Once in summer-time the bear and the wolf were walking in the forest, and the bear heard a bird singing so beautifully that he said: ‘Brother wolf, what bird is it that sings so well?’ ‘That is the King of birds,’ said the wolf, ‘before whom we must bow down.’ In reality the bird was the willow-wren. ‘IF that’s the case,’ said the bear, ‘I should very much like to see his royal palace; come, take me thither.’ ‘That is not done quite as you seem to think,’ said the wolf; ‘you must wait until the Queen comes,’ Soon afterwards, the Queen arrived with some food in her beak, and the lord King came too, and they began to feed their young ones. The bear would have liked to go at once, but the wolf held him back by the sleeve, and said: ‘No, you must wait until the lord and lady Queen have gone away again.’ So they took stock of the hole where the nest lay, and trotted away. The bear, however, could not rest until he had seen the royal palace, and when a short time had passed, went to it again. The King and Queen had just flown out, so he peeped in and saw five or six young ones lying there. ‘Is that the royal palace?’ cried the bear; ‘it is a wretched palace, and you are not King’s children, you are disreputable children!’ When the young wrens heard that, they were frightfully angry, and screamed: ‘No, that we are not! Our parents are honest people! Bear, you will have to pay for that!’
夏日里，熊和狼在森林里散步，熊听到一只鸟唱得如此美妙，便说：‘狼兄弟，是哪只鸟唱得这么好？’狼答道：‘那是百鸟之王，我们都得向它鞠躬。’其实那只鸟是柳莺。熊说：‘既然如此，我很想看看它的皇家宫殿；走吧，带我去。’狼说：‘事情不像你想的那样简单；你得等王后来。’不久，王后嘴里衔着食物来了，国王也到了，它们开始喂养幼鸟。熊本想立刻进去，但狼拽住他的袖子说：‘不，你得等国王和王后离开后再去。’于是它们记下了鸟巢所在的那个洞，便跑开了。然而熊一心只想看看皇家宫殿，没过多久又去了那里。国王和王后刚飞走，他便探头往里看，看见五六只幼鸟躺在那里。熊喊道：‘这就是皇家宫殿吗？这简直是破败的宫殿！你们也不是国王的子女，你们是下贱的孩子！’小柳莺们听了这话气得要命，尖叫道：‘我们不是！我们的父母是正直的人！熊，你得为此付出代价！’
The bear and the wolf grew uneasy, and turned back and went into their holes. The young willow-wrens, however, continued to cry and scream, and when their parents again brought food they said: ‘We will not so much as touch one fly’s leg, no, not if we were dying of hunger, until you have settled whether we are respectable children or not; the bear has been here and has insulted us!’ Then the old King said: ‘Be easy, he shall be punished,’ and he at once flew with the Queen to the bear’s cave, and called in: ‘Old Growler, why have you insulted my children? You shall suffer for it--we will punish you by a bloody war.’ Thus war was announced to the Bear, and all four-footed animals were summoned to take part in it, oxen, asses, cows, deer, and every other animal the earth contained. And the willow-wren summoned everything which flew in the air, not only birds, large and small, but midges, and hornets, bees and flies had to come.
