CROAK！

ALL the birds of the forest were sitting upon the branches of the trees， which had quite enough leaves；and yet the birds were unanimous in their desire for moreleaves—the"leaves"of a journal； a new，good journalwas what they longed for—a critical newspaper such as humans have so many of， so many that half of them wouldbe sufficient．

The songbirds wanted a music critic， each for his own praise—and for criticism（where it was needed） of the others． But they， the birds themselves， could notagree on an impartial critic．

"It must be a bird，though，" said the Owl， who hadbeen elected president by the assembly， for he is the birdof wisdom．"We ought not elect anyone from another branch of animals， except perhaps from the sea． Therefish fly， like birds in the sky， but that， of course，is ouronly relationship．However， there are quite enough ani－mals to select from between fish and birds．"

The Stork took the floor and rattled from his beak，"There are indeed beings between fish and birds． Thechildren of the marsh， the Frogs—I an voting for them．They are extremely musical， and their choir singing is like church bells in a lonely wood． I get an urge to trav－el，" said the Stork，"a tickling under my wings，whenthey begin to sing．"

"I am also voting for the Frogs，"said the Heron．"They are neither bird nor fish， but still they live with thefishes and sing like the birds．"

"Now that's the musical part，"said the Owl．"Butthe paper must speak of all the beauties of the forest．Wemust have coworkers．Let each of us consider everything in his family．"

Then the little Lark sang out cheerfully and prettily，"The Frog should not be the editor of the paper—no，itshould be the Nightingale！"

"Stop your chirping！"said the Owl．"I am hooting fororder！I know the Nightingale． We are both night birds．Neither he nor I ought to be elected，because the paperwould become an aristocratic or philosophic newspaper， abeau monde paper，run by high society． It must also be anorgan for the common man．"

They agreed that the paper should be called MorningCroak or Evening Croak—or just Croak． They unanimous－ly voted for the latter．

It would fill a long－felt need in the forest． The Bee， the Ant， and the Gopher promised to write about industri－ al and engineering activities，in which they had great insight．

The Cuckoo was nature's poet．

Not counted among the song－ birds，he was，however，of the greatest importance to the com－ mon man． "He always praises himself； he is the vainest of all birds， and yet not much to look at，"said the Peacock．

Then the Flesh Flies paid a visit to the editor in the forest．"We offer our ser－vices． We know people， editors， and human criticism．We lay our larva in the fresh flesh—and then it decayswithin twenty－four hours． We can destroy a great talent，if necessary， in the editor's service．If a paper is thespokesman for a party， it dares to be rude； and if oneloses a subscriber， one will get sixteen in return． Becruel， give nicknames， put them in a pillory， whistlethrough your fingers like a gang of young radicals， andyou become a power in the state．"

"Such an air rover！"said the Frog about theStork．"I actually looked up to him when I was little andfelt a trembling admiration． And when he walked in themarsh and spoke of Egypt，my imagination carried me towonderful foreign lands． Now he doesn't impress me anymore—that is all just an echo in my memory．"

"I have become wiser，rational， important—I writecritical articles in Croak．I am what， in the most correctand proper writing and speech of our language， is called aCroaker！"

"In the human world there is also that sort． I havewritten a piece about it on the back page of our paper．"

哇哇报

 

树林里所有的鸟儿都坐在树枝上；树枝上的叶子并不少。但是他们全体还希望有一批新的、好的叶子——他们所渴望的那种批评性的报纸。这种报纸在人类中间可是很多，多得只须一半就够了。

歌鸟们希望有一个音乐批评家来赞美自己——同时也批评别人（这是必须的）。可是要找出一个公正的批评家来，他们却没有办法取得一致的意见。

“那必须是一只鸟儿，”猫头鹰说。他被选为主席，因为他是智慧之鸟。“我们不能在别种动物中挑选，只有海里的动物是例外。鱼儿能够飞，像鸟儿能在空中飞一样，不过只有他们是我们的亲族了。但是在鱼儿和鸟儿之间，也还有些别的动物。”

