Long long ago, there was a swan (天鹅) with golden feathers. She lived in a lake. A woman lived in a small house 1the lake with her two daughters. They were very poor. They worked hard all year round,2still, they lived a hard life and sometimes they even didn't have enough 3to buy food.
The swan was 4to see that. She said to herself, “I'll give one of my5to them each day, then they can live a happy life with the money selling my feathers.” That evening, she 6to the poor woman's house and left a golden feather on the table without saying7. From then on, the swan came every day and gave them a feather. The woman was very happy because their life was much8than before.
But day after day, the woman became greedy(贪婪).She said to her9. “The swan may fly away one day. If so, we will be poor again. We should take all10feathers if she comes next time.”
“Oh, no, Mom!” cried the daughters, “This will 11the swan. She helps us a lot!” But the mother wouldn't listen. When the 12came as usual, the mother caught her and took all her feathers. But suddenly, the golden feathers 13chicken feathers.
Then, the Golden Swan said, “Poor Mother, I came to 14you, but you wanted to kill me. Now, I am leaving and will 15come back. Never be greedy!” With these words, the swan left.