吹小號的天鵝 第6期 池塘(3)
Chapter 2 The Pond
第二章 池塘
The cob's wife pretended not to notice that her husband was showing off, but she saw it, all right, and she was proud of his strength and his courage.
雄天鵝的妻子假裝沒看到丈夫的賣弄，可她當(dāng)然看見了，而且，她也為丈夫的力量和勇氣而驕傲。
As husbands go, he was a good one.
作為一個丈夫來說，他可真是個好樣的。
The cob watched his beautiful wife sitting there on the tiny island.
雄天鵝望著他那蹲坐在小島上的美麗妻子。
To his great joy, he saw her begin to turn slowly round and around, keeping always in the same spot, treading the mud and grass.
他很高興地看到，她開始慢慢地在同一地點轉(zhuǎn)來轉(zhuǎn)去，踩著濕泥和青草。
She was making the first motions of nesting.
她正在做造窩的第一個動作。
First she squatted down in the place she had chosen.
她先蹲坐在她選定的地方。
Then she twisted round and around, tamping the earth with her broad webbed feet, hollowing it out to make it like a saucer.
然后，她又來回轉(zhuǎn)著，用她那寬闊帶蹼的腳掌把泥土踩實，將其踏出坑來，使之像個盤子。
Then she reached out and pulled twigs and grasses toward her and dropped them at her sides and under her tail, shaping the nest to her body.
接著，她伸長脖子把小樹枝和青草拉到身邊，放到她的周圍和尾巴下面，在她的身下造出一個窩。
The cob floated close to his mate. He studied every move she made.
雄天鵝靠近了他的伴侶。他觀察著她的每一個動作。
"Now another medium-sized stick, my love," he said.
“現(xiàn)在再來一根中等大小的樹枝，我親愛的，”他說。
And she poked her splendid long white graceful neck as far as it would go, picked up a stick, and placed it at her side.
她把華貴而又高雅的白色長脖子伸得盡可能的遠(yuǎn)，銜起一根樹枝，放到她的身邊。
"Now another bit of coarse grass," said the cob, with great dignity.
“現(xiàn)在再來點粗壯些的草，”雄天鵝非常威嚴(yán)地說。
The female reached for grasses, for moss, for twigs--anything that was handy.
雌天鵝去叼青草，青苔，小樹枝--任何她可以夠得到的東西。
Slowly, carefully, she built up the nest until she was sitting on a big grassy mound.
她就這樣慢慢地，仔細(xì)地把她的窩建成了，最后，她坐到了這個大草堆上面。
She worked at the task for a couple of hours, then knocked off for the day and slid into the pond again, to take a drink and have lunch.
她做這個工作用了大約兩小時，然后才暫時停下今天的工作，游到池塘里，開始喝水和吃午餐。
"A fine start!" said the cob, as he gazed back at the nest.
“一個很好的開始!”雄天鵝回頭望著那個窩，說道，
"A perfect beginning! I don't know how you manage it so cleverly."
“一個完美的開端!我真不知道你是怎么把它弄得這么妙的。”
"It comes naturally," replied his wife.
“這全靠本能，”他的妻子回答，
"There's a lot of work to it, but on the whole it is pleasant work."
“雖然有很多活兒得干，但總的來說，這還是個叫你愉快的工作。”
"Yes," said the cob. "And when you're done, you have something to show for your trouble
“是的，”雄天鵝說，“不過等你把這一切全做完，你就會從你的辛苦中得到一些回報了
you have a swan's nest, six feet across. What other bird can say that?"
你有了一個天鵝窩啦，直徑六英尺長呢。別的鳥兒能有這本事?”
"Well," said his wife, "maybe an eagle can say it."
“唔，”他的妻子說，“鷹大概能做到。”
"Yes, but in that case it wouldn't be a swan's nest, it would be an eagle's nest,
“是的，可他造的不是天鵝窩，只能是一個老鷹窩而已，
and it would be high up in some old dead tree somewhere, instead of right down near the water, with all the conveniences that go with water."
那樣的話，它就會建在別的地方，比如一棵枯死的老樹高處，而不是正好建在水邊，有著種種和水有關(guān)的方便了。”
They both laughed at this.
他們都因此大笑起來。
Then they began trumpeting and splashing and scooping up water and throwing it on their backs, darting about as though they had suddenly gone crazy with delight.
然后他們開始吹號，擊水，把水鏟起來潑到他們的背上，彼此打鬧，好像他們突然樂得發(fā)瘋了似的。
"Ko-hoh! Ko-hoh! Ko-hoh!" they cried.
“吭—嗬，吭—嗬，吭—嗬!”他們高喊。
Every wild creature within a mile and a half of the pond heard the trumpeting of the swans.
池塘一里半之內(nèi)的所有野生動物都聽到了他們的吹號聲。
The fox heard, the raccoon heard, the skunk heard.
狐貍聽到了，浣熊聽到了，臭鼬也聽到了。
One pair of ears heard that did not belong to a wild creature.
還有一雙耳朵也聽到了，可它們卻不是野獸的。
But the swans did not know that.
不過天鵝們并不知道這一點。
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