这时鹳鸟就发言了。他嘴里咯咯地冒出声音来：

“在鱼儿和鸟儿之间，的确还有别的生物可选。我提议选沼泽地的孩子——青蛙。他们非常富于音乐感。他们在静寂的森林里唱歌，就像教堂的钟声一样，弄得我老想往外跑！”鹳鸟说。“他们一开口唱，我的翅膀就痒起来了。”

“我也提议选青蛙，”苍鹭说。“他们既不是鸟，也不是鱼，但是他们和鱼住在一起，而唱起来又像鸟儿。”

“好，这算是有关音乐的部分，”猫头鹰说。“不过报纸还必须记载树林里一切美好的事情。因此我们还必须有撰稿人。我们不妨把自己家里的每个成员考虑一下。”

于是小小的云雀就兴高采烈地唱起来了：“青蛙不能当编辑。不能，应该由夜莺来当！”

“不要叽叽喳喳乱叫！”猫头鹰说。“我命令你！我认识夜莺。我们都是夜鸟。他和我都不能当选。我们的报纸应该是一个贵族化或哲学化的报纸——一个上流社会的、由上流社会主持的报纸。当然它应该是一般人的喉舌。”

他们一致同意，报纸的名称应该是“早哇哇”或“晚哇哇”——或者干脆叫它“哇哇”。大家一致赞成最后这个名字。

这算是满足了树林里的一个迫切的需要。

蜜蜂、蚂蚁和鼹鼠答应写关于工业和工程活动的文章，因为他们在这方面有独特的见解。

杜鹃是大自然的诗人。他虽然不能算是歌鸟，但是对于普通人说来，他却是非常重要的。

“他老是在称赞自己，他是鸟类中最虚荣的人， 但他却是其貌不扬。”孔雀说。

绿头苍蝇到树林里来拜访报纸的编辑。

“我们愿意效劳。我们认识人类、编辑和人类的批评。我们把我们的蛆生在新鲜肉里，不到一昼夜，肉就腐烂了。为了对编辑效劳，在必要的时候，我们还可以把一个伟大的天才毁掉。如果一个报纸是一个政党的喉舌，它尽可以放粗暴些。如果你失去一个订户，你可以捞回16个。你尽可以无礼，替别人乱起些绰号，嘲笑别人，像一些帮会里的年轻人那样用手指吹着口哨，这样你就可以成为一国的权威。”

“这个空中的流浪汉！”青蛙谈到鹳鸟时说。“我在小时候把他看得了不起，对他崇拜得五体投地。当他在沼泽地里走着，谈起埃及的时候，我就不禁幻想起那些美妙的外国来。

现在他再也引不起我的想象——那不过是一种事后的回音罢了。我现在已经变得更聪明、有理智和重要了——因为我在‘哇哇’报上写批评文章。用我们最正确的字句和语言讲，我就是一个所谓“哇哇者”。

“人类世界中也有这样的人。关于这件事情，我正在为我们报纸的最后一页写一篇短论。”

这篇小品首次发表在1869年6月纽约出版的《青少年河边杂志》第3卷上，两个月以后——即1869年8月又发表在丹麦的《思想与现实》杂志上。它通过“彗星”引申到人的一生经历——这也像彗星一样，瞬即成为“泡影”。“他似乎觉得他是在昨天晚上头一次看见它的，然而上一次和这一次之间是整个一生的时间。那时他还是一个孩子，而且是在泡影里来看‘未来’；但是现在他却是从泡影里去看‘过去’。他感觉到一种儿时的心境和儿时的信念。他的眼睛亮起来，他的手落到钢琴键上——它发出的声音好像有一根弦断了。”一根弦是断了，但他的灵魂却得到了升华，飞到他先逝去的亲爱的人中间去了。