爱尔兰岛上强风吹拂，自由自在的狂风起于大海，呼啸着划过翡翠色的海岛。全世界各种各样的鸟都愿意聚在这里，好借用强风让自己飞得更高。这里有燕子、老鹰、猫头鹰……还有一大群海鸥。
上千只鸟儿坐在陡峭的悬崖边俯瞰着大西洋，等待着一阵合适的风吹过，让自己乘着风力轻轻松松地飞上高高的天空。
海鸥们像其他鸟儿一样，经常抓住时机享受一番飞翔的乐趣。可以说几乎所有的海鸥都是这样，除了一只奇奇怪怪的绿色爱尔兰海鸥，他的名字叫杰克·奥肖纳西。
The wind blows free in Ireland. It whistles in from the ocean and soars over the Emerald Isle. Birds of all sorts from all over the world flock there to take advantage of the winging winds. There are swallows,eagles, owls and a whole lot of seagulls.
A thousand or more birds sit on the edges of the cliffs that overlook the Atlantic Ocean. They wait for just the right breeze to send them soaring high into the sky with no effort whatsoever.
The seagulls, like the rest of the birds, would constantly take wing just for the fun of flying—all the seagulls, that is, except a strangelooking green Irish seagull by the name of Jake O’Shawnasey.
当然，真的不是杰克不愿意飞。实际上，他特别希望自己也能飞起来。可是，他不相信自己能够飞翔。正因为他不相信自己会飞，所以他就真的飞不起来了。
他会拼命地拍打翅膀，想让风力把自己托起来。可是，一旦自己稍微离开地面，杰克就会一边慌张地扑腾，一边想着：“我可不觉得我飞得起来！我真的飞不起来！”这么一想，他就会立刻重重地掉到地上，常常摔掉十几根羽毛。
Now, it wasn’t that Jake didn’t want to fly. Oh, how he wanted to,but he didn’t believe he could fly. And because he didn’t believe, he couldn’t.
Jake would flap his wings and try desperately to catch a breeze. As he would begin to lift from the ground, flapping his wings furiously,he would think, “I don’t think I can fly! In fact...I can’t!” With that he would fall to the ground with a heavy crash,usually losing eight or ten feathers for his efforts.
杰克·奥肖纳西可不是一只会轻言放弃的海鸥。他试过《海鸥飞行手册》上的每种技巧，可是它们全都不管用。有一次，杰克实在是太着急了，甚至抓着一只风筝的尾巴飞到了一百米左右的高度。等到风筝线放完了，杰克就在天上松开了风筝。
有那么一瞬间，杰克看起来好像马上就要成功了，他的翅膀拍打得非常顺利。但是他很快就像以前一样，开始觉得自己飞不起来了。他想着想着，不知不觉地就忘了继续拍打翅膀。杰克打着转儿地掉了下去，一头掉进了下面的大海。
杰克总是从悬崖边上跳出去，而且每次都是直接掉进海里，给这一带的鸟儿们带来了不小的麻烦。所有的鸟儿都得不时到处张望一下，生怕一只绿色的海鸥突然砸到自己头上。
最后，爱尔兰岛的鸟儿们决定秘密地聚在一起开个会，讨论一番要怎么处理杰克的问题。“咱们得赶紧做点儿什么呀！”燕子们叽叽喳喳地喊道。“当然得做点儿什么了。”乌鸦们嘎嘎地咕哝着，“可是咱们到底应该怎么做呢？”
鸟儿们想啊想啊，最终，一只睿智的老猫头鹰向前走了一步，说道：“也许是时候把这片悬崖的秘密告诉杰克了。”鸟儿们全都沉默下来，他们静静地凝视了一会儿头顶的悬崖，认真地同意了老猫头鹰的主意。现在看来，悬崖的秘密可能是杰克学会飞行的唯一希望了。在其他鸟儿的鼓励声中，老猫头鹰去找杰克了。
对于爱尔兰岛的鸟儿们来说，想找到杰克不是什么难事，因为他们只要在悬崖底下的水里找找就可以了。一般来说，他会在那里漂着，而今天和平常一样。聪明的老猫头鹰在岸边耐心地等了一会儿，好让杰克慢慢地游到岸边。老猫头鹰问：“杰克，你真的想学飞吗？”
杰克想了一小会儿才回答说：“当然想啊，我再也不想从上面掉下来了。因为总是在这么冷的海水里游泳，我今年都得了五次感冒啦！”
“那么现在，我要告诉你这片悬崖的秘密藏在哪里。”老猫头鹰说，“知道了这个秘密后，你一定能学会飞的。”
Now, finding Jake had never been a difficult task for any of the birds of Ireland. All they would have to do was look in the water at the base of the cliff and there Jake would be, floundering in the sea. Today was no exception. The wise old owl waited patiently on the beach for Jake to swim ashore. “Jake,” said the owl, “do you really want to learn to fly?”
Jake thought for a moment and then answered, “Oh, yes, I am tired of falling, and I’ve had five colds already this year from swimming in that cold ocean!”
“What I am about to tell you,” said the owl, “is the location of The Secret of the Cliffs of County Cort. With that secret you can learn to fly.”
老猫头鹰一边说，一边严肃地转过头去指了指悬崖最高的地方：“杰克，那个秘密就藏在悬崖的最上面。一旦你找到它，飞行对你来说就再也不是什么问题了。”
杰克盯着悬崖上面看了好一会儿：“可是，我要怎么才能到悬崖最上面去呢？我连向下飞都不太会，又怎么能往上飞呢？”
“这你就得自己想想办法了。”说完，老猫头鹰就飞到悬崖顶上去找其他鸟儿了。
The owl solemnly turned and pointed to the top of the cliff towering above them.“The Secret, Jake, is there at the top. When you find it,you will never have a problem flying again.”
