吹小號的天鵝 第4期 池塘(1)

Chapter 2 The Pond

第二章 池塘

The pond Sam had discovered on that spring morning was seldom visited by any human being.

薩姆在那個春天的早晨發(fā)現(xiàn)的池塘很少有人來過。

All winter, snow had covered the ice; the pond lay cold and still under its white blanket.

整個冬天，冰面上都是雪;池塘則冷冷靜靜地躺在它的白毯子下面。

Most of the time there wasn't a sound to be heard.

多數(shù)時候這里聽不到一絲聲音。

The frog was asleep. The chipmunk was asleep.

青蛙睡著了。金花鼠也睡了。

Occasionally a jay would cry out.

松鴉偶爾會大叫一聲。

And sometimes at night the fox would bark--a high, rasping bark.

夜里有時狐貍會叫——叫聲尖厲，刺耳。

Winter seemed to last forever.

冬天似乎將永遠這么持續(xù)下去。

But one day a change came over the woods and the pond.

但到了某一天時森林和池塘卻會變樣。

Warm air, soft and kind, blew through the trees.

溫暖的微風會輕柔而又慈愛地在林間披拂。

The ice, which had softened during the night, began to melt.

堅冰會在夜間變軟，開始融化。

Patches of open water appeared.

一片片的水面露了出來。

All the creatures that lived in the pond and in the woods were glad to feel the warmth.

感到天氣變暖了，住在森林和池塘里的所有生物都很開心。

They heard and felt the breath of spring, and they stirred with new life and hope.

他們聽到并覺出了春的氣息，新的活力和希望便都被誘發(fā)出來。

There was a good, new smell in the air, a smell of earth waking after its long sleep.

空氣中有一種美好的，清新的氣息，大地在長睡后醒來時的氣息。

The frog, buried in the mud at the bottom of the pond, knew that spring was here.

在池塘底的泥土中冬眠的青蛙，知道春天來了。

The chickadee knew and was delighted (almost everything delights a chickadee).

山雀知道這消息后也變得很快活(差不多每件事都會讓山雀感到快活)。

The vixen, dozing in her den, knew she would soon have kits.

在她的洞里打瞌睡的雌狐，知道她很快就要生小寶寶了。

Every creature knew that a better, easier time was at hand--warmer days, pleasanter nights.

每種動物都知道，更美好，更舒適的日子就快來了——就會有溫暖的白天，快樂的夜晚了。

Trees were putting out green buds; the buds were swelling.

樹木正在萌出綠芽;芽苞正在一點點的膨脹。

Birds began arriving from the south.

鳥兒開始從南方往這里飛。

A pair of ducks flew in.

一對野鴨子飛了過來。

The Red-winged Blackbird arrived and scouted the pond for nesting sites.

紅翼歌鶇來了，在池塘中尋找著可以筑巢的地方。

A small sparrow with a white throat arrived and sang, "Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada!"

一只灰鶯飛過來唱：“噢，可愛的加拿大，加拿大，加拿大!”

And if you had been sitting by the pond on that first warm day of spring, suddenly, toward the end of the afternoon, you would have heard a stirring sound high above you in the air

如果你在春天的第一個溫暖日子一直坐在那個池塘邊，呆到下午快過去的時候，你會猛然聽到一種從空中傳來的激動人心的聲音

a sound like the sound of trumpets. "Ko-hoh, ko-hoh!"

一種號角般嘹亮的鳴聲。“吭—嗬，吭—嗬!”

And if you had looked up, you would have seen, high overhead, two great white birds.

如果你仰起頭，就會看見在頭頂高高飛著的兩只白色大鳥。

They flew swiftly, their legs stretched out straight behind, their long white necks stretched out ahead, their powerful wings beating steady and strong.

他們飛得很快，腿直著向身后伸展著，長長的白脖子探在前面，強健的翅膀有力而穩(wěn)健地扇動著。

"Ko-hoh, ko-hoh, ko-hoh!" A thrilling noise in the sky, the trumpeting of swans.

“吭—嗬，吭—嗬，吭—嗬!”空中響滿了兩只號手天鵝興奮的叫聲。

When the birds spotted the pond, they began circling, looking the place over from the air.

當天鵝們發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個池塘，就開始盤旋起來，從空中查看著。

Then they glided down and came to rest in the water, folding their long wings neatly along their sides and turning their heads this way and that to study their new surroundings.

接著，他們落到水上休息，攏起他們的長翅膀，轉(zhuǎn)動著腦袋，打量起他們的新環(huán)境來。

They were Trumpeter Swans, pure white birds with black bills.

他們是號手天鵝，一種黑嘴的純白大鳥。

They had liked the looks of the swampy pond and had decided to make it their home for a while and raise a family.

他們喜歡這個多沼澤的池塘的景色，決定把它當作一個短期的家，在此生兒育女。

The two swans were tired from the long flight. They were glad to be down out of the sky.

飛了這么久，這兩只天鵝都已經(jīng)累了。能離開天空在此歇息，他們都很高興。

They paddled slowly about and then began feeding, thrusting their necks into the shallow water and pulling roots and plants from the bottom.

他們慢慢劃著水，游了一會兒，想要找食物吃了，便把他們的長脖子插到淺水里，把一些植物和草根從水底拽出來。

Everything about the swans was white except their bills and their feet; These were black.

這兩只天鵝渾身雪白，只除了喙和腳;它們都是黑色的。

They carried their heads high.

他們高高地昂起了頭。

The pond seemed a different place because of their arrival.

池塘似乎變了個樣子，因為他們到來了。