Chapter 3 A Visitor
第三章 一個(gè)拜訪者
One day, almost a week later, the swan slipped quietly into her nest and laid an egg.
大約一周后,有一天,雌天鵝輕輕地蹲坐到她的窩里,下了一個(gè)蛋。
Each day she tried to deposit one egg in the nest. Sometimes she succeeded, sometimes she didn't.
每天她都想在窩里下一個(gè)蛋。有時(shí)她成功了,有時(shí)卻不行。
There were now three eggs, and she was ready to lay a fourth.
窩里現(xiàn)在有三個(gè)蛋了,她正在準(zhǔn)備下第四個(gè)。
As she sat there, with her husband, the cob, floating gracefully nearby, she had a strange feeling that she was being watched. It made her uneasy.
當(dāng)她正在窩里坐著,她的丈夫樣子高雅地浮在水面,陪在她身邊的時(shí)候,她突然有種很奇怪的感覺,覺得有人在偷看她。這令她很不安。
Birds don't like to be stared at. They particularly dislike being stared at when they are on a nest.
鳥兒可不喜歡被誰盯著,當(dāng)他們在窩里的時(shí)候,特別不喜歡被人看。
So the swan twisted and turned and peered everywhere.
于是她扭轉(zhuǎn)身子四處搜尋起來。
She gazed intently at the point of land that jutted out into the pond near the nest.
她盯向那帶與池塘接壤的靠近她的窩的沙地。
With her sharp eyes, she searched the nearby shore for signs of an intruder.
她以敏銳的目光在岸邊搜索著入侵者的跡象。
What she finally saw gave her the surprise of her life.
她最終所看到的是讓她驚訝萬分的事,她以前可從未這么驚奇過。
There, seated on a log on the point of land, was a small boy.
在那兒,在沙地盡頭的一根木頭上坐著的居然是一個(gè)小男孩。
He was being very quiet, and he had no gun.
他靜靜地坐在那里,手上沒有槍。
"Do you see what I see?" the swan whispered to her husband.
“你看到我看見的了嗎?”雌天鵝對丈夫耳語。
"No. What?"
“沒有。什么呀?”
"Over there. On that log. It's a boy! Now what are we going to do?"
“在那兒。在那根木頭上。那是一個(gè)男孩子!現(xiàn)在我們該怎么辦?”
"How did a boy get here?" whispered the cob.
“這個(gè)男孩是怎么到這里來的呢?”雄天鵝低語,
"We are deep in the wilds of Canada. There are no human beings for miles around."
“我們可是在加拿大的荒野深處呀。這里方圓數(shù)英里都該沒有人類才對。”
"That's what I thought too," she replied.
“我也是這么想的,”她回答,
"But if that isn't a boy over there on that log, my name isn't Cygnus Buccinator."
“可是如果說坐在那根木頭上的不是一個(gè)男孩子,我的名字就不叫頰肌天鵝。”
The cob was furious.
雄天鵝發(fā)怒了。
"I didn't fly all the way north into Canada to get involved with a boy," he said.
“我往北一直飛進(jìn)加拿大,可不是為了和一個(gè)男孩子攪到一起的,”他說,
"We came here to this idyllic spot, this remote little hideaway, so we could enjoy some well-deserved privacy."
“我們來到這個(gè)詩一般的地方,這個(gè)遙遠(yuǎn)的小隱居所,是為了享受到一些應(yīng)得的獨(dú)居之樂的。”
"Well," said his wife, "I'm sorry to see the boy, too, but I must say he's behaving himself.
“不錯(cuò),”他的妻子說,“看到這個(gè)男孩時(shí)我也很失望,不過我得說他還算守規(guī)矩。
He sees us, but he's not throwing stones.
他看到了我們,卻沒朝我們?nèi)邮瘔K。
He's not throwing sticks.
他也沒扔樹枝。
He's not messing around. He's simply observing."
他并沒有弄亂什么。他僅僅是在那里觀察而已。”