美国语文第五册 第294期:野鸽过客(3)

 　　During their evolutions, on such occasions, the dense¹ mass which they form exhibits a beautiful appearance, 在变幻多端的队形中，麇集鸽群的靓丽色彩令人击节赞叹。

　　as it changes its direction, now displaying a glistening² sheet of azure³, 倏尔，羽翼头部一片亮晶晶的蔚蓝扑面而来；

　　when the backs of the birds come simultaneously⁴ into view, and anon suddenly presenting a mass of rich, deep purple. 旋即，羽翼背部一团浓郁艳丽的深紫夺路而去。

　　They then pass lower, over the woods, and for a moment are lost among the foliage⁵, but again emerge, and are seen gliding⁶ aloft. 低低掠过灌丛的鸽群，不时徜徉流连于树杈丛林间，一转眼，又重新聚集飞往高处。

　　They now alight; but the next moment, as if suddenly alarmed, they take to wing, 此刻，鸽群落到地面，哪怕丁点响动，便会急速拍打双翼腾空而起。

　　producing by the flappings of their wings a noise like the roar of distant thunder, 偌大鸽群拍打翼翅，听起来像远方滚过的一阵阵轰鸣雷声。鸽群不时穿越树林，

　　and sweep through the forests to see if danger is near. Hunger, however, soon brings them to the ground. 它们仔细察觉周围是否存在危险，不过，饥肠骨碌的它们很快再度落地觅食。

　　When alighted, they are seen industriously⁷ throwing up the withered⁸ leaves in quest of the fallen mast. 一旦降临地面，野鸽们便开始翻找地上的枯枝残叶，尽可能寻觅地上的橡树果实，

　　The rear ranks are continually rising, passing over the main body, 而鸟群后翼队伍继续保持低飞，直到飞过整个鸽群，

　　and alighting in front, in such rapid succession, that the whole flock seems still on wing. 飞到前方落地，这种连续快捷的队列，使整个鸽群处于随时起飞状态。

　　The quantity of ground thus swept is astonishing; 当然，大面积地面果实将被劫掠一空，

　　and so completely has it been cleared that the gleaner⁹ who might follow in their rear would find his labor¹⁰ completely lost. 犹如刚刚结束彻底清扫，倘若有拾穗人跟在鸽群后捡拾，终将一无所获。

　　On such occasions, when the woods are filled with these pigeons, 这种情况下，因为森林原野里的野鸽持续不断涌来。

　　they are killed in immense numbers, although no apparent diminution¹¹ ensues. 野鸽遭遇捕杀的数量相当惊人，尽管尚未有明显的大批锐减，

1 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

2 glistening   

adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》

3 azure   

adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的

参考例句：

• His eyes are azure.他的眼睛是天蓝色的。
• The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.清朗蔚蓝的天空中阳光明媚。

4 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

5 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

6 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

7 industriously   

参考例句：

• She paces the whole class in studying English industriously. 她在刻苦学习英语上给全班同学树立了榜样。
• He industriously engages in unostentatious hard work. 他勤勤恳恳，埋头苦干。

8 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

9 gleaner   

n.拾穗的人；割捆机

参考例句：

• Your feet are rosy-red with the glow of my heart's desire, Gleaner of my sunset songs! 你的双脚被我心切望的热光染得绯红，我的落日之歌的搜集者！ 来自互联网

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 diminution   

n.减少；变小

参考例句：

• They hope for a small diminution in taxes.他们希望捐税能稍有减少。
• He experienced no diminution of his physical strength.他并未感觉体力衰落。