第十三章 夏天的尾聲
A trumpet has three little valves. They are for thefingers of the player.
一把小號有三個小活瓣。它們是讓吹奏者用手指來按的。它們看起來就像這樣:
By pushing them down in the right order, the playercan produce all the notes of the musical scale.
只要按正確的次序來按它們,吹奏者就能吹出音階上的所有音符。
Louis had often examined these three little valves on his horn,
路易斯常常查看他的小號上的這三個小活瓣,
but he had never been able to use them.
可他卻從來沒能學(xué)會使用它們。
He had three front toes on each foot,
他的每只腳雖然剛好有三個前趾,
but, being a water bird,he had webbed feet.
可他是一只水鳥,所以他的腳上有蹼。
The webbing prevented him from using his three toes independently.
蹼令他無法分別運(yùn)用他的三個前趾。
Luckily, the valves on a trumpet are not needed for bugle calls because bugle calls are justcombinations of do, mi, and sol,
幸運(yùn)的是,吹營號時(shí)不需要使用小號上的活瓣,因?yàn)闋I號只由“1 ,3 , 5”這三個音組成,
and a trumpeter can play do, mi, and sol without pressing down any of the valves.
而一個號手不用按下任何一個活瓣就能吹出“1,3 ,5 ”來。
"If I could just work those three valves with my three toes," he said to himself,
“如果我能用我的三個腳趾按這三個活瓣的話,”他自語,
"I could play all sorts of music, not just bugle calls.
“我就能吹奏各種各樣的音樂,不僅僅限于營號了。
I could play jazz. I could play country-and-western. I could play rock.
我能吹爵士樂。我能吹鄉(xiāng)村音樂。我能吹奏搖滾樂。
I could play the great music of Bach, Beethoven,Mozart, Sibelius, Gershwin, Irving Berlin,Brahms, everybody.
我也能吹奏巴赫,貝多芬,莫扎特,西貝利厄斯,格什溫,歐文·柏林,布拉姆斯等人的偉大音樂了。
I could really be a trumpet player, not just a camp bugler.
我能真的成為一個小號吹奏家,而不僅僅是個營號手了。
I might even get a job with an orchestra."
我甚至有可能在一個管弦樂隊(duì)里找到工作呢。”
The thought filled him with ambition.
這個念頭使他充滿了雄心。
Louis loved music,
路易斯熱愛音樂,
and besides, he was already casting about for ways of making money after camp was over.
此外,他已經(jīng)在心中盤算著等夏令營結(jié)束后如何找機(jī)會賺錢了。
Although he enjoyed life at Camp Kookooskoos,
雖然他喜歡庫庫斯庫斯夏令營的生活,
Louis often thought of his home on Upper Red Rock Lake in Montana.
可路易斯還是時(shí)常想念他在蒙大拿上紅石湖的家。
He thought about his parents, his brothers and sisters,and about Serena.
他想他的父母,他的哥哥姐姐,還想塞蕾娜。
He was terribly in love with Serena,
他深深愛著塞蕾娜,
and he often wondered what was happening to her.
也常常在想她現(xiàn)在怎么樣了。
At night, he would look up at the stars and think about her.
晚上,他會凝望著繁星,思戀著她。
In the late evening, when the big bullfrogs were calling trooonk across the still lake,
深夜,當(dāng)大牛蛙呱呱叫著蹦在靜寂的湖上的時(shí)候,
he would think of Serena.
他也會想起塞蕾娜。
Sometimes he felt sad, lonely, and homesick.
有時(shí),他會感到悲傷,孤寂,想家。
His music, however, was a comfort to him.
不管怎樣,他的音樂都能給他帶來某種安慰。
He loved the sound of his own trumpet.
他喜歡聽他的小號的聲音。