美国语文第四册 第143期:鸟类趣闻(3)

 　　It was very droll¹ to see the peculiar² look with which he regarded his feathered friend; 泽克对他的长满羽毛的朋友那副奇怪的表情显得很滑稽；

　　not knowing exactly what to make of her civilities, and doubting how they should be received. 不知道怎么回报她的热情，泽克显得手足无措。

　　When her family were educated, and able to do without her care, she was a frequent visitor at Jock's kennel³,  当她的孩子们长大了，用不着她时刻照看的时候，雅丽克常常到犬舍做客，

　　and would, if permitted, roost there at night, instead of returning with the rest of the poultry⁴ to the henhouse. 有时晚上就在犬舍栖息，而不是和别的小鸡一样回鸡舍。

　　Yarico certainly was a most grateful and interesting bird. 雅丽克确实是只最知恩图报最有趣的小鸡。

　　One could almost believe a parrot had intellect, when he keeps up a conversation so spiritedly; 如果看到鹦鹉活泼地与人交谈，甚至相信他是有智力的动物。

　　and it is certainly singular to observe how accurately⁵ a well-trained bird will apply his knowledge. 观察一只受到良好训练的鹦鹉准确地运用这种知识确实很新奇。

　　A friend of mine knew one that had been taught many sentences; 我的一个朋友见过一只会说很多话的鹦鹉。

　　thus, "Sally, Poll wants her breakfast!" "Sally, Poll wants her tea!" 例如，“萨拉，波尔要吃早餐！”“萨拉，波尔要喝茶！”

　　but she never mistook the one for the other; breakfast was invariably demanded in the morning, and tea in the afternoon; 还从来没用错过；早上要早餐，下午要茶；

　　and she always hailed her master, but no one else, by "How do you do, Mr. A?" 而且见到主人时总是说：“你好啊，A先生？”却从不对别人这样说。

　　She was a most amusing bird, and could whistle dogs, which she had great pleasure in doing. 这真是一只有趣的鸟，她甚至能吹口号招呼狗，从中得到很多乐趣。

　　She would drop bread out of her cage as she hung at the street door,  当人们把鸟笼挂在门口的时候，她会扔出一块面包到鸟笼外面，

　　and whistle a number about her, and then, just as they were going to possess themselves of her bounty⁶, 然后吹一段口哨，就在狗儿去吃面包的时候，

　　utter a shrill⁷ scream of "Get out, dogs!" with such vehemenceand authority as dispersed⁸ the assembled company without a morsel⁹, to her infinite delight. 她会发出尖叫“狗儿，滚开！”声音里充满了力量和权威，狗儿一点也没吃到就跑了，她可快乐极了。

1 droll   

adj.古怪的，好笑的

参考例句：

• The band have a droll sense of humour.这个乐队有一种滑稽古怪的幽默感。
• He looked at her with a droll sort of awakening.他用一种古怪的如梦方醒的神情看着她.

2 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

3 kennel   

n.狗舍，狗窝

参考例句：

• Sporting dogs should be kept out of doors in a kennel.猎狗应该养在户外的狗窝中。
• Rescued dogs are housed in a standard kennel block.获救的狗被装在一个标准的犬舍里。

4 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

5 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

6 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

7 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

8 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

9 morsel   

n.一口，一点点

参考例句：

• He refused to touch a morsel of the food they had brought.他们拿来的东西他一口也不吃。
• The patient has not had a morsel of food since the morning.从早上起病人一直没有进食。