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太阳在天空巡回时，碰到了一位公主，结果一见钟情爱上了她。一有时间太阳就会化成人形，从天上悄悄溜出来找公主，与公主共度美好时光。公主也很喜欢他，每天都在等待他。 一天，太阳决定送一颗鲜亮的红宝石给公主，向她表示爱意。他将宝石放在丝绸袋里，叫住正好经过的一只乌鸦，让它把宝石捎给自己的爱人。那时乌鸦的羽毛是乳白色的，人们都认为它是吉祥的象征，所以太阳很高兴能找到乌鸦来送这颗宝石。 乌鸦衔着丝绸袋在天上飞着,忽然闻到了一股诱人的香味，向下一看，原来是有人正在举行婚宴。乌鸦抵不住食物的诱惑，立刻忘了自己的任务！ 乌鸦在附近树上落下，把丝绸袋挂在树枝上，就飞去找吃的了。就在乌鸦大吃大喝的时候，一个商人经过树下看到了口袋，就用竹竿打了下来。 他打开袋子看到宝石，高兴得差点晕倒，赶紧把宝石拿出来，把旁边的干牛粪装了进去，利落地把袋子又挂回了树枝上。 整个过程很快，乌鸦根本没觉察，它吃饱了以后又飞上树枝，衔起口袋往公主家飞去。公主正在花园中，拿到口袋后急切地打开，她知道这是太阳送给她的。但看到里面的东西后，公主又惊又气，摇摇晃晃,后退了好几步。 公主认为太阳这是在侮辱她，把口袋扔掉跑回皇宫，再也不出来了。 太阳得知后大怒，盛怒之下灼热的光烤在乌鸦身上，把乌鸦身上的羽毛烤成了黑色。从那以后乌鸦的羽毛就一直是黑色的了。 Why Crows Are Black? The Sun while going on his daily rounds saw a princess and fell in love with her. Whenever he could slip away from the heavens he would take human form and go down to the princess to spend some time with her. The princess too became quite fond of him and would wait for him to come. One day the Sun decided to send her a blood-red ruby as a token of his love for her. He put the gem in a silken bag, and calling a crow that was flying past, asked the bird to deliver the gem to his beloved. Crows had milky white feathers in those days and it was considered auspicious if a crow came anywhere near you. So the Sun was pleased that he had found a crow to deliver the gem. As the crow sped through the sky with the silken bag, the aroma of food reached its nostrils. Looking down it saw that a wedding feast was in progress, and immediately it was distracted from its mission. Food was one thing it could never resist! Alighting on a tree nearby, it hung the bag on a twig and went off to find some food. While the crow was feasting，a merchant passing by saw the bag on the tree，and knocked it down with a pole. When he opened the bag and saw its contents he almost swooned in joy. Quickly pocketing the ruby, he filled the bag with dry cow dung that was lying there, and then deftly returned the bag to the branch. It was all done so quickly that the crow missed all the action. After having its fill, it flew up to the tree, and picking up the bag took it to the person it was intended for. The princess was in the garden. When the crow gave her the bag, she took it eagerly, knowing that it was from the Sun. But when she saw its contents she reeled back in shock and anger. Believing that it was the Sun’s way of telling her that he did not care for her, she flung the bag away, rushed to her palace, and never came out again. When the Sun learnt of what had happened he was furious. So great was his anger that when he turned his scorching gaze on the crow, its feathers were burned black. Its feathers have been black ever since. |
