“This is exactly what we think.”they all replied，and then the musicmaster received permission to exhibit the bird to the people on the following Sunday，and the emperor commanded that they should be present to hear it sing.When they heard it they were like people intoxicated(intoxicated adj.喝醉的，极其兴奋的)，however it must have been with drinking tea，which is quite a Chinese custom.They all said“Oh！”and held up their forefingers and nodded，but a poor fisherman，who had heard the real nightingale，said，“it sounds prettily enough，and the melodies are all alike，yet there seems something wanting，I cannot exactly tell what.”
“这正是我们想要的，”大家都说。于是乐师就被批准下星期天把这只雀子公开展览，让老百姓看一下。皇帝说，老百姓也应该听听它的歌。当他们听到时，也感到非常满意，愉快的程度正好像他们喝过了茶一样——因为喝茶是中国的习惯。他们都说：“天啦！”同时举起食指，点点头。可是听到过真正的夜莺唱歌的那个穷渔夫说：“它唱得倒也不坏，很像一只真鸟儿，不过它似乎总缺少了一种什么东西——虽然我不知道这究竟是什么！”
And after this the real nightingale was banished(banish vt.流放，驱逐，消除)from the empire，and the artificial bird placed on a silk cushion close to the emperors bed.The presents of gold and precious stones which had been received with it were round the bird，and it was now advanced to the title of“Little Imperial Toilet Singer”，and to the rank of No.1 on the left hand，for the emperor considered the left side，on which the heart lies，as the most noble，and the heart of an emperor is in the same place as that of other people.
在真正的夜莺从这土地和帝国被放逐出去后，那只人造夜莺在皇帝床边的一块丝垫子上占了一个位置。它所得到的礼品——金子和宝石——都被陈列在它的周围。在称号方面，它已经被封为“高贵皇家夜间歌手”了。在等级上说来，它已经被提升到“左边第一”的位置，因为皇帝认为心房所在的左边是最重要的一边——即使是一个皇帝，他的心也和其他人一样是偏左的。
The musicmaster wrote a work，in twentyfive volumes，about the artificial bird，which was very learned and very long，and full of the most difficult Chinese words，yet all the people said they had read it，and understood it，for fear of being thought stupid and having their bodies trampled upon.
乐师写了一部卷关于这只人造鸟儿的书，共有二十五卷：这是一部学问渊博、篇幅很长、用那些最难懂的中国字写的一部书。大臣们说，他们都读过这部书，而且能读懂它的内容，因为他们都怕被认为是蠢材而在肚皮上挨揍。
So a year passed，and the emperor，the court，and all the other Chinese knew every little turn in the artificial birds song，and for that same reason it pleased them better.They could sing with the bird，which they often did.The streetboys sang，“Zizizi，cluck，cluck，cluck，”and the emperor himself could sing it also.It was really most amusing.
整整过去了一年。皇帝、朝臣们以及其他的中国人都记得这只人造鸟儿所唱的歌中的每一个调儿。不过正因为现在大家都学会了，大家就更喜欢这只鸟儿了——大家现在可以跟它一起唱。街上的孩子们唱，吱－吱－吱－格碌－格碌！皇帝自己也唱起来——是的，这真是最美妙的事！
One evening，when the artificial bird was singing its best，and the emperor lay in bed listening to it，something inside the bird sounded“whizz”.Then a spring cracked.“Whirrrr”went all the wheels，running round，and then the music stopped.The emperor immediately sprang out of bed，and called for his physician，but what could he do？Then they sent for a watchmaker，and，after a great deal of talking and examination，the bird was put into something like order，but he said that it must be used very carefully，as the barrels(barrel n.桶vt.装入桶内)were worn，and it would be impossible to put in new ones without injuring(injure vt.损害，伤害v.伤害)the music.Now there was great sorrow，as the bird could only be allowed to play once a year，and even that was dangerous for the works inside it.Then the musicmaster made a little speech，full of hard words，and declared that the bird was as good as ever，and，of course no one contradicted(contradict vt.同……矛盾，同……抵触)him.
一天晚上，就在皇帝正躺在床上静听这只人造鸟儿最动听的歌声的时候，宝鸟儿的身体里面忽然发出一阵“咝咝”的声音来。有一件什么东西断了，“嘘——”突然，所有的轮子都狂转起来，于是歌声就停止了。皇帝马上跳下床，命令把他的御医召进来。不过医生又能有什么办法呢，于是大家又去请一个钟表匠来。经过一番磋商和考查以后，他总算把这只鸟儿勉强修好了，不过他说，这只鸟儿今后必须小心使用，因为它里面的齿轮已经用坏了，要配上新的齿轮而又能奏出音乐，是一件困难的工作。这真是一件悲哀的事情！这只鸟儿只能一年唱一次，而这对宝鸟儿来说还要算是用得很过火呢！不过乐师作了一个短短的演说——里面全是些难懂的字眼——他说这鸟儿是跟从前一样地好，因此当然没有人质疑。
Five years passed，and then a real grief(grief n.悲痛，伤心事，不幸，忧伤)came upon the land.The Chinese really were fond of their emperor，and he now lay so ill that he was not expected to live.Already a new emperor had been chosen and the people who stood in the street asked the lordinwaiting how the old emperor was，but he only said，“Pooh！”and shook his head.
五个年头过去了。一件真正悲哀的事情终于发生在这个国家，这位受全国人民喜爱的皇帝现在病了，据说他不能久留于人世。新的皇帝已经选好了。老百姓都跑到街上来，向侍臣探问他们的老皇帝的病情。“呸！”他摇摇头说。
Cold and pale lay the emperor in his royal bed，the whole court thought he was dead，and every one ran away to pay homage(homage n.敬意)to his successor.The chamberlains went out to have a talk on the matter，and the ladiesmaids invited company to take coffee.Cloth had been laid down on the halls and passages，so that not a footstep should be heard，and all was silent and still.But the emperor was not yet dead，although he lay white and stiff on his gorgeous bed，with the long velvet curtains and heavy gold tassels.A window stood open，and the moon shone in upon the emperor and the artificial(artificial adj.人造的，假的，非原产地的)bird.
皇帝躺在他华丽的大床上，冷冰冰的，面色惨白。整个宫廷的人都以为他死了，所有人都跑去向新皇帝致敬。男仆人都跑出来谈论这件事，丫环们开始准备盛大的咖啡会。在大厅和走廊里，都铺上了布，使得脚步声不至于响起来，所以这儿现在是很静寂，非常的静寂。可是皇帝还没有死，他僵直地、惨白地躺在华丽的床上——床上悬挂着天鹅绒的帷幔，帷幔上缀着厚厚的金丝穗子。顶上面的窗子是开着的，月亮照在皇帝和那只人造鸟儿身上。
The poor emperor，finding he could scarcely breathe with a strange weight on his chest，opened his eyes，and saw Death sitting there.He had put on the emperors golden crown，and held in one hand his sword of state，and in the other his beautiful banner(banner n.旗帜，横幅，标语).All around the bed and peeping through the long velvet curtains，were a number of strange heads，some very ugly，and others lovely and gentlelooking.These were the emperors good and bad deeds，which stared him in the face now Death sat at his heart.
