吹小号的天鹅 第36期:爱情(3)

 　　"You've said that once already," said his wife. "You're repeating yourself.

　　“这话你已经说过一次了，”他的妻子说，“你正在重复自己说过的话。

　　Louis must be tired after his trip, no matter where he's been or what he's been up to."

　　经过了这么久的旅行，路易斯一定累了，不管他都去了哪里又都做了些什么。”

　　"Very true," said the cob.

　　“太对了，”雄天鹅说，

　　"But I must prolong¹ my welcoming remarks a bit longer,

　　“可我还是要把欢迎辞再拖长一点儿，

　　for my curiosity is aroused by that odd little object Louis is wearing around his neck

　　因为我的好奇心被那个挂在路易斯脖子上的古怪小东西

　　and by the strange symbols he has placed upon it by rubbing that white thing up and down and leaving those strange white tracings."

　　和他用那个白东西上上下下地涂在那上面的由那些奇怪的白道道组成的奇异符号勾起来了。”

　　"Well," said Louis's mother, "we're all interested in it, naturally.

　　“哦，”路易斯的妈妈说，“我们都对此感兴趣，真的。

　　But Louis can't explain it because he is defective² and can't talk.

　　可是路易斯却不能对这一切作解释，因为他有缺陷，不能说话。

　　So we'll just have to forget our curiosity for the moment and let Louis take a bath and have dinner."

　　因此我们只好暂时放下我们的好奇心，让路易斯去洗澡吃午饭吧。”

　　Everyone agreed this was a good idea.

　　每个人都认为这是个好主意。

　　Louis swam to the shore, placed his slate³ and his chalk pencil under a bush, and took a bath.

　　路易斯游向岸边，把他的石板和粉笔放到一丛灌木下，洗了个澡。

　　When he was through, he dipped the end of one wing in the water and sorrowfully rubbed out the words "Hi, there!"

　　洗完澡，他把一只翅膀尖蘸上水，难过的用它擦去“嗨，你们好”这几个词，

　　Then he hung the slate around his neck again.

　　然后才把那块石板挂回到脖子上。

　　It felt good to be home with his family.

　　回来和全家在一起的感觉真好。

　　And his family had increased during the months he had spent with Sam Beaver⁴ at school. There were now six new cygnets.

　　在他和萨姆比弗一起上学的这几个月里，他的家庭成员增加了。现在这里多了六只新生的小天鹅。

　　Louis's father and mother had spent the summer on a trip to Canada,

　　路易斯的父母已经完成了在加拿大的夏天旅行，

　　and while there, they had nested and hatched⁵ six little cygnets,

　　在那里造了窝并孵出了六只小天鹅，

　　and in the fall they had all joined up again at the Red Rock Lakes in Montana.

　　到秋天他们又回到了蒙大拿的红石湖。

　　One day, soon after Louis's return, the grain man stopped by with a sack of grain.

　　路易斯回家后不久，有一天，那个喂食者带着一袋谷粒站到了湖岸边。

　　Louis saw him and swam over.

　　路易斯一看见他就游了过去。

　　When the man spread the grain on the ground to feed the birds, Louis took off his slate and wrote, "Thank you very much!"

　　这个男人把谷粒撒到地上喂鸟的时候，路易斯摘下他的石板写道：“非常感谢！”

　　He held the slate up to the man, who appeared surprised.

　　然后他举起石板给那个男人看，他显得很吃惊。

　　"Say!" said the man. "You're quite a bird! Where did you learn to write?"

　　“哇！”这个男人说，“你真是只不一般的鸟儿！你在那儿学的写字？”

　　Louis erased⁶ the slate and wrote, "At school."

　　路易斯在石板上擦了又写：“在学校。”

　　"School?" said the grain man. "What school?"

　　“学校？”这个喂食人说，“什么学校？”

　　"Public school," wrote Louis. "Mrs. Hammerbotham taught me."

　　“公立学校，”路易斯写，“哈默博瑟姆太太教的我。”

　　"Never heard of her," said the grain man. "But she must be a darned good teacher."

　　“从没听说过，”喂食人说，“不过她肯定是个好得要死的老师。”

　　"She is," wrote Louis. He was overjoyed to be carrying on a conversation with a stranger.

　　“是的。”路易斯写。能和陌生人交谈使他欣喜万分。

　　He realized that even though the slate was no help with other birds, it was going to be a help with people, because people could read.

　　他意识到虽然石板对别的鸟类来说没有用处，但对人来说却大有用处，因为人懂得阅读。

　　This made him feel a whole lot better.

　　这让他感觉好了很多。

　　Sam Beaver had given Louis the slate as a good-bye present when he left the ranch⁷.

　　当他离开牧场时，萨姆比弗把这块石板做为赠别礼物送给了他。

　　Sam had bought the slate and the chalk pencil with money he had saved.

　　萨姆是用自己攒的钱买的这块石板和石笔。

　　Louis decided⁸ he would always carry them with him, no matter where he went in the world.

　　路易斯决定要永远带着这块石板和石笔，无论自己在世上的任何地方。

　　The grain man wondered whether he had been dreaming or whether he had really seen a swan write words on a slate.

　　喂食人不知道他刚才是做了一个梦还是真的看到了一只天鹅在石板上写字。

　　He decided to say nothing about it to anyone, for fear people might think he was crazy in the head.

　　他决定不对任何人说起这件事，因为他怕别人以为他发疯了。

1 prolong   

vt.延长，拉长，拖延

参考例句：

• He has decided to prolong his visit through the weekend.他已决定把他的访问延长到过完周末。
• People have all along been seeking to prolong life.人们一直在寻求长寿之道。

2 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

3 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

4 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

5 hatched   

孵化( hatch的过去式和过去分词 )； 孵出，破壳而出； 秘密策划，（尤指）密谋； 使（小鸟、小鱼、小虫等）孵出

参考例句：

• Silkworms are fed mulberry leaves after they have hatched. 蚕孵出后食桑叶。
• Ten out of the set of twelve were hatched. 一窝十二个蛋孵出了十个。

6 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。