英语沙龙：恩爱鸟

When Snowball Melted

Lovebirds. That’s what all our friends called us when we first married. I guess Don and I deserved it. Money was tight because we were both full-time¹ students, working to pay our way through school. Sometimes we‘d have to save up days just for an ice cream cone². Still, our tiny, drab apartment seemed like paradise. Love does that, you know. 

Anyway, the more we heard the term“lovebirds, ”the more we thought about birds. And one day we started saving up for a couple of lovebirds of our own：the feathery kind. We knew we couldn’t afford to buy both birds and a nice cage, so in his spare moments, Don made the cage himself. 

We set our cage in front of a shaded window. Then we waited until the crumpled³ envelope marked“lovebirds”was full of bills and spare change. At last the day came when we were able to walk down to our local pet store to“adopt ”some additions to our little family. 

We‘d had our hearts set on parakeets. But the minute we heard the canaries singing, we changed our minds. Selecting a lively yellow male and a sweet white female, we named the youngsters Sunshine and Snowball. 

Because of our exhausting schedules, we didn’t get to spend too much time with our new friends, but we loved having them greet us each evening with bursts of song. And they seemed blissfully happy with each other. 

Time passed, and when our young lovebirds finally seemed mature enough to start a family of their own, we went ahead and prepared a nest area and lots of nesting material for them. Sure enough, one day they began to find the idea very appealing. Snowball was a very exacting⁴ supervisor⁵ in designing and decorating their nest just so, while Sunshine, his face a glow with love, bent⁶ over backward to put everything just where she ordered. 

Then one day an egg appeared. How they sang.And a few weeks later when a tiny chick hatched, their happiness seemed to know no bounds. I don’ t know how it happened genetically⁷, but that baby canary was bright orange. So right off we named him Punkinhead. 

The sunny days passed. How proud all of us were when our fledgling tottered⁸ out of the nest onto a real grown-up perch⁹.

Then one day, Punkinhead suddenly plunged¹⁰ headlong from his perch to the bottom of the cage. The tiny orange bird just lay there. Both parents and I rushed to his rescue. 

But he was dead. Just like that. Whether he’d had a heart attack before he fell or broke his neck in the fall I’ll never know. But Punkinhead was gone. 

Though both parents grieved, his little mother was inconsolable. She refused to let either Sunshine or me get near that pitiful little body. Instead of the joyful¹¹ melodies I usually heard from Snowball, now she gave only the most excruciating cries and moans. Her heart, joy and will seemed completely melted by her sorrow. 

Poor Sunshine didn’t know what to make of it. He kept trying to push Snowball away from her sad station, but she refused to budge¹². Instead, over and over she kept trying to revive her adored child. 

Finally Sunshine seemed to work out a plan. He convinced her to fly up and eat some seeds every so often, while he stood duty in her place. Then each time she left, he’d quietly place one piece of nesting straw over Punkinhead’s body. Just one. But in a few days, piece by piece, it was completely covered over. 

At first Snowball seemed disoriented when she looked around, but she didn’t try to uncover the chick. Instead, she flew up to her nor-mal perch and stayed there. Then I was able to quietly reach in and remove the little body, straw shroud¹³ and all. 

After that, Sunshine spent all his time consoling Snowball. Eventually she started making normal sounds, and then one day, her sorrow finally melted and she sang again. 

I don’t know if Snowball ever realized the quiet labor¹⁴ of love and healing Sunshine had done for her. But they remained joyously¹⁵ devoted¹⁶ for as long as they both lived. Love does that, you know. 

Especially to lovebirds.

□by Bonnie Compton Hanson

恩爱鸟

我们刚结婚时朋友们把我们叫做“恩爱鸟”, 我想我和唐不愧于这个名字。由于我们俩都是全日制学生, 靠打工挣学费, 所以手头总是很紧。有时我们为了买个冰淇淋蛋卷就要攒好几天的钱。即使如此, 我们那个狭小、简陋的寓所却像天堂一般, 你要知道, 这是因为有了爱。

不管怎么说, 我们越是听“恩爱鸟”这个词, 就越是琢磨小鸟。我们开始攒钱给自己买一对情侣鹦鹉, 羽毛轻软的那种。唐利用业余时间自己做了个鸟笼, 因为我们知道我们没钱既买鹦鹉又买个像样的鸟笼。

