhave a beautiful voice， as Raven well knew.

“A potlatch is a huge party！ ”saidCrow.“It would take all my winter storage14of food to feed my guests. And what aboutall the cooking and cleaning？”

“Ill help you get ready！”Raven smiledwarmly at his cousin. “Oh， Crow. Im soproud to be related to you. Everyone wantsto hear you sing！ ”

That very night， Crow and Raven begancooking. The next day， while Crow cookedand cleaned and practiced his singing，Raven flew all over the forest， invitingeveryone to“his”potlatch.

“Im having a potlatch，”Raven told allthe animals in the forest.“At Crows house.Come to the back door. That way， you wonthave to wait with the crowd to get in.”

Crow worked and worked， cooking andcleaning， while Raven flew all over theforest， inviting everyone he saw.

Finally， the big day arrived. Everyonecame to Ravens potlatch except the animalsthat had flown south for the winter and theanimals that were snoozing15 away in theircaves. Everyone that is except Squirrel.Raven had not invited Squirrel.

“Theres Elk，” Raven called out.Raven soared off， supposedly to see whoelse was approaching16. Instead， Ravencircled around and landed behind Crowshouse. Raven used his magical powers toturn himself into Elk. He hurried to Crowsfront door.

“Welcome to my potlatch， Elk！ ”

Crow welcomed Raven who pretended tobe the Elk excitedly.

“Thank you for inviting me， Crow，”

replied Raven， who was pretending to be Elk.“I cant wait to hear your beautiful voice！ ”

Raven the Elk lowered his head and enteredCrows house.

Raven flew out the back door， andchanged himself into Rabbit. He hopped17around to the front of Crows house.

“Welcome， Rabbit！ ”cried Crow excitedly.

“Thank you for inviting me！ ” saidRaven， who was pretending to be Rabbit.“Icant wait to hear you sing！ ”

And so it went. Crow stood by his frontdoor， welcoming what he thought were all theanimals in the forest. But really， each andevery animal was only Raven in disguise18.

As for Raven， when he wasnt busytricking Crow， Raven stood at the back door，welcoming all the gueststo“his”potlatch. Ravenwas a bit winded19 fromall his running about，but he found the wholeprocess enjoyable！

When all the realguests had entered through Crows backdoor， Raven dragged20 Crow away fromCrows front door， and pushed him into themiddle of the room.

“Crow is going to sing for us！ ”Ravenshouted over the noise of the party. Crowssinging received huge cheers. “One moresong， Crow，”called Raven， over and over.Crow was very happy. He sang and sang untilhis voice was hoarse21.

It was a wonderful party. Everyonelaughed and ate and cheered Crows songs.At the end of the party， each guest received apackage of food to take home.

“Thank you for inviting me to yourpotlatch，”each guest thanked Raven.

Crow felt puzzled22. He tried to tell hisguests that this was his potlatch. But Crowsvoice was gone.

That winter， as he knew he would，Raven received invitations to manypotlatches. Raven had a wonderful time，laughing and eating. At each potlatch， hereceived a package of food to take home.But no one invited Crow. After all， Crowhad never invited them to a party. Whyshould they invite him？

Poor Crow. To eat that winter， he hadto beg scraps23 of food from the People.Crow could not even tell anyone whatRaven had done. Crow had lost hisbeautiful voice forever. The only sound hecould make was a “caw24”. And that didnot help him at all.

曾几何时，许多年前，在太平洋西北部，住着一只名叫渡鸦的神奇的鸟。渡鸦可以变身。他只需把他的喙像拉面具一样拉过头顶，就可以把自己变成一个人，然后再变回一只鸟。

渡鸦不断练习，直到他能把自己变成任何动物。渡鸦可以欺骗其他动物，让他们以为他是任何一个人。

渡鸦很聪明。他也是小偷和骗子。渡鸦用他的魅力使他的谎言听起来像事实。信任渡鸦的动物经常发现自己陷入了大麻烦。

但渡鸦并不在乎。渡鸦既聪明又自私。

一天， 渡鸦仰望天空。“冬天来了。”他有点惊讶地说，“ 很快就要下雪了。

我打赌松鼠现在已经囤积了很多食物。”

但当他飞过松鼠家时，松鼠朝他吼道：“走开，渡鸦。

你不准偷我的食物。一个坚果也不能偷。”

渡鸦张开翅膀，腾空而去。

“熊会有食物的。”他想。但当渡鸦来到熊的洞穴时，熊正在熟睡过冬。熊的所有食物都储存在熊的肚子里。

渡鸦飞到一棵树的顶端，考虑了一番。一个主意在他脑中形成了。渡鸦飞起来寻找乌鸦。乌鸦是渡鸦的表弟。

“乌鸦！”渡鸦发现他时喊道，“每个人都在谈论你美丽的嗓音！他们迫不及待地想听你唱歌。你应该举行一个夸富宴！”

