Long long ago, there was aswan(天鹅)with golden feathers(羽毛). She lived in a lake. A woman lived in a small house1 the lake with her two daughters. They werevery poor. They worked hard all year round,2 still, they lived a hard life and sometimesthey even didn't have enough3 tobuy food.
The swan was sad to see that. Shesaid to herself, "I'll give one of my4 to them each day, then they can live a happylife with the money selling my feathers. "That evening, she5 to the poor woman's house and left agolden feather on the table without saying6.From then on, the swan came every day and gave them a feather. The woman wasvery happy because their life was much better than before.
But day after day, the womanbecame greedy(贪婪). She saidto her7, "The swan may fly away one day. Ifso, we will be poor again. We should take all her feathers when she comes nexttime."
"Oh, no, Mom!" criedthe daughters," This will hurt the swan. She helps us a lot." But themother wouldn't listen. When the swan came8,the mother caught her and took all her feathers. But suddenly, the goldenfeathers9 chicken feathers.
Then, the Golden Swan said, "PoorMother, I came to10 you, but you wanted to kill me. Now I amleaving and will never come back. Never be greedy!" With these words, theswan flew away.
