我是傑克

愛爾蘭島上強風吹拂，自由自在的狂風起於大海，呼嘯著劃過翡翠色的海島。全世界各種各樣的鳥都願意聚在這裏，好借用強風讓自己飛得更高。這裏有燕子、老鷹、貓頭鷹……還有一大群海鷗。

上千隻鳥兒坐在陡峭的懸崖邊俯瞰著大西洋，等待著一陣合適的風吹過，讓自己乘著風力輕輕鬆鬆地飛上高高的天空。

海鷗們像其他鳥兒一樣，經常抓住時機享受一番飛翔的樂趣。可以說幾乎所有的海鷗都是這樣，除了一隻奇奇怪怪的綠色愛爾蘭海鷗，他的名字叫傑克·奧肖納西。

The wind blows free in Ireland. It whistles in from the ocean and soars over the Emerald Isle. Birds of all sorts from all over the world flock there to take advantage of the winging winds. There are swallows,eagles, owls and a whole lot of seagulls.

A thousand or more birds sit on the edges of the cliffs that overlook the Atlantic Ocean. They wait for just the right breeze to send them soaring high into the sky with no effort whatsoever.

The seagulls, like the rest of the birds, would constantly take wing just for the fun of flying—all the seagulls, that is, except a strangelooking green Irish seagull by the name of Jake O’Shawnasey.

當然，真的不是傑克不願意飛。實際上，他特別希望自己也能飛起來。可是，他不相信自己能夠飛翔。正因為他不相信自己會飛，所以他就真的飛不起來了。

他會拚命地拍打翅膀，想讓風力把自己托起來。可是，一旦自己稍微離開地麵，傑克就會一邊慌張地撲騰，一邊想著：“我可不覺得我飛得起來！我真的飛不起來！”這麽一想，他就會立刻重重地掉到地上，常常摔掉十幾根羽毛。

Now, it wasn’t that Jake didn’t want to fly. Oh, how he wanted to,but he didn’t believe he could fly. And because he didn’t believe, he couldn’t.

Jake would flap his wings and try desperately to catch a breeze. As he would begin to lift from the ground, flapping his wings furiously,he would think, “I don’t think I can fly! In fact...I can’t!” With that he would fall to the ground with a heavy crash,usually losing eight or ten feathers for his efforts.

傑克·奧肖納西可不是一隻會輕言放棄的海鷗。他試過《海鷗飛行手冊》上的每種技巧，可是它們全都不管用。有一次，傑克實在是太著急了，甚至抓著一隻風箏的尾巴飛到了一百米左右的高度。等到風箏線放完了，傑克就在天上鬆開了風箏。

有那麽一瞬間，傑克看起來好像馬上就要成功了，他的翅膀拍打得非常順利。但是他很快就像以前一樣，開始覺得自己飛不起來了。他想著想著，不知不覺地就忘了繼續拍打翅膀。傑克打著轉兒地掉了下去，一頭掉進了下麵的大海。

傑克總是從懸崖邊上跳出去，而且每次都是直接掉進海裏，給這一帶的鳥兒們帶來了不小的麻煩。所有的鳥兒都得不時到處張望一下，生怕一隻綠色的海鷗突然砸到自己頭上。

最後，愛爾蘭島的鳥兒們決定秘密地聚在一起開個會，討論一番要怎麽處理傑克的問題。“咱們得趕緊做點兒什麽呀！”燕子們嘰嘰喳喳地喊道。“當然得做點兒什麽了。”烏鴉們嘎嘎地咕噥著，“可是咱們到底應該怎麽做呢？”

鳥兒們想啊想啊，最終，一隻睿智的老貓頭鷹向前走了一步，說道：“也許是時候把這片懸崖的秘密告訴傑克了。”鳥兒們全都沉默下來，他們靜靜地凝視了一會兒頭頂的懸崖，認真地同意了老貓頭鷹的主意。現在看來，懸崖的秘密可能是傑克學會飛行的唯一希望了。在其他鳥兒的鼓勵聲中，老貓頭鷹去找傑克了。

對於愛爾蘭島的鳥兒們來說，想找到傑克不是什麽難事，因為他們隻要在懸崖底下的水裏找找就可以了。一般來說，他會在那裏漂著，而今天和平常一樣。聰明的老貓頭鷹在岸邊耐心地等了一會兒，好讓傑克慢慢地遊到岸邊。老貓頭鷹問：“傑克，你真的想學飛嗎？”

傑克想了一小會兒才回答說：“當然想啊，我再也不想從上麵掉下來了。因為總是在這麽冷的海水裏遊泳，我今年都得了五次感冒啦！”

“那麽現在，我要告訴你這片懸崖的秘密藏在哪裏。”老貓頭鷹說，“知道了這個秘密後，你一定能學會飛的。”

Now, finding Jake had never been a difficult task for any of the birds of Ireland. All they would have to do was look in the water at the base of the cliff and there Jake would be, floundering in the sea. Today was no exception. The wise old owl waited patiently on the beach for Jake to swim ashore. “Jake,” said the owl, “do you really want to learn to fly?”

Jake thought for a moment and then answered, “Oh, yes, I am tired of falling, and I’ve had five colds already this year from swimming in that cold ocean!”

“What I am about to tell you,” said the owl, “is the location of The Secret of the Cliffs of County Cort. With that secret you can learn to fly.”

老貓頭鷹一邊說，一邊嚴肅地轉過頭去指了指懸崖最高的地方：“傑克，那個秘密就藏在懸崖的最上麵。一旦你找到它，飛行對你來說就再也不是什麽問題了。”

傑克盯著懸崖上麵看了好一會兒：“可是，我要怎麽才能到懸崖最上麵去呢？我連向下飛都不太會，又怎麽能往上飛呢？”

“這你就得自己想想辦法了。”說完，老貓頭鷹就飛到懸崖頂上去找其他鳥兒了。

The owl solemnly turned and pointed to the top of the cliff towering above them.“The Secret, Jake, is there at the top. When you find it,you will never have a problem flying again.”