我们把鸟笼放在一个有阴凉的窗下, 然后等待着有一天那个皱巴巴的、上面写着“情侣鹦鹉”的信封里面装满了纸币和多余的硬币。到当地的宠物店为我们的小家“领养”新成员的这一天终于到来了。

本来我们想养一对长尾小鹦鹉。可是一听到那金丝雀的歌声, 我们就改了主意。我们挑了一只明黄色的雄鸟和一只奶白的雌鸟, 给这对小鸟取名为：“阳光”和“雪球”。

由于我们太忙, 没有太多的时间陪这两个新朋友, 但我们爱听它们用美妙的歌声每晚迎接我们归来。它们看上去相处得也非常愉快。

时间一天天过去, 这对小恩爱鸟终于长大成熟可以给自己成个家了。我们提早在鸟笼里给它们准备了一个做窝的位置和许多做窝的材料。果然, 有一天它们开始觉得这个主意不错。在设计和装饰爱巢这方面, 雪球是个苛求的领导, 而阳光则满脸兴奋地按雪球的指挥竭尽全力地把东西放好。

这之后的一天, 一只鸟蛋出现了。阳光和雪球高兴地欢唱着。几个星期后, 一只小鸟破壳而出, 它们欣喜万分。我并不清楚遗传的方式, 但这只小金丝雀却是明亮的橙黄色。我们马上想到了“南瓜头”这个名字。

阳光灿烂的日子一天天过去。看着我们的小家伙羽毛日渐丰满并开始蹒跚地走出它的小巢爬到为成年鸟准备的栖木上, 我们是多么地为它骄傲。

后来有一天, “南瓜头”突然从栖木上一头栽到了鸟笼子的底儿上。这只橙黄色的小鸟躺在那儿一动不动。它的父母和我都立即冲过去抢救。

然而, 它却死了, 就那样地死了。我永远都搞不清楚它是怎么死的：是它在摔下来之前突发了心脏病, 还是在摔下来时折断了脖子？不管怎么样, “南瓜头”是永远地离去了。

鸟爸爸和鸟妈妈都很难过, 然而小鸟妈妈却伤心至极。它拒绝阳光或是我接近那个可怜的小尸体。我听不到雪球像以前那样欢快地鸣唱, 听到的只是它的悲叫与哀鸣。它的心、它的欢快和它的希望好像完全都被它的悲哀击碎了。

可怜的阳光不知所措, 它一次又一次试着想帮雪球从这种悲伤的状态中解脱出来, 但都遭拒绝。而雪球却一次次地想把它的爱子救活。

最后, 阳光似是想出了一个办法, 它成功地说服雪球不时地飞到上面的栖木去吃些东西, 而它替雪球陪在死去的小宝宝身边。于是每当雪球飞走, 它都悄悄地叼一根造窝的草盖在“南瓜头”身上, 每次就一根。这样过了几天, 一根根地, “南瓜头”的尸体就全被盖住了。

开始, 雪球四处张望, 好像失去了方向, 但她并没有试图揭开盖在“南瓜头”身上的草, 而是飞到它惯用的栖木上呆在那儿。这样我就可以悄悄地走近鸟笼挪走“南瓜头”的尸体和裹在它身上的东西。

在那之后, 阳光把它所有的时间都花在安慰雪球上, 雪球终于开始恢复了原来的声音。后来有一天, 雪球的悲怆消融了, 它又唱起歌来。

我无从知道雪球是否明了阳光为使它从悲伤中恢复过来而悄悄付出了爱的劳动。但它们却从此相爱终生。你要知道, 这就是爱的力量。

对于“恩爱鸟”尤为如此。

1 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

2 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。

3 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

4 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

5 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

6 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

7 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

8 tottered   

v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠

参考例句：

• The pile of books tottered then fell. 这堆书晃了几下，然后就倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wounded soldier tottered to his feet. 伤员摇摇晃晃地站了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

10 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

11 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

12 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

13 shroud   

n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏

参考例句：

• His past was enveloped in a shroud of mystery.他的过去被裹上一层神秘色彩。
• How can I do under shroud of a dark sky?在黑暗的天空的笼罩下，我该怎么做呢？

14 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。

15 joyously   

ad.快乐地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门，直扑我的怀抱，欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
• They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊，那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分

16 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。