燕子的警告
类别：智慧
鸟儿忽视燕子对大麻种子的预警，最终被绳网捕获，说明小患不除必成大祸的道理。
时长 46 秒 · 语速 174 wpm
字幕原文
One spring, a farmer was planting seeds in his field. 有一年春天，有个农夫在田里播种。
The birds were hopping around, picking them up. 鸟儿们在周围蹦来蹦去，啄着掉在地上的种子吃。
A swallow who had traveled widely looked closely at the seeds. 一只见多识广的燕子凑近仔细看了看那些种子。
"Be careful," she warned the others. “大家小心点，”她提醒道，
"Those are hemp seeds. “那些可是大麻种子。
Eat every single one, or you'll be sorry." 必须把它们全吃光，不然以后有你们后悔的。”
The other birds laughed. 其他鸟儿听了哈哈大笑。
"It's just a few seeds. “不就几粒种子嘛，
What harm can they do?" 能有什么大不了的？”
And they flew off to find something tastier. 说完，它们就飞走去找更好吃的东西了。
The seeds grew into tall plants. 后来，那些种子长成了高高的植株。
The plants were cut and made into string, 人们把植物收割下来做成了麻绳，
and the string was made into nets. 又用麻绳织成了捕鸟网。
That autumn, many of the birds who had laughed at the swallow were caught in those same nets. 到了那年秋天，很多当初嘲笑燕子的鸟，全被这些网给抓住了。
By then, of course, it was far too late. 当然，到了这个时候，一切都太晚了。
Small problems are easy to deal with. 小问题本来是最好解决的，
The trouble is, that's exactly when nobody wants to bother. 可麻烦就在于，正因为是小问题，根本没人愿意去费心。
所属专辑：伊索寓言 · 提高篇（Aesop's Fables）