败家子和燕子

Belinda

A YOUNG MAN, a great spendthrift, had run through all his

patrimony and had but one good cloak left. One day he happened

to see a Swallow, which had appeared before its season, skimming

along a pool and twittering gaily. He supposed that summer had

come, and went and sold his cloak. Not many days later, winter

set in again with renewed frost and cold. When he found the

unfortunate Swallow lifeless on the ground, he said, "Unhappy

bird! what have you done? By thus appearing before the springtime

you have not only killed yourself, but you have wrought my

destruction also."