吹小号的天鹅 第83期:塞蕾娜(6)

 At last, a faint light showed in the east. Soon, creatures would be stirring, morning would be here.

终于，东方渗出了一抹微光。很快，动物们就会醒来，早晨就会降临了。

"This is my moment," thought Louis. "The time has come for me to waken my true love."

“这是我的时刻，”路易斯想，“唤醒我真正爱人的时刻到来了。”

He placed himself directly in front of Serena. Then he raised the trumpet¹ to his mouth.

他一直走到塞蕾娜的面前。然后他把小号举到嘴边。

He tilted² his head: the horn pointed³ slightly upward toward the sky, where the first light was showing.

他歪着他的头；小号稍稍斜向天空，第一道晨光正在喷洒着的地方。

He began his song. "Beautiful dreamer," he played, "wake unto me ..."

他开始吹奏他的歌了。“梦中的美人，”他吹道，“为我醒来吧…”

The first three or four notes were played softly.

起初的三四个音符吹得还很轻柔。

Then as the song progressed, the sound increased; the light in the sky grew brighter.

随着曲子的继续，乐声渐渐清亮起来；空中的光线也越来越强了。

Each note was like a jewel held to the light.

每个音符都如同举到亮光里的宝石。

The sound of Louis's trumpet had never before been heard at this early dawn-hour in the Zoo,

动物园里在黎明时从未响起过路易斯的小号声，

and the sound seemed to fill the whole world of buildings and animals and trees and shrubs⁴ and paths and dens⁵ and cages.

这声音似乎溢满了这个包括建筑物、动物、树林、灌木丛、小径、洞穴、兽栏在内的整个世界。

Sleepy bears, dozing⁶ in their grotto⁷, pricked⁸ up their ears.

在他们的洞里打着瞌睡的熊们醒来了，竖起了他们的耳朵。

Foxes, hiding in their dens, listened to the sweet and dreamy sound of the horn blown at the coming of light.

在他们的穴里躲着的狐狸们，倾听着这在黎明时分吹起的梦幻般甜美的小号声。

In the Lion House, the great cats heard. In the Monkey House, the old baboon⁹ listened in wonder to the song.

在狮子馆里，那些大猫们听到了这声音。在猴舍里，那只老狒狒也在惊奇地听着这首歌。

The hippo heard, and the seal in his tank. The gray wolf heard, and the yak¹⁰ in his cage.

河马在听着，海豹在他的池子里听着。灰狼在听着，牦牛在他的牛栏里听着。

The badger¹¹, the coon, the Ring-tailed Coati, the skunk¹², the weasel, the otter¹³, the llama,

獾，浣熊，环尾长鼻浣熊，臭鼬，黄鼠狼，水獭，美洲驼，

the dromedary, the White-tailed Deer--all heard, listened, pricked up their ears at the song.

单峰驼，白尾鹿——全都听到了，竖起他们的耳朵细细品味起这首歌来。

The kudu heard, and the rabbit. The beaver¹⁴ heard, and the snake, who has no ears.

捻角羚在听着，野兔也是。海狸在听着，没有耳朵的蛇也在听着。

The wallaby, the possum, the anteater, the armadillo, the peafowl,

沙袋鼠，负鼠，食蚁兽，犰狳，孔雀，

the pigeon, the bowerbird, the cockatoo, the flamingo--all heard, all were aware that something out of the ordinary was happening.

鸽子，园丁鸟，凤头鹦鹉，火烈鸟——也全听到了，他们全都意识到有些非同寻常的事情正在发生。

Philadelphians, waking from sleep in bedrooms where the windows were open, heard the trumpet.

从卧室里的睡梦中醒来的费城人，透过敞开的窗子听着这小号声。

Not one person who heard the song realized that this was the moment of triumph for a young swan who had a speech defect and had conquered it.

听到这支歌的人全都不知道现在是一只虽有发生缺陷但却战胜了它的年轻天鹅的胜利时刻。

Louis was not thinking about his large, unseen audience of animals and people.

路易斯丝毫没有想到他那些数不胜数的动物听众和人类听众。

His mind was not on bears and buffaloes¹⁵ and cassowaries and lizards¹⁶ and hawks¹⁷ and owls¹⁸ and people in bedrooms.

他的心思根本不在熊和野牛，食火鸡和蜥蜴，鹰，猫头鹰和卧室里的人们的身上。

His mind was on Serena, the swan of his choice, the beautiful dreamer.

他的心思只放在塞蕾娜，他选中的天鹅，那个美丽的梦中人的身上。

He played for her and for her alone.

他在为她且只为她单独吹奏。

1 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。

2 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

5 dens   

n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋

参考例句：

• Female bears tend to line their dens with leaves or grass. 母熊往往会在洞穴里垫些树叶或草。 来自辞典例句
• In winter bears usually hibernate in their dens. 冬天熊通常在穴里冬眠。 来自辞典例句

6 dozing   

v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡

参考例句：

• The economy shows no signs of faltering. 经济没有衰退的迹象。
• He never falters in his determination. 他的决心从不动摇。

7 grotto   

n.洞穴

参考例句：

• We reached a beautiful grotto,whose entrance was almost hiden by the vine.我们到达了一个美丽的洞穴，洞的进口几乎被藤蔓遮掩著。
• Water trickles through an underground grotto.水沿着地下岩洞流淌。

8 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

9 baboon   

n.狒狒

参考例句：

• A baboon is a large monkey that lives in Africa.狒狒是一种生活在非洲的大猴子。
• As long as the baboon holds on to what it wants,it's trapped.只要狒狒紧抓住想要的东西不放手，它就会被牢牢困住。

10 yak   

n.牦牛

参考例句：

• The most common materials Tibetan jewelry are Yak bone.藏饰最常见的材料当属牦牛骨。
• We can sell yak skin,meat and wool.我们可以卖牦牛的皮、肉和毛。

11 badger   

v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠

参考例句：

• Now that our debts are squared.Don't badger me with them any more.我们的债务两清了。从此以后不要再纠缠我了。
• If you badger him long enough,I'm sure he'll agree.只要你天天纠缠他，我相信他会同意。

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。

13 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

14 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。

15 buffaloes   

n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓

参考例句：

• Some medieval towns raced donkeys or buffaloes. 有些中世纪的城市用驴子或水牛竞赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Water buffaloes supply Egypt with more meat than any other domestic animal. 水牛提供给埃及的肉比任何其它动物都要多。 来自辞典例句

16 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

17 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

18 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句