Ravi the teacher was very tired after a long, hard day at school.
He walked towards his house. Just then, Ravi felt something uncomfortable in his throat. He coughed and coughed, and something came out of his mouth—it was a heron's feather!
"How strange!" he thought. "How did it get in my throat?"
When he got home, he told his wife about it. His wife agreed that this was very strange. She also promised she wouldn't say a word. Or her husband would be the talk in the town!
When she went outside, their neighbour waved, "Have you heard any news today?"
"My husband was walking home and…you won't believe it…some heron feathers came out of his mouth! But you must promise not to tell anyone!" replied the teacher's wife.
The neighbour then went to the shop to buy some vegetables. He told the shopkeeper who loved to gossip (说三道四) all about what was going on in the town.
"You know what," said the neighbour, "Ravi the schoolteacher was giving a lesson today…and a whole heron suddenly came out of his mouth. ▲ "
Then the cook came into the shop. "Did you hear about that?" the shopkeeper said in a low voice, "Ravi the schoolteacher was buying pencils in the village shop—and suddenly a lot of herons flew out of his mouth! Ssh, don't tell others!"
The shopkeeper's little boy heard this. He ran outside to tell his friends. Soon, the rumors (谣言) had spread throughout the town!
When Ravi walked into the classroom the next morning, all his pupils were looking at him quietly—it was very unusual! Even more strangely, their parents were looking at him through the windows too.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?" he asked.
"We heard that yesterday a heron flew out of your mouth, and some other kinds of birds too. And a river of water with fish of all kinds in it! We want to see you do it again!" A boy spoke up.
Ravi sighed (叹气) and put his books on the desk.
"Today's lesson is a very important one!" he said."I think you all need to learn it!"
