吹小號的天鵝 第5期 池塘(2)

Chapter 2 The Pond

第二章 池塘

For the next few days, the swans rested.

接下去的幾天里，天鵝們一直在休息。

When they were hungry, they ate. When they were thirsty--which was a great deal of the time--they drank.

餓了，他們就吃?？柿?-他們總是很渴--他們便喝。

On the tenth day, the female began looking around to find a place to build her nest.

在第十天，雌天鵝開始四處尋覓可以造窩的地方了。

In the spring of the year, nest-building is uppermost in a bird's mind: it is the most important thing there is.

每到春天，鳥兒們的心里最先想到的就是造窩：這是所有事情中最重要的一件。

If she picks a good place, she stands a good chance of hatching her eggs and rearing her young.

如果她選了一處好地方，她就有了一個可以孵蛋，養(yǎng)育子女的好機會。

If she picks a poor place, she may fail to raise a family.

如果她選了一處壞地方，她可能就沒有這樣的機會了。

The female swan knew this; she knew the decision she was making was extremely important.

雌天鵝知道這一點;她知道她的選擇是相當關鍵的。

The two swans first investigated the upper end of the pond, where a stream flowed slowly in.

兩只天鵝先到池塘上游的盡頭處調(diào)查了一番，那里有一條緩緩流入的小溪。

It was pleasant there, with reeds and bulrushes.

這是個不錯的地方，長滿了青草和香蒲。

Red-winged Blackbirds were busy nesting in this part of the pond, and a pair of Mallard Ducks were courting.

紅翼歌鶇正在這里忙著筑巢，一對綠頭鴨在相互示愛。

Then the swans swam to the lower end of the pond, a marsh with woods on one side and a deer meadow on the other.

兩只天鵝又游到池塘下游的盡頭，這里一邊是沼澤和森林，一邊是有鹿出沒的洼地。

It was lonely here.

這是個僻靜的地方。

From one shore, a point of land extended out into the pond.

在岸的這邊，有一片土地一直伸展到池塘的邊緣。

It was a sandy strip, like a little peninsula.

這是片沙地，就像個小半島。在沙地的頂端，

And at the tip of it, a few feet out into the water, was a tiny island, hardly bigger than a dining table.

隔水幾英尺遠的地方，有一個不比一張餐桌大多少的小島。

One small tree grew on the island, and there were rocks and ferns and grasses.

島上有棵小樹，還有巖石，蕨草和青草。

"Take a look at this!" exclaimed the female, as she swam round and around.

“看看這里!”雌天鵝叫著，圍著它游了一圈又一圈。

"Ko-hoh!" replied her husband, who liked to have someone ask his advice.

“吭—嗬!”很愿意有誰來征求自己意見的丈夫回答。

The swan stepped cautiously out onto the island. The spot seemed made to order--just right for a nesting place.

雌天鵝小心地游出來，上了小島，這里好像專門為她準備的--正是一個造窩的好地方。

While the male swan floated close by, watching, she snooped about until she found a pleasant spot on the ground.

在雄天鵝游過來看的時候，她已經(jīng)找了半天并終于找到了一個滿意的地點。

She sat down, to see how it felt to be sitting there.

她蹲坐下來，想知道坐在那里的感覺如何。

She decided it was the right size for her body.

她覺得那里的大小正好適合她的身體。

It was nicely located, a couple of feet from the water's edge. Very convenient.

這是個好地點，離水邊只有幾英尺遠。非常方便。

She turned to her husband. "What do you think?" she said.

她轉向她的丈夫。“你覺得怎么樣?”她說。

"An ideal location!" he replied. "A perfect place! And I will tell you why it's a perfect place," he continued, majestically.

“一個理想的地點!”他回答。“一個完美的地方!我要告訴你這里為什么是一個完美的地方，”他嚴肅地繼續(xù)說道。

"If an enemy--a fox or a coon or a coyote or a skunk--wanted to reach this spot with murder in his heart, he'd have to enter the water and get wet.

“如果一個敵人--狐貍或者浣熊或者郊狼或者臭鼬--想帶著他們的殺心到這里來的話，他將不得不走水路并把身上弄濕。

And before he could enter the water, he'd have to walk the whole length of that point of land.

在他能進到水里之前，他還得走完這一帶沙地。

And by that time we'd see him or hear him, and I would give him a hard time."

那時我們就將看見或聽到他，我會讓他覺得很不好受的。”

The male stretched out his great wings, eight feet from tip to tip, and gave the water a mighty clout to show his strength.

雄天鵝張開他那足有八英尺長的大翅膀，使勁兒拍向水面，顯示著他的力量。

This made him feel better right away.

這讓他覺得痛快多了。

When a Trumpeter Swan hits an enemy with his wing, it is like being hit by a baseball bat.

在一只號手天鵝用翅膀擊打敵人的時候，敵人往往就像被一根棒球棍揍了一樣。

A male swan, by the way, is called a "cob."

順便說一句，一只雄天鵝通常被稱為“Cob ”。

No one knows why, but that's what he's called.

沒人知道這是為什么，但那正是他的專有名字。

A good many animals have special names: a male goose is called a gander, a male cow is called a bull, a male sheep is called a ram, a male chicken is called a rooster, and so on.

很多動物都有自己的專有名：一只公鵝被稱為Gander，一頭公牛被稱為Bull，一只公羊被稱為Ram ，一只公雞被稱為Rooster ，等等。

Anyway, the thing to remember is that a male swan is called a cob.

不過，你只需記住一只雄天鵝也可以被稱作cob就夠了。