A fowler was setting his nets for little birds when a lark1 came up to him and asked him what he was doing. "I am engaged in founding a city," said he, and with that he withdrew to a short distance and concealed2 himself. The lark examined the nets with great curiosity, and presently, catching3 sight of the bait, hopped4 on to them in order to secure it, and became entangled5 in the meshes6. The fowler then ran up quickly and captured her. "What a fool I was!" said she: "but at any rate, if that's the kind of city you are founding, it'll be a long time before you find fools enough to fill it."

　　一個捕鳥人正在撒網(wǎng)，好讓小鳥們自投羅網(wǎng)。這時，一只百靈鳥走過來，問他在干什么。“我正在建造一座漂亮的城市。”捕鳥人回答道，說完便跑到遠處藏起來。百靈鳥帶著極大的好奇心，跑過去想看個究竟，她小心地沖著網(wǎng)中的誘餌跳過去，結(jié)果卻被纏在網(wǎng)中。捕鳥人很快跑過來，抓住了她。百靈鳥說：“我可真是個傻瓜，但無論如何，如果這就是你建造的城市，那么估計要花很長時間才能找到足夠多的傻瓜來填補空缺！”