吹小号的天鹅 第81期:塞蕾娜(4)

 Toward the end of the afternoon, Serena roused herself, looked at her surroundings,

下午快要过去的时候，塞蕾娜完全苏醒过来，朝四周看了看，

had a bite to eat, took a bath, then walked out of the water and stood for a long while preening¹ her feathers.

吃了点东西，洗了个澡，然后从水中走出，站在那里花了好长时间梳理她的羽毛。

She felt distinctly better.

她感觉有了好转。

And when her feathers were all smoothed out,

当她的羽毛全被梳理得光滑如初时，

she looked extremely beautiful--stately, serene², graceful³, and very feminine.

她的样子美极了--庄重，娴静，高雅，分外娇柔。

Louis trembled when he saw how truly lovely she was.

当路易斯看到她真的那么可爱时，全身都颤抖起来了。

He was again tempted⁴ to swim over and say ko-hoh and see if she remembered him.

他又想游过去对她说 ‘吭—嗬’，看她是否还记得他了。

But he had a better idea. "There is no hurry," he thought. "She's not going to leave Philadelphia tonight.

可他有了一个更好的主意。“别急，”他想。“反正她今晚也不会离开费城的。

I will go to my job, and when I get back from work, I shall abide⁵ near her all through the night.

我要去做我的工作了，等我回来时，我将整夜地在她身边守候。

Just at daylight, I'll awaken⁶ her with a song of love and desire.

天一亮，我就用我的情歌把她唤醒。

She will be drowsy⁷; the sound of my trumpet⁸ will enter her sleepy brain and overcome her with emotion.

她那时刚好半醒；我的小号声将深入她睡意朦胧的大脑，用激情把她征服。

My trumpet will be the first sound she hears. I will be irresistible⁹.

我的小号声将是她醒来后听到的第一种声音。我将是难以抗拒的。

I will be the first thing she sees when she opens her eyes, and she will love me from that moment on."

我将是她睁开眼后见到的第一只鸟儿，她从那一刻起就会爱上我的。”

Louis was well satisfied with his plan and began to make preparations.

路易斯对他的计划很满意，便开始着手准备了。

He swam ashore¹⁰, removed his things, hid them under a bush, then returned to the water, where he fed and bathed.

他游向岸边，摘下他的东西，藏到一丛灌木的后面，然后又回到水中，吃了点饭，洗了个澡。

Then he fixed¹¹ his feathers carefully.

接着他又仔细地梳理了自己的羽毛。

He wanted to look his best next morning, when the meeting was to take place.

他想要在明早见到她时让自己的样子显得最帅。

He drifted around for a while,

他在水中转了一会儿，

thinking of all the songs he liked and trying to decide which one to play to wake Serena in the morning.

想着他喜欢的所有歌曲，想挑出一首可以在早晨吹给塞蕾娜听的歌。

He finally decided¹² to play "Beautiful Dreamer, Wake Unto Me."

最后他决定吹奏那首“梦中的美人，为我醒来吧”。

He had always loved that song. It was sad and sweet.

他一直爱着这首歌。它的旋律忧伤而又甜美。

"She will be a beautiful dreamer," thought Louis, "and she will wake unto me.

“她就是一个梦中的美人，”路易斯想，“她将会为我醒来。

The song fits the situation perfectly¹³."

这首歌真是太合适不过了。”

He was determined¹⁴ to play the song better than he had ever played it before.

他决定把这首歌吹得比以往任何时候都好。

It was one of his best numbers. He really knew how to play it awfully¹⁵ well.

这是他吹得最好的曲子之一。他的确知道怎么才能把它吹得非常好。

Once, when he played it at one of his Sunday concerts,

有一次，当他在他的一个星期日音乐会上吹奏它时，

a music critic from a Philadelphia newspaper heard him, and next morning the paper said:

费城一家报纸的某个乐评家听到了他的吹奏，便在第二天早晨的报纸上说：

"Some of his notes are like jewels held up to the light.

“他吹出的某些旋律就像被举到灯光下的宝石。

The emotion he transmits is clean and pure and sustained."

他所传达出来的激情是无暇纯粹的，绵绵不绝的。”

Louis had memorized that statement. He was proud of it.

路易斯记住了这句评论。他为此而骄傲。

Now he was anxious for morning to come, but he still had his job at the nightclub to go to.

现在他在焦急地等着早晨的来临，可他还有夜总会的工作要做呢。

He knew the night would be long and that he wouldn't be able to sleep.

他知道这一夜会很长，他也不能入睡。

1 preening   

v.（鸟）用嘴整理（羽毛）( preen的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Will you stop preening yourself in front of the mirror? 你别对着镜子打扮个没完行不行？
• She was fading, while he was still preening himself in his elegance and youth. 她已显老，而他却仍然打扮成翩翩佳公子。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

3 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。

4 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

5 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

6 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

7 drowsy   

adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的

参考例句：

• Exhaust fumes made him drowsy and brought on a headache.废气把他熏得昏昏沉沉，还引起了头疼。
• I feel drowsy after lunch every day.每天午饭后我就想睡觉。

8 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。

9 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

10 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

12 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。

13 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

14 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

15 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。