Jake took a long look up the cliff. “But how will I get all the way up there?” he asked. “I can barely fly downwards, so how could I possibly fly up?”
“You must do that yourself,” said the owl, who flew off to join the other feathered spectators waiting at the top of the cliff.
杰克深深地吸了几口海边的新鲜空气，咽了一口唾沫，开始扑扇翅膀试着飞到上面去。然而，一想到“哎呀，我不觉得我做得到呀”，他挥动翅膀的动作就停下来了。杰克又一次摔到了悬崖底下的沙滩上。
“因为我知道自己不会飞，所以我永远不可能飞到悬崖上面去。但是我知道，就算不飞起来，也有办法到顶上去。”他一边想着，一边开始到处寻找需要的东西。
Jake took a couple of deep breaths of fresh air. He gulped once and began flapping his wings in hopes of flying to the top. His flapping came to a sudden stop when he once again thought, “Oh, I don’t believe I can do it!” With that, he fell back with a clunk to the beach below.
“I’ll never get to the top by flying because I know I can’t fly. But I know how to get to the top without flying.” So Jake scurried around,looking for the things that would set his plan in motion.
杰克先从岩壁上找了一条很长的藤蔓，又在沙滩上找到了一根旧鱼钩。他仔细地把鱼钩拴在藤蔓的一头，又在脚底下绑上了两只海星。把这些装备准备齐全后，杰克终于可以通过攀岩爬到悬崖顶上去了。
Jake found a great length of old vine hanging from the rocks. Then he searched the beach until he found an old fishhook. Carefully he lashed it to the end of his vine rope, and finally, with the help of two starfish, he strapped them to his feet; he was ready to climb the cliffs.
杰克小心翼翼地把鱼钩抛向悬崖上方，等到钩子牢牢地钩在石头上以后，他才开始慢慢地拉着藤蔓往上爬。脚上绑的海星吸住了岩壁，让他的每一步都走得稳稳的。他就这样一步一步慢慢地向上爬着，离悬崖的秘密越来越近。
其他的鸟儿在他的头顶上不断地给他加油打气。
Jake carefully threw the fishhook high into the rocks, and when it was secure, he began pulling himself up. With the starfish on his feet he had excellent traction. Step by step he came closer to The Secret of the Cliffs of County Cort.
High above him and all around him he could hear his cheering section urging him upward and onward.
辛辛苦苦地爬了几个小时后，杰克·奥肖纳西终于爬到了悬崖最高的地方。朋友们兴高采烈地欢呼起来，但是杰克累得要命，只能上气不接下气地站在一边。
Finally, after many hours of hard climbing, Jake O’Shawnasey reached the top of the Cliffs of County Cort. His friends shouted and cheered as Jake stood there, panting and puffing after his long journey.
“我终于爬到顶上啦。”杰克喘着粗气说，“那个秘密在哪儿呢？”
“就刻在那块大石头上呀！”鸟儿们异口同声地答道。杰克第一次发现那里居然有一块巨大的石头，上面刻着这样一段话：
“如果你不相信自己能把事情做好，请记住，勤加练习一定能给你带来信心。”
杰克想：“我的问题究竟在哪里呢？如果我对自己在做的事情有点儿信心，也许我能够飞起来，就是这么回事吧！我只要相信自己，也许就能学会飞了！”
“I’m at the top,” puffed Jake, “but where is the Secret?”
The birds shouted in union, “It’s there, written upon that rock.” Jake,for the first time, noticed a large boulder right before him. Carved on the rock was this message:
If you find you’re not believing
In everything you do...
Just remember lots of trying
Will bring confidence to you.
Jake thought, “I wonder if that could be my problem. Maybe I can fly,if I have confidence in what I’m doing. That’s it! I need only to believe in myself and then I can learn to fly!”
杰克小心地展开翅膀扇了几次，开始鼓足信心给自己打气：“我能做到的！我知道我一定能够飞起来的！我完全相信自己可以！”
他一边这么想着，一边奋力地挥动着翅膀。就像所有生活在爱尔兰岛的鸟儿一样，杰克以优美的姿态一飞冲天，飞向了高高的天际。
Jake carefully unfolded his wings, flapped them once or twice, and found the confidence to bolster his courage. “I know I can do it! I know I can fly! I really and truly believe in myself!”
With that, his wings began to pound, and Jake, as gracefully as any other Irish bird, lifted from the ground and flew high into the sky.
现在，杰克·奥肖纳西已经非常有自信了，他完全相信自己的能力。正因为他学会了相信自己，所以他也终于学会了飞翔。
杰克开心极了，他觉得自己后半辈子再也不用担心飞着飞着掉进海里了。
所以，如果你也遇到了麻烦的问题，不敢相信自己的话，就想想杰克·奥肖纳西的故事吧！它一定能给你带来信心的！
这个故事的结局非常圆满，只是还有一个很小很小的问题，那就是——
Jake O’Shawnasey was totally confident now. He believed in himself.Because he believed, he could fly!
Jake was so happy, he felt that he could fly without falling for the rest of his life.
So if you’re deep in trouble
And don’t believe in what you do...
Just remember Jake O’Shawnasey
And confidence will come to you.
This story would have ended happily, except for one small problem...
杰克·奥肖纳西一直没学会安全着陆。
JAKE O’SHAWNASEY NEVER LEARNED HOW TO LAND.