吹小号的天鹅 第40期:小号(2)

 You can imagine the noise in the music store when the cob crashed through the window.

你能想像得出当雄天鹅从橱窗冲进乐器店时惹出的乱子有多大。

At the moment the glass broke, one of the clerks was showing a bass¹ drum to a customer,

就在玻璃爆碎的瞬间，一个店员正在给一个顾客看低音鼓，

and the clerk was so startled at seeing a big white bird come flying through the window,

可当他一看到这只从窗口飞进来的白色大鸟，

he hit the drum a tremendous wallop.

就不由得拼命地敲起鼓来。

"Bom!" went the drum.

“蹦！”鼓这么响。

"Crash!" went the splinters of flying glass.

“哗啦！”飞舞的玻璃碎片喊。

When the salesgirl fainted, she fell against the keys of the piano.

刚才那个女营业员昏倒的时候，恰好仰面倒在钢琴的键子上。

"Rrrongee-rrrongee-rrongee!" went the piano.

“嗡—嗡—嗡！”钢琴呻吟。

The owner of the store grabbed his shotgun,

店主抓起他的鸟枪就打，

which went off by mistake, blasting a hole in the ceiling and sending down a shower of plaster.

可惜没瞄准，反倒把天花板打出一个大洞。屋里顿时下了一场石膏雨。

Everything was flying around and falling and making a noise.

所有的东西都到处乱飞乱落，响起了一片嘈杂声。

"Bom!" went the drum.

“蹦！”鼓这么响。

"Plunk!" went the banjo.

“砰！”班卓琴唱。

"Rrrongee-rrrongee-rrrongee!" went the piano.

“嗡—嗡—嗡！”钢琴呻吟。

"Ump!" went the bull fiddle².

“唉！”低音提琴感叹。

"Help!" screamed a clerk. "We've been robbed."

“救命！”一个店员尖叫。“我们被抢了。”

"Make way!" shouted the owner.

“让开！”店主大喊。

He ran for the door, stepped outside, and fired another shot--bang!--at the disappearing bird.

他跑向门口，站到门外又开了一枪——梆！--他射向那只正在飞远的鸟。

His shot was too late.

他打得太晚了。

The cob was safe in the sky, beyond the range of gunfire.

雄天鹅已经到了空中，安全地飞在射程之外了。

He was headed home, toward the southwest, high above the roofs and spires³ of Billings.

他正在比林斯的屋顶和塔尖上空，往西南方的家那边飞呢。

In his beak⁴ was the trumpet⁵.

他的嘴里叼着的正是那把小号。

In his heart was the pain of having committed a crime.

他的心因刚才所犯的罪行而痛苦。

"I have robbed a store," he said to himself.

“我洗劫了一家商店，”他自语，

"I have become a thief.

“我成了一个贼了。

What a miserable⁶ fate for a bird of my excellent character and high ideals!

对一只像我这样有着优秀品质和崇高理想的鸟儿来说，这是多么悲惨的命运呀！

Why did I do this?

我为什么要这么做？

What led me to commit this awful crime?

是什么诱使我犯下了这可怕的罪行？

My past life has been blameless--a model of good behavior and correct conduct.

我过去的生活可是清清白白的——我一直是行为良好品行端正的模范呀。

I am by nature law-abiding.

我天生就是个守法良民嘛。

Why, oh, why did I do this?"

可为什么，噢，为什么我要那么做？”

Then the answer came to him, as he flew steadily⁷ on through the evening sky.

当他稳稳地在夜空中飞着的时候，答案出来了。

"I did it to help my son.

“我做的这一切都是为了帮助我的儿子。

I did it for love of my son Louis."

我是出于对我儿子路易斯的爱才这么做的。”

1 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

2 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

3 spires   

n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her masts leveled with the spires of churches. 船的桅杆和教堂的塔尖一样高。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• White church spires lift above green valleys. 教堂的白色尖顶耸立在绿色山谷中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

5 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

6 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

7 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。