Jake took a long look up the cliff. “But how will I get all the way up there?” he asked. “I can barely fly downwards, so how could I possibly fly up?”

“You must do that yourself,” said the owl, who flew off to join the other feathered spectators waiting at the top of the cliff.

傑克深深地吸了幾口海邊的新鮮空氣，咽了一口唾沫，開始撲扇翅膀試著飛到上麵去。然而，一想到“哎呀，我不覺得我做得到呀”，他揮動翅膀的動作就停下來了。傑克又一次摔到了懸崖底下的沙灘上。

“因為我知道自己不會飛，所以我永遠不可能飛到懸崖上麵去。但是我知道，就算不飛起來，也有辦法到頂上去。”他一邊想著，一邊開始到處尋找需要的東西。

Jake took a couple of deep breaths of fresh air. He gulped once and began flapping his wings in hopes of flying to the top. His flapping came to a sudden stop when he once again thought, “Oh, I don’t believe I can do it!” With that, he fell back with a clunk to the beach below.

“I’ll never get to the top by flying because I know I can’t fly. But I know how to get to the top without flying.” So Jake scurried around,looking for the things that would set his plan in motion.

傑克先從岩壁上找了一條很長的藤蔓，又在沙灘上找到了一根舊魚鉤。他仔細地把魚鉤拴在藤蔓的一頭，又在腳底下綁上了兩隻海星。把這些裝備準備齊全後，傑克終於可以通過攀岩爬到懸崖頂上去了。

Jake found a great length of old vine hanging from the rocks. Then he searched the beach until he found an old fishhook. Carefully he lashed it to the end of his vine rope, and finally, with the help of two starfish, he strapped them to his feet; he was ready to climb the cliffs.

傑克小心翼翼地把魚鉤拋向懸崖上方，等到鉤子牢牢地鉤在石頭上以後，他才開始慢慢地拉著藤蔓往上爬。腳上綁的海星吸住了岩壁，讓他的每一步都走得穩穩的。他就這樣一步一步慢慢地向上爬著，離懸崖的秘密越來越近。

其他的鳥兒在他的頭頂上不斷地給他加油打氣。

Jake carefully threw the fishhook high into the rocks, and when it was secure, he began pulling himself up. With the starfish on his feet he had excellent traction. Step by step he came closer to The Secret of the Cliffs of County Cort.

High above him and all around him he could hear his cheering section urging him upward and onward.

辛辛苦苦地爬了幾個小時後，傑克·奧肖納西終於爬到了懸崖最高的地方。朋友們興高采烈地歡呼起來，但是傑克累得要命，隻能上氣不接下氣地站在一邊。

Finally, after many hours of hard climbing, Jake O’Shawnasey reached the top of the Cliffs of County Cort. His friends shouted and cheered as Jake stood there, panting and puffing after his long journey.

“我終於爬到頂上啦。”傑克喘著粗氣說，“那個秘密在哪兒呢？”

“就刻在那塊大石頭上呀！”鳥兒們異口同聲地答道。傑克第一次發現那裏居然有一塊巨大的石頭，上麵刻著這樣一段話：

“如果你不相信自己能把事情做好，請記住，勤加練習一定能給你帶來信心。”

傑克想：“我的問題究竟在哪裏呢？如果我對自己在做的事情有點兒信心，也許我能夠飛起來，就是這麽回事吧！我隻要相信自己，也許就能學會飛了！”

“I’m at the top,” puffed Jake, “but where is the Secret?”

The birds shouted in union, “It’s there, written upon that rock.” Jake,for the first time, noticed a large boulder right before him. Carved on the rock was this message:

If you find you’re not believing

In everything you do...

Just remember lots of trying

Will bring confidence to you.

Jake thought, “I wonder if that could be my problem. Maybe I can fly,if I have confidence in what I’m doing. That’s it! I need only to believe in myself and then I can learn to fly!”

傑克小心地展開翅膀扇了幾次，開始鼓足信心給自己打氣：“我能做到的！我知道我一定能夠飛起來的！我完全相信自己可以！”

他一邊這麽想著，一邊奮力地揮動著翅膀。就像所有生活在愛爾蘭島的鳥兒一樣，傑克以優美的姿態一飛衝天，飛向了高高的天際。

Jake carefully unfolded his wings, flapped them once or twice, and found the confidence to bolster his courage. “I know I can do it! I know I can fly! I really and truly believe in myself!”

With that, his wings began to pound, and Jake, as gracefully as any other Irish bird, lifted from the ground and flew high into the sky.

現在，傑克·奧肖納西已經非常有自信了，他完全相信自己的能力。正因為他學會了相信自己，所以他也終於學會了飛翔。

傑克開心極了，他覺得自己後半輩子再也不用擔心飛著飛著掉進海裏了。

所以，如果你也遇到了麻煩的問題，不敢相信自己的話，就想想傑克·奧肖納西的故事吧！它一定能給你帶來信心的！

這個故事的結局非常圓滿，隻是還有一個很小很小的問題，那就是——

Jake O’Shawnasey was totally confident now. He believed in himself.Because he believed, he could fly!

Jake was so happy, he felt that he could fly without falling for the rest of his life.

So if you’re deep in trouble

And don’t believe in what you do...

Just remember Jake O’Shawnasey

And confidence will come to you.

This story would have ended happily, except for one small problem...

傑克·奧肖納西一直沒學會安全著陸。

JAKE O’SHAWNASEY NEVER LEARNED HOW TO LAND.