David received a parrot for his birthday.This parrot was fully grown with a bad attitude and worse vocabulary.Every other word was an expletive.Those that weren't expletives were,to say the least rude.

　　David tried hard to change the bird's attitude and was constantly saying polite words,playing soft music,anything he could think of to try and set a good example...

　　Nothing worked.He yelled at the bird and the bird got worse.He shook the bird and the bird got more angry and more rude.

　　Finally,in a moment of desperation，David put the parrot in the freezer.For a few moments he heard the bird squawking,kicking,and screaming-then suddenly there was quiet.

　　David was frightened that he might have hurt the bird and quickly opened the freezer door.The parrot calmly stepped out onto David's extended arm and said："I'm sorry that I might have offended you with my language and action and I ask your forgiveness.I will endeavor to correct my behavior."

　　David was astonished at the bird's change in attitude and was about to ask what had made such a dramatic change when the parrot continued："May I ask what the chicken did?"

　　挨冻的鹦鹉

　　戴维生日时收到了一只鹦鹉。这只鹦鹉态度恶劣、言辞粗俗，而那些不是脏话的至少可以说是粗鲁无礼。

　　戴维竭尽所能想改变鹦鹉的习惯，于是坚持一直说文雅的话，放轻柔的音乐，以及任何他所能想到的来尽力作出一个好榜样。

　　但一切无济于事。他朝着这鸟儿咆哮但只使事情更糟。他拼命摇晃鸟儿，鹦鹉就更加愤怒和粗鲁。

　　最终，在一阵绝望过后，戴维把鹦鹉送进了冰箱。过了一会儿他听到鸟儿在抱怨，乱踢，还尖叫，接着突然安静了下来。

　　戴维给吓到了，他怕伤到了鸟儿赶紧打开冰箱门。鹦鹉镇静的踱上戴维伸出的手臂说："对不起，我的话语和行为可能冒犯了你，我请求你的原谅。我会尽力纠正自己的行为。"

　　戴维惊讶于它态度的急剧变化，正要问是什么导致了如此惊人的改变，鹦鹉却继续问道："我可以问一下那只鸡做过什么吗？"

　　(文/临沂师范学院杨自德译;英语辅导报大学一年级版03~04学年第14期;版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)