AnoldlegendrelatesthatlongagoGodhadagreatmanyburdenswhichHewishedtohavecarriedfromoneplacetoanotheronearth,soHeaskedtheanimalstolendahand.Butallofthembegantomakeexcusesfornothelping:theelephantwastoodignified;thelion,tooproud;andsoon.FinallythebirdscametoGodandsaid,'Ifyouwilltietheburdensintosmallbundles,we'llbegladtocarrythemforyou.Wearesmallbutwewouldliketohelp.'

　　有一个古老的传说，在很久以前，上帝有很多的重担是他想要从一个地方带到地球上的。于是他请动物们帮忙。但是所有的动物们都用各种介口不来帮忙：大象是高贵，狮子是骄傲，等等。最后鸟儿们来了，对上帝说：“如果你把这些重担分别系成小的担子，我们很乐意为你分担这些重担。我们虽然很娇小但是我们乐意帮忙。”

　　SoGodfasteneduponthebackofeachoneasmallbundle,andtheyallsetoutwalkingacrosstheplaintotheirdestination.Theysangastheywent,anddidnotseemtofeeltheweightoftheirburdensatall.Everydaytheburdensseemedlighterandlighter,untiltheloadsseemstobeliftingthebirds,insteadofthebirdscarryingtheburdens.

　　这样，上帝将一个个的小担子固定在每只小鸟的背部。当他们出发经过平原，前往目的地的时候，鸟儿们边走边唱，似乎并未感觉到负担的重量。一天又一天，这些重担越来越轻，最后，这些重负似乎要把鸟儿们举起来，而不是鸟儿们在背负重担了。

　　Whentheyarrivedattheirdestination,theydiscoveredthatwhentheyremovedtheirloads,therewerewingsintheirplace,wingswhichenabledthemtoflytotheskyandthetreetops.

　　Theyhadlearnedhowtocarrytheirburdens,andtheirloadshadbecomewingstocarrythemnearertoGod.Burdenswecarryforothersmaybecomewingsofthespirit,toliftusintohappinesssuchaswehaveneverknown.--AuthorUnknown