一天，一股清爽的南风把春天及温暖带到了乡下。奇怪的事情发生了。鹰突然发现自己不知怎么回事站在谷仓脊上。它像往日一样，栖息在围栏上面，沮丧地打着盹。突然，对自由的茫然渴望使它张开翅膀向上飞去。但这次不但没有像平时那样掉到路面上，反而被迅速地托到了空中。由于害怕，它匆匆飞向最近的一个落脚点。
Now it was sitting up there on the high roof, quite dazed by the course of events. Never before had it seen the world from such a lofty place. Eagerly it turned its head, now one way, now the other; then, irresistibly drawn by the drifting clouds and the azure（碧空；天蓝色） of the sky, it spread its wings anew and soared upward, at first carefully and tentatively, soon with greater boldness and assurance, until at last with a wild scream of joy. It swung itself high up in the air and made a great circle. In a flash it knew what it meant to be an eagle.
站在高高的屋顶上，它对刚刚发生的一切感到茫然。它从来没有站在这么高的位置上看世界。它热切地转动着头，东瞅瞅，西看看，不由地被流云蓝天所吸引。它重新张开双翅飞向高空。起初，它谨慎而尝试性地飞翔着，但很快胆子就大了，更有把握了。终于，随着一声欣喜若狂的尖叫声飞向高空绕了一大圈。刹那间，它明白了成为一只鹰意味着什么。
Villages, forests, sunny lakes passed under it. The eagle rose higher and higher toward the blue sky, dizzy from the wide horizon and the strength of its wings.
鹰飞过村庄、森林及阳光普照的湖泊，并越来越高，飞向蓝天，对开阔的地平线及自己双翅的力量感到茫然。
But suddenly it stopped. The empty vastness all around frightened it, and it began to search for a resting place.
突然，它停止了飞翔，因为周围广漠的空间使它害怕。它开始寻找一个休息的地方。
By good luck it reached a projecting rock high above the river valley. But looking around, still a little dizzy, in search of the parsonage and the ridge of the barn, it received anew shock. All around, wherever it glanced, spread a strange and unknown country .Not one familiar spot, not one refuge, was there as far as the eye could see.
它侥幸地落到了高出河谷的一块突出的岩石上。但它仍有些头晕目眩地向四周张望着，在寻找牧师的宅院及谷仓脊时，它再次感到震惊。放眼望去，月光所及之处都是陌生的土地，没有一个熟悉的场所，没有一个安全地带。
