吹小号的天鹅 第8期:一个拜访者(2)

 　　"I do not wish to be observed," complained the cob.

　　“我不希望被谁观察，”雄天鹅抱怨，

　　"I did not travel all this immense¹ distance into the heart of Canada to be observed.

　　“我可不是为了被谁观察才从大老远的地方赶到加拿大腹地的。

　　Furthermore², I don't want you to be observed--except by me.

　　此外，我也不想你被谁观察--除了我以外。

　　You're laying an egg--that is, I hope you are--and you are entitled³ to privacy⁴.

　　你正在下蛋 --我是说，我希望你如此--你应该有天鹅隐私权。

　　It has been my experience that all boys throw stones and sticks--it is their nature.

　　据我的经验，所有的男孩子都喜欢丢石头和树枝--那是他们的天性。

　　I'm going over to strike that boy with my powerful wing, and he'll think he has been hit with a billy club. I'll knock him cold!"

　　我要飞过去用我有威力的翅膀揍他，他没准会以为是被一根警棍打了呢。我要把他打懵！”

　　吹小号的天鹅

　　"Now, just wait a minute!" said the swan.

　　“不，还是等等再说！”雌天鹅说，

　　"There's no use starting a fight. This boy is not bothering me at the moment. He's not bothering you either."

　　“打架是没用的。这个男孩现在并没惹我。他也没惹你呀。”

　　"But how did he get here?" said the cob, who was no longer talking in a whisper but was beginning to shout.

　　“可他是怎么到这里来的呢？”雄天鹅不再耳语了，而是大吼起来，

　　"How did he get here? Boys can't fly, and there are no roads in this part of Canada. We're fifty miles from the nearest highway."

　　“他是怎么来这儿的？男孩子不能飞，加拿大的这一带也没有公路。我们离最近的高速公路还有五十英里呢。”

　　"Maybe he's lost," said the swan.

　　“可能他迷路了吧，”雌天鹅说，

　　"Maybe he's starving to death.

　　“可能他快饿死了。

　　Maybe he wants to rob the nest and eat the eggs, but I doubt it. He doesn't look hungry.

　　也可能他是打算洗劫我们的窝，吃掉那些蛋，不过我怀疑事实并非如此。他看起来不像很饿的样子。

　　Anyway, I've started this nest, and I have three beautiful eggs, and the boy's behaving himself at the moment,

　　总之，我已经造了一个窝，生了三个美丽的蛋，这个男孩此刻也很老实，

　　and I intend to go right ahead and try for a fourth egg."

　　我打算接着生第四个蛋了。”

　　"Good luck, my love!" said the cob. "I shall be here at your side to defend you if anything happens. Lay the egg!"

　　“祝你好运，我亲爱的！”雄天鹅说，“我就在你身边守护你，如果有什么意外的话。生蛋吧！”

　　For the next hour, the cob paddled slowly round and around the tiny island, keeping watch.

　　接下来的一小时里，雄天鹅慢慢地围着小岛游了一圈又一圈，不停地观察着。

　　His wife remained quietly on the nest.

　　他的妻子还是安静地呆在窝里。

　　Sam sat on his log⁵, hardly moving a muscle.

　　萨姆坐在他的木头上，几乎纹丝不动。

　　He was spellbound at the sight of the swans.

　　他完全被眼前的这两只天鹅迷住了。

　　They were the biggest water birds he had ever seen.

　　他们是他见过的最大的水鸟。

　　He had heard their trumpeting⁶ and had searched the woods and swamps⁷ until he had found the pond and located the nest.

　　他循着他们的吹号声在森林和沼泽中寻找了半天，才发现了这个池塘并找到了天鹅的窝。

　　Sam knew enough about birds to know that these were Trumpeters.

　　萨姆的鸟类知识非常丰富，因此他一看就知道这种鸟儿叫号手天鹅。

　　Sam always felt happy when he was in a wild place among wild creatures.

　　每当和自然界的野生动物们呆在一起，萨姆总会有种幸福的感觉。

　　Sitting on his log, watching the swans, he had the same good feeling some people get when they are sitting in church.

　　坐在他的木头上观察着这两只天鹅的时候，他和某些坐在教堂里的人一样，能获得同样美妙的感受。

1 immense   

adj.巨大的；极好的

参考例句：

• They made an immense improvement in English.在英语方面他们取得了巨大的进步。
• The expense of living is immense.生活费用很庞大。

2 furthermore   

adv.而且，此外

参考例句：

• I don't like her because she is too tall and furthermore she smokes too much.我不喜欢她，因为她太高，另外她抽烟太厉害。
• I don't want to go there,furthermore,I have no time to do so.我不想去那里，而且我也没时间去。

3 entitled   

有资格的

参考例句：

• You will be entitled to your pension when you reach 65. 你到65岁就有资格享受养老金。
• He entitled us to enter his office at any time. 他授权给我们可以随时进入他的办公室。

4 privacy   

n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权

参考例句：

• In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
• She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。

5 log   

n.记录，圆木，日志；v.伐木，切，航行

参考例句：

• They log for a living.他们以伐木为生。
• And then what do you do with that log?然后你要拿那些记录做什么呢？

6 trumpeting   

大声说出或宣告（trumpet的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She is always trumpeting her son. 她总是吹嘘她儿子。
• The wind is trumpeting, a bugle calling to charge! 风在掌号。冲锋号！ 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

7 swamps   

沼泽（地）( swamp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• On the floor of the basins lie deserts, lakes and swamps. 这几个盆地的底部有沙漠、湖泊和沼泽。
• The lowest parts of the flood plain may form "back-swamps". 河漫滩最低的部分可以形成河漫滩沼泽。