乌鸦知道渡鸦很自私。乌鸦知道渡鸦是个小偷。他知道渡鸦经常撒谎。同样，他也很难抗拒渡鸦的赞美。正如渡鸦熟知的那样，乌鸦确实有一副好嗓子。

“ 夸富宴是一场盛大的聚会！”乌鸦说，“招待客人会用掉我所有储存过冬的食物。还有所有的做饭和打扫怎么办？”

“我会帮你准备好的！”渡鸦热情地对他的表弟笑了笑，“哦，乌鸦。我很自豪能和你有亲戚关系。每个人都想听你唱歌！”

就在那天晚上，乌鸦和渡鸦开始做饭。第二天，当乌鸦做饭、打扫卫生、练习唱歌时，渡鸦飞遍了森林，邀请所有动物参加“他的”夸富宴。

“我将办一场夸富宴。”渡鸦告诉森林里的所有动物，“在乌鸦家。到后门来。这样，你们就不必和人群一起等着进去了。”

乌鸦忙啊忙，做饭和打扫卫生，而渡鸦则在森林里飞来飞去，邀请他看到的每一只动物。

终于，重要的日子到了。除了那些冬天飞向南边过冬的动物和那些在洞穴里打盹的动物以外，大家都来到了渡鸦的夸富宴。所有动物（都来了），除了松鼠。渡鸦没有邀请松鼠。

“驼鹿来了，”渡鸦喊道。渡鸦飞走了，据说是为了看看还有谁要来。然而，渡鸦绕了一圈，落在了乌鸦的房子后面。渡鸦用他的魔力把自己变成了驼鹿。他急忙跑到乌鸦的前门。

“欢迎来到我的夸富宴，驼鹿！”乌鸦激动地欢迎伪装成驼鹿的渡鸦。

“谢谢你邀请我，乌鸦。”伪装成驼鹿的渡鸦回答道，“我等不及要听到你美丽的声音了！”

伪装成驼鹿的渡鸦低下头走进了乌鸦的家。

渡鸦从后门飞了出去，把自己变成兔子。他跳到了乌鸦家门口。

“欢迎你，兔子！”乌鸦激动地喊道。

“谢谢你邀请我！”伪装成兔子的渡鸦说，“我等不及听你唱歌了！”

就这样，乌鸦站在前门，以为他迎接的是森林里的所有动物。但事实上，每一只动物都只是伪装的渡鸦。

至于渡鸦，当他没有忙着欺骗乌鸦时，他就站在后门，欢迎所有客人来“他的”夸富宴。渡鸦跑来跑去有点气喘吁吁，但他觉得整个过程很愉快！

当所有真正的客人都从乌鸦的后门进来以后，渡鸦将乌鸦从前门拽走，并将他推到房间中央。

“乌鸦要为我们唱歌了！”渡鸦在宴会的喧闹声中喊道。乌鸦的歌声赢得了巨大的欢呼。“再来一首歌吧，乌鸦。”渡鸦一遍又一遍地叫道。乌鸦非常高兴，他一首接一首地唱，直到嗓子哑了。

这是一场精彩的宴会。每个人都笑着，吃着，为乌鸦的歌欢呼着。宴会结束时，每位客人都收到了一包食物带回家。

“谢谢你邀请我参加你的夸富宴。”每位客人都对渡鸦表示感谢。

乌鸦感到很困惑。他试图告诉客人这是他的夸富宴。但乌鸦说不出话来。

那年冬天，正如所料，渡鸦收到了许多宴请。渡鸦玩得很开心，一边笑一边吃。在每次宴会时，他都会收到一包食物带回家。但没有人邀请乌鸦。毕竟，乌鸦从未邀请过他们参加宴会。他们为什么要邀请他呢？

可怜的乌鸦。那年冬天，为了吃上饭，他不得不向人类讨要残羹剩饭。乌鸦甚至不能告诉任何人渡鸦做了什么。乌鸦永远失去了他美妙的声音。他唯一能发出的声音是“呱呱”声。而那对他一点帮助也没有。

Notes

1. raven 渡鸦

2. potlatch 夸富宴；以炫耀财富为目的的公开仪式

3. shape shifter 神话；民间传说中的变形人、变形怪

4. beak 鸟嘴；喙

5. selfish 自私的

6. bet 打賭；赌博

7. nut 坚果

8. soar 高飞；翱翔

9. cave 洞穴；山洞

10. belly 腹部；肚子

11. crow 乌鸦

12. resist 阻挡；抵抗

13. compliment 赞扬

14. storage 储存；贮藏

15. snooze 小睡；打盹儿

16. approach 靠近

17. hop 齐足；或双足；跳行

18. disguise 伪装物；伪装

19. winded 喘气的；通风的；有风的

20. drag 拖；拽

21. hoarse  嘶哑的

22. puzzled 困惑的

23. scrap 吃剩的东西；残羹剩饭

24. caw 鸦叫声；呱呱叫