The feathers of a goose put the newly-fallen snow to the blush. Proud of this dazzling（耀眼的） gift of nature, she considered herself intended for a swan, rather than for that which she was. Accordingly, separating herself from her companions, she swam, solitarily¹ and majestically², round the pond. She now stretched her neck, the treacherous³（奸诈的） shortness of which she endeavored to obviate⁴（排除） with all her might. Now she tried to give it the graceful⁵ bend, which designates the beautiful swan the bird of Apollo. But in vain, it was too stiff, and with all her pains, she remained a ridiculous goose, without inspiring a single beholder⁶ with the least idea of her resemblance（相似） to a swan.

 

How many geese are there, without wings, who, for similar assumption, become laughing-stocks to their neighbors!

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