The Eagle and the Arrow
A free B1-level English story for language learners, readable online in 7 languages, with an option to listen via the free Storyteller app.
An eagle is shot and killed by an arrow — and realizes in his final moment that the arrow is feathered with eagle feathers.
An Eagle sat perched on a lofty rock, keeping a sharp look-out for prey. A huntsman, concealed in a cleft of the mountain and on the watch for game, spied him there and shot an Arrow at him. The shaft struck him full in the breast and pierced him through and through. As he lay in the agonies of death, he turned his eyes upon the Arrow. "Ah! cruel fate!" he cried, "that I should perish thus: but oh! fate more cruel still, that the Arrow which kills me should be winged with an Eagle's feathers!"
Un Águila estaba posada en lo alto de una roca, vigilando atentamente en busca de una presa. Un cazador, oculto en una grieta de la montaña y al acecho de caza, la avistó allí y le disparó una Flecha. El asta la alcanzó de lleno en el pecho y la atravesó de parte a parte. Mientras yacía en la agonía de la muerte, volvió los ojos hacia la Flecha. «¡Ah, destino cruel!», exclamó, «que deba perecer así: pero, oh, destino aún más cruel, ¡que la Flecha que me mata lleve plumas de Águila!»
