美國語文第五冊 第97期：北美食米鳥（03）
Further observation and experience have given me a different idea of this feathered voluptuary,
經(jīng)過進一步觀察體驗，對這個身披羽裳、耽于安逸享樂的主兒，我有了全新認識，
which I will venture to impart for the benefit of my young readers,
鑒于年輕讀者的需要，我樂于勇敢地傳教。
who may regard him with the same unqualified envy and admiration which I once indulged.
這些年輕人可能與我當時沉湎的感覺相同，那么嫉妒和贊賞食米鳥。
I have shown him only as I saw him at first, in what I may call the poetical part of his career,
當?shù)谝谎劭吹剿?，我便為之心顫，稱它具有生命的詩意。
when he, in a manner, devoted himself to elegant pursuits and enjoyments,
從某種意義上說，食米鳥追求高雅以及享受的表達，
and was a bird of music, and song, and taste, and sensibility, and refinement.
它迷戀音樂、歌聲，關(guān)注品位、敏感還有精致，
While this lasted he was sacred from injury; the very schoolboy would not fling a stone at him, and the merest rustic would pause to listen to his strain.
因此，這種神圣的鳥類不容絲毫傷害，甚至學(xué)校那些淘氣鬼們不會沖它投擲石塊，淳樸的農(nóng)民時而停下腳步聆聽它歌唱。
But mark the difference.
當然，不妨關(guān)注這些差異。
As the year advances, as the clover blossoms disappear, and the spring fades into summer,
隨著光陰流逝，苜蓿草花兒凋謝，春天隱退，夏天到來，
he gradually gives up his elegant tastes and habits, doffs his poetical suit of black, assumes a russet, dusty garb, and sinks to the gross enjoyment of common vulgar birds.
食米鳥不再執(zhí)著于自己的高雅品位，它逐漸褪去詩意的黑色裝束，換上赤褐色的粗鄙外表；它整日沉溺享受安樂，與那些常見的惡俗鳥兒沒什么兩樣；
His notes no longer vibrate on the ear; he is stuffing himself with the seeds of the tall weeds on which he lately swung and chanted so melodiously.
它的歌唱不再悅耳，胃囊里也裝滿草籽，就在那些飛揚的野草上，它剛才還在搖晃著優(yōu)美身軀，反復(fù)吟唱動聽的歌謠。
He has become a bon vivant, a gourmand: with him now there is nothing like the "joys of the table."
如今它過得很好，氣色不錯，不過饕餮之徒而已。
In a little while he grows tired of plain, homely fare, and is off on a gastronomic tour in quest of foreign luxuries.
很快，它便厭倦了簡樸的生活方式，到處尋覓豐饌珍肴，對它來說，沒有任何東西能比過享用美食大餐的受用。
