A bird was confined in a cage outside a window. She often sang at night when all other birds were asleep.

　　One night a bat came. He asked the bird why she was silent by day and sang only at night.

　　The bird answered， “Last year when I was singing in the daytime， a bird catcher heard my voice and caught me in his net.Since then I have never sung by day.”

　　The bat replied， “But it is useless to do this now that you have become a prisoner.” Then he flew away.

　　【译文】

　　《金丝雀与蝙蝠》

　　挂在窗口笼里的金丝雀，经常在鸟儿睡着的夜里歌唱。

　　一天晚上，蝙蝠来了，飞过来问她为什么白天安静无声，夜里却要歌唱。

　　金丝雀回答说：“去年我在白天唱歌时，捕鸟人听到我的歌声抓住了我。从此，我再也不在白天唱歌了。”

　　蝙蝠说：“你现在才懂得谨慎已没用了，你若在变为囚徒之前就懂得，那该多好呀!”说完就飞走了。

　　寓意： 我们应该在危险发生之前就提高警觉，因为危险一旦发生，我们再怎样小心也没有用了