你们知道，渡鸦像炭一样浑身乌黑。他十分羡慕天鹅，因为她的羽毛像雪一样白。这只傻鸟以为，如果他像天鹅一样生活，天天在水中游泳、嬉戏，吃长在水里的水草和植物，他的羽毛就会变得跟天鹅一样白。

于是他离开森林和田野的家，飞到湖面和沼泽去住。但是尽管他天天不停地洗呀洗，几乎要淹死在水里，他的羽毛依旧像从前一样黑。而因为吃的水草不合胃口，他变得越来越瘦，最终死掉了。

改得了习惯，改不了天性。

A RAVEN AND A SWAN

A Raven, which you know is black as coal, was envious of the Swan, because her feathers were as white as the purest snow. The foolish bird got the idea that if he lived like the Swan, swimming and ping all day long and eating the weeds and plants that grow in the water, his feathers would turn white like the Swan's.

So he left his home in the woods and fields and flew down to live on the lakes and in the marshes. But though he washed and washed all day long, almost drowning himself at it, his feathers remained as black as ever. And as the water weeds he ate did not agree with him, he got thinner and thinner, and at last he died.

A change of habits will not alter nature.