Lord Bridgesbury was of noble birth and loved to collect birds. He has the best aviary in all of Europe: his aviary is so spacious that it doesn’t feel oppressive to keep eagles in it, and it’s comfortable even for hummingbirds and white hoods. But for many years one of the best aviaries has remained empty with a sticker: “Phoenix. Origin: Arabia.”
Many bird authorities have clearly told Lord Bridges that the phoenix is a legend. One of the birds may have long since become extinct. But Lord Bridgesbury was not convinced: his family had always believed the phoenix existed. Every once in a while, Lord Bridgesbury receives a bird business claiming that they have a phoenix for sale, but it turns out to be nothing more than a few warblers, macaws, turkey vultures dyed orange or Other hybrid birds. In the end, Lord Sbridgebury himself made a trip to Arabia, where he not only found and caught Phoenix a few months later, but brought him home unharmed.
It was a very good phoenix with a charming temperament and got along well with the other birds in the aviary. As soon as it arrived in England, it caused a huge stir in the local area, with ornithologists, journalists, poets, and wealthy businessmen flocking to visit; even when it was no longer news and the number of visitors dropped, the phoenix was not sullen. Or the feeling of resentment, still enjoy its delicious meal, very satisfied with it.
It cost a lot of money to support such an aviary, so Lord Bridgebury died penniless and the aviary was sold. In normal times, the more precious birds, not to mention the phoenix of course, would always be bought by European animal circles or private bird lovers in the United States through bidding. World War, the cost of raising birds and bird food are hard to find. The “London Times” came forward to call on the zoo to buy this phoenix, and said that if it did, it would mean that bird lovers throughout the UK could have this rare bird ; and the funds raised through this were created and named the “Sbridgebury Fund”. As a result, bird lovers and school students have all donated in this way, but their fundraising amount is limited and lacks large donations. Therefore, the executor who dealt with Lord Sbridgebury’s funeral finally decided to buy the phoenix by the owner of Tancred Bodello, who could provide a higher amount.
For a long time, the owner of Bodello thought that the phoenix was a bargain. The phoenix was dutiful and kind, and could adapt well to the new environment around it. child. Although Phoenix doesn’t have any special skills, Boss Bodello hopes to make a fortune with it. The Bridgebury Foundation has the most helpful name. Almost everyone who cares about Phoenix has done everything possible to raise funds. In order to see it, other people who don’t donate would rather pay 5 shillings, which is equivalent to double the price of the ticket. Look at that magical phoenix.
But soon the business was sluggish. Although the phoenix was still cute and kind, as the boss of Bodello said, it was useless to lower the ticket price, because the phoenix was too responsible and traditional, and people liked to pay attention to things such as funny and ridiculous. Something new for the orangutan or man-eating crocodile.
One day the owner of Bodello asked Ramkey, his housekeeper, “How long has it been since the last fool paid to visit that phoenix?”
”It’s been about three weeks,” Ramkey replied.
”Kill that phoenix,” Bodero said angrily. “It costs seven shillings a week to insure that bird. I might as well insure it for the Cathedral of Canterbury.
” Love it, it’s so quiet, that’s the trouble. I’ve tried putting it with beautiful parrots, cochinches and other birds, and even god knows what I mean, but it doesn’t give a damn ”
Then let’s try a more active phoenix?” said Bodello.
”Impossible, this is the only one I found so far.”
”Go on!”
”I mean, have you read the instructions on the label?”
So the two walked to the cage containing the phoenix, the phoenix Seeing them flap their wings politely, but what they care about is not it but the label, which reads: “PANSY2, Arabian Phoenix, this precious and magical bird is unique in the world, old bachelor. There is nothing in the world. Companions don’t want to have companions, and when it dies of old age, set it on fire with its whole body, and it will magically be reborn in the fire.”
”I have an idea,” said Bodello, “how old do you estimate the bird is?”
”It looks like he is in his prime now,” Ramkey replied.
”What if,” Bodello went on, “we could set it on fire and set it on fire? Advertise it to the public’s interest, and then let it regenerate, a romantic bird, a legendary Bird, that way we can get a good price,” Ramki nodded again and again.
”I read a book about phoenixes once,” Ramkey said. “You just give them some fragrant twigs, and they’ll build their nests, perch on them, and set themselves on fire. But they’ll just wait until You can only do this before you die, and that’s where the trouble lies.”
”I’ll take care of it,” said Bodello, “go get some incense sticks, and I’ll make that phoenix age faster.”
Accelerating the aging of that phoenix is not an easy task. Reduce the food intake to a quarter of the previous one. Although the phoenix has indeed lost a lot of weight, its eyes are still bright and its feathers are lush; if the heating stove is turned off, it will use its own feathers. Keep out the cold; if you put other birds in the same cage, they are either frightened or irritable, using their mouths to cut and make trouble, and the phoenix is not only still friendly and kind, but also makes the other birds less hostile after a day or two . Bodello even tried using feral cats, because they are rude by nature, but the phoenix would flap its golden wings in front of them and surround them.
Later, Bodero found an Arabian book, which introduced that the local climate in Arabia is very dry, “Haha!” He exclaimed ecstatically. So the phoenix was moved to a small cage with a sprinkler above it, and the sprinkler was turned on every night, and the phoenix started to cough. Bodello came up with another ghost idea. During the day, he often stood in front of the birdcage and mocked and abused the phoenix.
When spring came, Bodello thought the time was ripe to show the accelerated aging phoenix, and the public’s favorite was dying. At the same time, he also tested the phoenix’s reaction every few days. He spread some stinky straw in the bird cage and put in a few rusted fish hook nets to see if the phoenix was not. Still have a soft spot for its love nest. One day, Phoenix began to turn the straw, and Bodello thought the time was about to come, so he couldn’t wait to sign a filming contract with the film company. It was a Saturday evening in May, the weather was clear, the attention that had been paid to the dying phoenix for several weeks was about to come to fruition in public, the entrance fee had skyrocketed to 5 shillings, and there was a crowd of onlookers, cameras, The lights were always aimed at the birdcage, and the loudspeakers announced to the audience that a rare spectacle in history was about to happen.
”Phoenix,” said the speaker, “is a noble among birds. Only by using the rarest and most precious oriental wood with a strange fragrance can the phoenix be tempted to build that strange love nest.”
There is now a whole pile of strongly scented twigs and wood shavings in the cage.
”Phoenix,” continued the horn, “as fickle as Klipatra III, as extravagant as Dubari IV, as intoxicating as wild gypsy tunes, full of all the grandeur of ancient Eastern ceremonies. The spectacle and passion, its enchanting magic, its cryptic coldness…”.
”Yeah!” shouted a woman in the crowd, “it’s flying up!”
I saw the phoenix flapping its dark wings, looked around with its head, and then slowly landed from a height, staggering to a stop He landed on the pile of wooden branches, and began to pull those wooden branches and wood shavings with great difficulty.
The camera immediately shot wildly, and the torches above the birdcage were all lit. Boss Bodello rushed to the loudspeaker and announced: “Ladies and gentlemen, the long-awaited and exciting time for the whole world to hold its breath is coming! The myths that have been passed down through the centuries will be in our world. Reappearing in front of me, that phoenix…”
At this time, the phoenix had perched on the cremation pyre, closed his eyes, and seemed to be falling asleep, the film director said: “Okay! There is no better time than now, take a quick shot and record it. This historic scene.”
At that moment, the phoenix and the fire suddenly burst into a huge flame. The flames rushed into the sky and quickly spread around. Within a minute or two, everything around was turned to ashes, thousands of The onlookers, of course, including Boss Bodello, were all buried in the sea of fire.
