吹小號(hào)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(gè)春天的早晨發(fā)現(xiàn)的池塘很少有人來(lái)過(guò)。

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

整個(gè)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(shí)候這里聽(tīng)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(huì)大叫一聲。

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

夜里有時(shí)狐貍會(huì)叫——叫聲尖厲，刺耳。

Winter seemed to last forever.

冬天似乎將永遠(yuǎn)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(shí)森林和池塘卻會(huì)變樣。

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

溫暖的微風(fēng)會(huì)輕柔而又慈愛(ài)地在林間披拂。

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

堅(jiān)冰會(huì)在夜間變軟，開(kāi)始融化。

Patches of open water appeared.

一片片的水面露了出來(lái)。

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(kāi)心。

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

他們聽(tīng)到并覺(jué)出了春的氣息，新的活力和希望便都被誘發(fā)出來(lái)。

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(zhǎng)睡后醒來(lái)時(shí)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(lái)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(huì)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(dòng)物都知道，更美好，更舒適的日子就快來(lái)了——就會(huì)有溫暖的白天，快樂(lè)的夜晚了。

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

樹(shù)木正在萌出綠芽;芽苞正在一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的膨脹。

Birds began arriving from the south.

鳥(niǎo)兒開(kāi)始從南方往這里飛。

A pair of ducks flew in.

一對(duì)野鴨子飛了過(guò)來(lái)。

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

紅翼歌鶇來(lái)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(guò)來(lái)唱：“噢，可愛(ài)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(gè)溫暖日子一直坐在那個(gè)池塘邊，呆到下午快過(guò)去的時(shí)候，你會(huì)猛然聽(tīng)到一種從空中傳來(lái)的激動(dòng)人心的聲音

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

一種號(hào)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(huì)看見(jiàn)在頭頂高高飛著的兩只白色大鳥(niǎo)。

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(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的白脖子探在前面，強(qiáng)健的翅膀有力而穩(wěn)健地扇動(dòng)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(hào)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(dāng)天鵝們發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個(gè)池塘，就開(kāi)始盤(pán)旋起來(lái)，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(zhǎng)翅膀，轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)著腦袋，打量起他們的新環(huán)境來(lái)。

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

他們是號(hào)手天鵝，一種黑嘴的純白大鳥(niǎo)。

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(gè)多沼澤的池塘的景色，決定把它當(dāng)作一個(gè)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(kāi)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(huì)兒，想要找食物吃了，便把他們的長(zhǎng)脖子插到淺水里，把一些植物和草根從水底拽出來(lái)。

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(gè)樣子，因?yàn)樗麄兊絹?lái)了。