The Golden [‘ɡoldən] Bird [bɝd]
A certain ['sɝtn] king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore [bɔr] golden apples. These apples were always counted, and about the time when they began to grow ripe [raɪp] it was found that every night one of them was gone. The king became very angry at /ət/ this, and ordered ['ɔrdɚd] the gardener to keep watch all night under the tree. The gardener set his eldest [‘ɛldɪst] son [sʌn] to watch; but about twelve [twɛlv] o’clock he fell [fɛl] asleep, and in the morning another of the apples was missing. Then the second son was ordered to watch; and at midnight he too fell asleep, and in the morning another apple was gone. Then the third son offered to keep watch; but the gardener at first would not let him, for fear some harm [hɑrm] should come to him: however, at last [læst] he consented [kən'sɛntid], and the young man laid [led] himself under the tree to watch. As the clock struck [strʌk] twelve he heard [hɝd] a rustling [‘rʌslɪŋ] noise /nɔɪz/ in the air, and a bird came flying that was of pure [pjʊr] gold [ɡold]; and as it was snapping [‘snæpiŋ] at one of the apples with its beak [bik], the gardener’s son jumped up and shot [ʃɑt] an arrow ['æro] at it. But the arrow did the bird no harm; only it dropped a golden feather [‘fɛðɚ] from its tail [tel], and then flew [flu:] away. The golden feather was brought [brɔt] to the king in the morning, and all the council ['kaʊnsl] was called together. Everyone agreed that it was worth [wɝθ] more than all the wealth [wɛlθ] of the kingdom ['kɪŋdəm]: but the king said, ‘One feather is of no use to me, I must have the whole bird.’
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