吹小号的天鹅 第6期:池塘(3)

 　　The cob's wife pretended not to notice that her husband was showing off, but she saw it, all right, and she was proud of his strength and his courage.

　　雄天鹅的妻子假装没看到丈夫的卖弄，可她当然看见了，而且，她也为丈夫的力量和勇气而骄傲。

　　As husbands go, he was a good one.

　　作为一个丈夫来说，他可真是个好样的。

　　The cob watched his beautiful wife sitting there on the tiny island.

　　雄天鹅望着他那蹲坐在小岛上的美丽妻子。

　　To his great joy, he saw her begin to turn slowly round and around, keeping always in the same spot, treading the mud and grass.

　　他很高兴地看到，她开始慢慢地在同一地点转来转去，踩着湿泥和青草。

　　She was making the first motions of nesting.

　　她正在做造窝的第一个动作。

　　First she squatted¹ down in the place she had chosen.

　　她先蹲坐在她选定的地方。

　　Then she twisted round and around, tamping² the earth with her broad webbed feet, hollowing it out to make it like a saucer.

　　然后，她又来回转着，用她那宽阔带蹼的脚掌把泥土踩实，将其踏出坑来，使之像个盘子。

　　Then she reached out and pulled twigs³ and grasses toward her and dropped them at her sides and under her tail, shaping the nest to her body.

　　接着，她伸长脖子把小树枝和青草拉到身边，放到她的周围和尾巴下面，在她的身下造出一个窝。

　　The cob floated close to his mate. He studied every move she made.

　　雄天鹅靠近了他的伴侣。他观察着她的每一个动作。

　　"Now another medium-sized stick, my love," he said.

　　“现在再来一根中等大小的树枝，我亲爱的，”他说。

　　And she poked⁴ her splendid long white graceful⁵ neck as far as it would go, picked up a stick, and placed it at her side.

　　她把华贵而又高雅的白色长脖子伸得尽可能的远，衔起一根树枝，放到她的身边。

　　"Now another bit of coarse grass," said the cob, with great dignity.

　　“现在再来点粗壮些的草，”雄天鹅非常威严地说。

　　The female reached for grasses, for moss⁶, for twigs--anything that was handy.

　　雌天鹅去叼青草，青苔，小树枝--任何她可以够得到的东西。

　　Slowly, carefully, she built up the nest until she was sitting on a big grassy⁷ mound⁸.

　　她就这样慢慢地，仔细地把她的窝建成了，最后，她坐到了这个大草堆上面。

　　She worked at the task for a couple of hours, then knocked off for the day and slid into the pond again, to take a drink and have lunch.

　　她做这个工作用了大约两小时，然后才暂时停下今天的工作，游到池塘里，开始喝水和吃午餐。

　　"A fine start!" said the cob, as he gazed back at the nest.

　　“一个很好的开始！”雄天鹅回头望着那个窝，说道，

　　"A perfect beginning! I don't know how you manage it so cleverly."

　　“一个完美的开端！我真不知道你是怎么把它弄得这么妙的。”

　　"It comes naturally," replied his wife.

　　“这全靠本能，”他的妻子回答，

　　"There's a lot of work to it, but on the whole it is pleasant work."

　　“虽然有很多活儿得干，但总的来说，这还是个叫你愉快的工作。”

　　"Yes," said the cob. "And when you're done, you have something to show for your trouble

　　“是的，”雄天鹅说，“不过等你把这一切全做完，你就会从你的辛苦中得到一些回报了

　　you have a swan's nest, six feet across. What other bird can say that?"

　　你有了一个天鹅窝啦，直径六英尺长呢。别的鸟儿能有这本事？”

　　"Well," said his wife, "maybe an eagle can say it."

　　“唔，”他的妻子说，“鹰大概能做到。”

　　"Yes, but in that case it wouldn't be a swan's nest, it would be an eagle's nest,

　　“是的，可他造的不是天鹅窝，只能是一个老鹰窝而已，

　　and it would be high up in some old dead tree somewhere, instead of right down near the water, with all the conveniences that go with water."

　　那样的话，它就会建在别的地方，比如一棵枯死的老树高处，而不是正好建在水边，有着种种和水有关的方便了。”

　　They both laughed at this.

　　他们都因此大笑起来。

　　Then they began trumpeting⁹ and splashing and scooping¹⁰ up water and throwing it on their backs, darting¹¹ about as though they had suddenly gone crazy with delight.

　　然后他们开始吹号，击水，把水铲起来泼到他们的背上，彼此打闹，好像他们突然乐得发疯了似的。

　　"Ko-hoh! Ko-hoh! Ko-hoh!" they cried.

　　“吭—嗬，吭—嗬，吭—嗬！”他们高喊。

　　Every wild creature within a mile and a half of the pond heard the trumpeting of the swans.

　　池塘一里半之内的所有野生动物都听到了他们的吹号声。

　　The fox heard, the raccoon heard, the skunk¹² heard.

　　狐狸听到了，浣熊听到了，臭鼬也听到了。

　　One pair of ears heard that did not belong to a wild creature.

　　还有一双耳朵也听到了，可它们却不是野兽的。

　　But the swans did not know that.

　　不过天鹅们并不知道这一点。

1 squatted   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• He squatted down beside the footprints and examined them closely. 他蹲在脚印旁仔细地观察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He squatted in the grass discussing with someone. 他蹲在草地上与一个人谈话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 tamping   

n.填塞物，捣紧v.捣固( tamp的现在分词 )；填充；（用炮泥）封炮眼口；夯实

参考例句：

• The foundation becomes solid after tamping. 打夯以后，地基就瓷实了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Practical construction shows that equal energy, equal deformation tamping a. 等能量、等变形夯扩挤密矸石桩是一种地基加固新技术。 来自互联网

3 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

4 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

6 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

7 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

8 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

9 trumpeting   

大声说出或宣告（trumpet的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She is always trumpeting her son. 她总是吹嘘她儿子。
• The wind is trumpeting, a bugle calling to charge! 风在掌号。冲锋号！ 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

10 scooping   

n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• Heated ice cream scoop is used for scooping really cold ice cream. 加热的冰淇淋勺是用来舀非常凉的冰淇淋的。 来自互联网
• The scoop-up was the key phase during a scooping cycle. 3个区间中，铲取区间是整个作业循环的关键。 来自互联网

11 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

12 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。