熊和狼感到不安，转身回到各自的洞穴。但小柳莺们继续哭喊尖叫，当它们的父母再次带来食物时，它们说：‘哪怕饿死，我们也绝不碰一只苍蝇的腿，直到你们弄清楚我们是不是体面的孩子；熊来过这里并侮辱了我们！’老国王于是说：‘别担心，他必受惩罚。’随即他和王后飞到熊的洞穴前喊道：‘老吼叫者，你为何侮辱我的孩子？你必须为此受罚——我们将对你发动血腥战争。’于是向熊宣战，所有四足动物都被召集参战，包括牛、驴、母牛、鹿以及地球上所有的其他动物。柳莺则召集了所有会飞的生物，不仅有大鸟和小鸟，连蚊蚋、黄蜂、蜜蜂和苍蝇都必须前来。
When the time came for the war to begin, the willow-wren sent out spies to discover who was the enemy’s commander-in-chief. The gnat, who was the most crafty, flew into the forest where the enemy was assembled, and hid herself beneath a leaf of the tree where the password was to be announced. There stood the bear, and he called the fox before him and said: ‘Fox, you are the most cunning of all animals, you shall be general and lead us.’ ‘Good,’ said the fox, ‘but what signal shall we agree upon?’ No one knew that, so the fox said: ‘I have a fine long bushy tail, which almost looks like a plume of red feathers. When I lift my tail up quite high, all is going well, and you must charge; but if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can.’ When the gnat had heard that, she flew away again, and revealed everything, down to the minutest detail, to the willow-wren. When day broke, and the battle was to begin, all the four-footed animals came running up with such a noise that the earth trembled. The willow-wren with his army also came flying through the air with such a humming, and whirring, and swarming that every one was uneasy and afraid, and on both sides they advanced against each other. But the willow-wren sent down the hornet, with orders to settle beneath the fox’s tail, and sting with all his might. When the fox felt the first string, he started so that he lifted one leg, from pain, but he bore it, and still kept his tail high in the air; at the second sting, he was forced to put it down for a moment; at the third, he could hold out no longer, screamed, and put his tail between his legs. When the animals saw that, they thought all was lost, and began to flee, each into his hole, and the birds had won the battle.
战争即将开始时，柳莺派出间谍去查明敌方统帅是谁。最狡猾的蚊子飞到敌军集结的森林，藏在一棵树的叶子下，那里将宣布口令。熊站在那里，把狐狸叫到面前说：‘狐狸，你是所有动物中最聪明的，你当将军，带领我们。’狐狸说：‘好，但我们约定什么信号呢？’没人知道，于是狐狸说：‘我有一条又长又蓬松的尾巴，几乎像一簇红色羽毛。当我高高举起尾巴时，一切顺利，你们就冲锋；如果我放下尾巴，你们就赶紧逃跑。’蚊子听到这一切后飞走，将每一个细节都原原本本地告诉了柳莺。天亮时，战斗即将开始，所有四足动物奔跑而来，声势浩大，连大地都在颤抖。柳莺率领他的军队也在空中飞来，嗡嗡作响，盘旋飞舞，令人不安恐惧，双方随即迎击。但柳莺派黄蜂下去，命令它停在狐狸尾巴下，用尽全力蜇刺。狐狸感到第一下蜇刺时痛得跳起，抬起一条腿，但仍强忍疼痛，尾巴高高举着；第二下蜇刺时，它被迫把尾巴放下一会儿；第三下蜇刺后，它再也撑不住，尖叫一声，把尾巴夹在两腿之间。动物们见状以为大势已去，纷纷逃回各自的洞穴，而鸟类赢得了战斗。
Then the King and Queen flew home to their children and cried: ‘Children, rejoice, eat and drink to your heart’s content, we have won the battle!’ But the young wrens said: ‘We will not eat yet, the bear must come to the nest, and beg for pardon and say that we are honourable children, before we will do that.’ Then the willow-wren flew to the bear’s hole and cried: ‘Growler, you are to come to the nest to my children, and beg their pardon, or else every rib of your body shall be broken.’ So the bear crept thither in the greatest fear, and begged their pardon. And now at last the young wrens were satisfied, and sat down together and ate and drank, and made merry till quite late into the night.
随后国王和王后飞回家对孩子们喊道：‘孩子们， rejoice，尽情吃喝吧，我们赢了！’但小柳莺们说：‘我们还不吃，熊必须来到巢穴前，请求宽恕并承认我们是体面的孩子，我们才肯这样做。’于是柳莺飞到熊的洞穴前喊道：‘吼叫者，你必须到我家孩子们那里去，请求他们的宽恕，否则你身上的每一根肋骨都要被打断。’熊吓得发抖地爬过去，请求宽恕。至此，小柳莺们终于满意了，大家围坐在一起吃喝作乐，直到深夜。