吹小号的天鹅 第60期:夏天的尾声(3)

 　　Next day, the campers left.

　　第二天，营员们离开了。

　　The canoes had been hoisted¹ onto racks in the boathouse,独木舟被举到船库里的架子上去了，

　　the float had been hauled onto the beach,浮码头被拖上了岸，

　　the windows of the lodge² had been boarded up against bears and squirrels,小屋的窗子被钉上了防止熊和松鼠闯入的木板条，mattresses had been packed into zipper³ bags;床垫子被装到了拉链式胶布袋里；

　　everything was snug⁴ and ready for the long, silent winter.

　　一切都被收拾停当，为长长的，静静的寒冬做好了准备。

　　Of all the campers, only Louis stayed behind.

　　所有的营员都离开了，只有路易斯还没有走。

　　His flight feathers were growing fast, but he still couldn't fly.

　　他的飞羽长得很快，可他还是不能飞。

　　He made up his mind he would remain at camp, all alone, until he was able to take to the air again,他决定独自呆在营地，直到他可以再飞起来，

　　and then he would fly straight to Boston.

　　那时他将一直飞到波士顿去。

　　The lake was lonely without the boys, but Louis didn't mind being alone.

　　没有了男孩们的湖是寂寞的，但路易斯并不介意一个人呆着。

　　For the next three weeks he took life easy.

　　接下来的三周他过得还算愉快。

　　He grew his flight feathers, dreamed of Serena by day and by night, and practiced his trumpet⁵.

　　他长全了他的飞羽，时刻梦想着塞蕾娜，还练习着吹小号。

　　He had listened to music all summer

　　他已经听了一夏天的音乐了

　　several of the boys had radios and record players从几个有收音机和录音机的男孩子那里听到的

　　and now he practiced the songs on his trumpet.

　　现在他则练习用他的小号吹奏这些歌曲。

　　Every day he got better and better.

　　他吹得一天比一天好。

　　One day, he composed a love song for Serena一天，他给塞蕾娜写了一首情歌，

　　and wrote the words and music on his slate⁶:

　　还把歌词和乐谱写到了他的石板上：

　　Oh, ever in the greening spring,

　　哦，又到了绿色的春天，

　　By bank and bough⁷ retiring,

　　栖隐在岸边和枝上，

　　For love shall I be sorrowing

　　我要为爱情

　　And swans of my desiring.

　　为我思恋的天鹅悲伤。

　　He was really thinking of Serena, but he left her name out of it and kept it impersonal⁸.

　　他指的其实是塞蕾娜，但他却隐去了她的名字，使这首歌仅仅具有一般人称而已。

　　His plumage was beautiful now, and he felt great.

　　他的羽毛现在变漂亮了，他感到很高兴。

　　On the twenty-first of September, he tried his wings.

　　九月二十一日那天，他开始试飞了。

　　To his great relief, they lifted him. Louis rose into the air.

　　他大大地松了一口气，因为飞羽把他托起来了。

　　The trumpet banged against the slate, the slate knocked against the moneybag, the lifesaving medal clinked against the chalk pencil路易斯升上了天空。小号碰上了石板，石板撞着了钱袋，救生奖章在石笔上叮当作响but Louis was airborne again.

　　但路易斯总算又能飞翔了。

　　He climbed and climbed and headed for Boston.

　　他越飞越高，一直朝着波士顿的方向飞。

　　It was wonderful to be in the sky again.

　　再次飞在空中的感觉真好。

　　"Flying is a lot harder than it was before I acquired all these possessions," thought Louis.

　　“飞翔变得比我带上这些东西以前难多了，”路易斯想，"The best way to travel, really, is to travel light.

　　“最好的旅行方式，真的，就是轻装旅行。

　　On the other hand, I have to have these things.

　　但从另一方面来说，我还非得带上这些东西不可。

　　I've got to have the trumpet if I am to win Serena for my wife;如果我想赢得塞蕾娜的芳心，让她做我的妻子，就必须要有这把小号；I've got to carry this moneybag to hold the money to pay my father's debts;为了归还我父亲的欠债，我还得带上这个装钱的袋子；I've got to have the slate and pencil so I can communicate with people;我需要这石板石笔，这样我才能和人类交流；

　　and I ought to wear the medal because I really did save a life,我也该戴上我这枚奖章，因为我真的救过一个人的命，and if I didn't wear it, people might think I was ungrateful."如果我不戴它，人们没准会认为我不领情呢。”

　　On and on he flew, toward Boston, which is the capital of Massachusetts, and which is famous他飞呀飞呀，一路向着麻萨诸塞省的首府，

　　for its baked beans, its codfish, its tea parties, its Cabots, its Lowells, its Saltonstalls, and its Swan Boats.

　　向着以它的烘豆，它的鳕鱼，它的茶党集会，它的卡伯特家族，它的罗尼尔家族，它的索顿斯托尔家族，还有它的天鹅游艇而知名的波士顿城飞去。

 

1 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

2 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

3 zipper   

n.拉链；v.拉上拉链

参考例句：

• The zipper is red.这条拉链是红色的。
• The zipper is a wonderful invention.拉链是个了不起的发明。

4 snug   

adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房

参考例句：

• He showed us into a snug little sitting room.他领我们走进了一间温暖而舒适的小客厅。
• She had a small but snug home.她有个小小的但很舒适的家。

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 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？

7 bough   

n.大树枝，主枝

参考例句：

• I rested my fishing rod against a pine bough.我把钓鱼竿靠在一棵松树的大树枝上。
• Every bough was swinging in the wind.每条树枝都在风里摇摆。

8 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。