【明報專訊】This is something forgotten by time. A dream. A legend.

A fish who wanted to live on land.

"Are you serious? We marine animals die within a few minutes when we touch the soil." One of its mates said. Anyway, it tried. To everyone's surprise, it succeeded and became a turtle. But it wasn't satisfied. It wanted to become a bird. Of course it was again teased by its companions.

"How can a turtle become a bird?" They laughed.

It aspired to fly like birds so it practised every day to make itself stronger. A little bird said, "Well, we little birdies only fly a short distance, so why don't you just stay here and enjoy your short life?" But everyone saw the fool putting a lot of effort into its flying exercises. Years on, it indeed became a bird.

"I want to go to a place called fantasy land." It muttered (嘀咕). Those little birds couldn't understand what it said and saw it as a buffoon (小丑).

Hundreds of years passed. It grew into a mammoth (龐然的) bird. Whosssssssssssssssh! Quite a sudden, it flapped its wings and soared up into the air in just seconds. Whenever it started flying, it was like a floating aircraft carrier bracing itself against all high winds and icy storms. It glided high in the sky and its gigantic wings looked like mountains. People could barely see its head. It overflew continents, oceans and hemispheres, arriving where the gods feasted and rested. The fantasy land was outside the boundaries of the universe. The bird passed an abyss to get there.

It saw a colossal (巨大的)

tree similar in size to an ocean.

"How did you end up here?" The bird asked.

"I was just a blade of grass. Then I was at great pains to grow into a sapling (小樹). Finally I transformed into a giant tree. The effort paid off." The tree replied.

"For how many years have you been like this?"

"Five thousand."

Shocked by the tree's reply, the giant bird knew that it must work harder to become more competent.

Adapted from one of Zhuang Zi (莊子)'s short stories

■Food for thought

The giant bird is eager to succeed, and spares no effort to achieve its dream. Great ambition is the key to success. Your best efforts are needed as well. Do you work hard enough?

■Glossary

mate (n) 同伴

tease (v) 取笑

barely (adv) 僅僅

abyss (n) 深淵

[Smarties' Power English 第223期]