吹小號的天鵝 第15期 小天鵝(4)

An hour went by.

一小時過去了。

One of the cygnets, more daring than the others, leftthe nest and teetered around on the shore of thelittle island.

一只比其他的更膽大的小天鵝離開了窩，顫顫巍巍地在小島的岸邊一圈圈溜達起來。這時，

When this happened, the mother swan stood up. Shedecided the time had come to lead her children intothe water.

天鵝媽媽站了起來。她覺得現(xiàn)在該領(lǐng)孩子們下水了。

"Come on!" she said. "And stay together!

“過來!”她說，“呆在一起!

Note carefully what I do. Then you do the same. Swimming is easy."

注意看我怎么做。然后你們也照著去做。游泳很容易學的。”

"One, two, three, four, five," Sam counted.

“一、二、三、四、五，”薩姆數(shù)著，

"One, two, three, four, five. Five cygnets, just as sure as I'm alive!"

“一、二、三、四、五。五只小天鵝，這就像我還活著一樣可以肯定!”

The cob, as he saw his children approach the water, felt that he should act like a father. Hebegan by making a speech.

當雄天鵝看到他的孩子們靠近水邊的時候，感到自己必須做得像個父親一樣才行。他開始演說了。

"Welcome to the pond and the swamp adjacent!" he said.

“歡迎到池塘和與之比鄰的沼澤來!”他說，

"Welcome to the world that contains this lonely pond, this splendid marsh, unspoiled andwild!

“歡迎到這個包括了靜寂的池塘，壯美的沼澤，還有未被破壞過的野生世界里來!

Welcome to sunlight and shadow, wind and weather; welcome to water!

歡迎到陽光和陰影里來，到風和雨里來;歡迎到水中來!

The water is a swan's particular element, as you will soon discover.

水對天鵝來說是種很特別的環(huán)境，就象你們不久將發(fā)現(xiàn)的那樣。

Swimming is no problem for a swan.

對一只天鵝來說，游泳也根本不是問題。

Welcome to danger, which you must guard against

歡迎到危險中來，你們必須時刻警惕

the vile fox with his stealthy tread and sharp teeth, the offensive otter who swims up underyou and tries to grab you by the leg,

要提防那長著尖牙走路鬼鬼祟祟的壞透了的狐貍，還有從水下游向你并試圖抓住你的腿的水獺，

the stinking skunk who hunts by night and blends with the shadows, the coyote who hunts andhowls and is bigger than a fox.

想趁著黑夜和陰影的掩護傷害你的臭鼬，嚎叫著想傷害你的比狐貍大得多的郊狼。

Beware of lead pellets that lie on the bottom of all ponds, left there by the guns of hunters.

小心躺在池塘底部的小鉛彈，那是從獵人的槍里射出來的。

Don't eat them--they'll poison you!

別吃它們——它們能毒死你!

Be vigilant, be strong, be brave, be graceful, and always follow me!

要警覺，強壯，勇敢，優(yōu)雅，永遠跟隨著我!

I will go first, then you will come along in single file, and your devoted mother will bring up therear.

我先走，你們排成一行跟著，深愛著你們的媽媽就在你們的后頭。

Enter the water quietly and confidently!"

下水時要安靜，充滿信心!”

The mother swan, glad the speech was over, stepped into the water and called her little ones.

演說終于結(jié)束了，天鵝媽媽很高興。她跨進水里，招呼她的孩子們過來。

The cygnets gazed for a second at the water, then tottered forward, gave a jump, and wereafloat.

小天鵝們對水看了一眼，然后搖晃著走上前去，跳進水里浮了起來。

The water felt good. Swimming was simple-- nothing to it.

在水里的感覺很好。游泳很簡單——沒什么難的。

The water was good to drink. Each baby dipped up a mouthful.

水很好喝。每個孩子都喝了一大口。

Their happy father arched his long graceful neck over and around them, protectively.

他們快樂的父親在他們的頭頂彎著他那優(yōu)美的長脖子保護著他們。

Then he set off very slowly, with the cygnets following along in single file. Their mother broughtup the rear.

然后他慢慢地出發(fā)了，身后跟著排成一行的小天鵝。他們的媽媽跟在最后面。

"What a sight!" Sam said to himself. "What a terrific sight!

“多好看呀!”薩姆自語，“好看死了!

Seven Trumpeters all in line, five of them just out of the egg. This is my lucky day."

七只號手天鵝排成一行，其中的五只還是剛出蛋殼的。今天真是我的幸運日。”

He hardly noticed how stiff he had become from sitting so long on the log.

雖然在那根木頭上坐了這么久，身子都坐硬了，可他卻幾乎沒有覺察到這一點。