吹小号的天鹅 第58期:夏天的尾声

 　　Chapter 13 End of Summer

　　第十三章 夏天的尾声

　　A trumpet¹ has three little valves². They are for the fingers of the player.

　　一把小号有三个小活瓣。它们是让吹奏者用手指来按的。它们看起来就像这样：

　　By pushing them down in the right order, the player can produce all the notes of the musical scale.

　　只要按正确的次序来按它们，吹奏者就能吹出音阶上的所有音符。

　　Louis had often examined these three little valves on his horn,

　　路易斯常常查看他的小号上的这三个小活瓣，

　　but he had never been able to use them.

　　可他却从来没能学会使用它们。

　　He had three front toes on each foot,

　　他的每只脚虽然刚好有三个前趾，

　　but, being a water bird,he had webbed feet.

　　可他是一只水鸟，所以他的脚上有蹼。

　　The webbing prevented him from using his three toes independently.

　　蹼令他无法分别运用他的三个前趾。

　　Luckily, the valves on a trumpet are not needed for bugle³ calls because bugle calls are just combinations⁴ of do, mi, and sol,

　　幸运的是，吹营号时不需要使用小号上的活瓣，因为营号只由“1 ，3 ， 5”这三个音组成，

　　and a trumpeter can play do, mi, and sol without pressing down any of the valves.

　　而一个号手不用按下任何一个活瓣就能吹出“1，3 ，5 ”来。

　　吹小号的天鹅

　　"If I could just work those three valves with my three toes," he said to himself,

　　“如果我能用我的三个脚趾按这三个活瓣的话，”他自语，

　　"I could play all sorts of music, not just bugle calls.

　　“我就能吹奏各种各样的音乐，不仅仅限于营号了。

　　I could play jazz. I could play country-and-western. I could play rock.

　　我能吹爵士乐。我能吹乡村音乐。我能吹奏摇滚乐。

　　I could play the great music of Bach, Beethoven,Mozart, Sibelius, Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Brahms, everybody.

　　我也能吹奏巴赫，贝多芬，莫扎特，西贝利厄斯，格什温，欧文·柏林，布拉姆斯等人的伟大音乐了。

　　I could really be a trumpet player, not just a camp bugler⁵.

　　我能真的成为一个小号吹奏家，而不仅仅是个营号手了。

　　I might even get a job with an orchestra⁶."

　　我甚至有可能在一个管弦乐队里找到工作呢。”

　　The thought filled him with ambition.

　　这个念头使他充满了雄心。

　　Louis loved music,

　　路易斯热爱音乐，

　　and besides, he was already casting about for ways of making money after camp was over.

　　此外，他已经在心中盘算着等夏令营结束后如何找机会赚钱了。

　　Although he enjoyed life at Camp Kookooskoos,

　　虽然他喜欢库库斯库斯夏令营的生活，

　　Louis often thought of his home on Upper Red Rock Lake in Montana.

　　可路易斯还是时常想念他在蒙大拿上红石湖的家。

　　He thought about his parents, his brothers and sisters,and about Serena.

　　他想他的父母，他的哥哥姐姐，还想塞蕾娜。

　　He was terribly in love with Serena,

　　他深深爱着塞蕾娜，

　　and he often wondered what was happening to her.

　　也常常在想她现在怎么样了。

　　At night, he would look up at the stars and think about her.

　　晚上，他会凝望着繁星，思恋着她。

　　In the late evening, when the big bullfrogs were calling trooonk across the still lake,

　　深夜，当大牛蛙呱呱叫着蹦在静寂的湖上的时候，

　　he would think of Serena.

　　他也会想起塞蕾娜。

　　Sometimes he felt sad, lonely, and homesick.

　　有时，他会感到悲伤，孤寂，想家。

　　His music, however, was a comfort to him.

　　不管怎样，他的音乐都能给他带来某种安慰。

　　He loved the sound of his own trumpet.

　　他喜欢听他的小号的声音。

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 valves   

n.阀( valve的名词复数 )；真空管；（管乐器的）活栓；（心脏的）瓣膜

参考例句：

• The heart has valves to let blood flow in and out of it. 心脏有瓣膜控制血液流进流出。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The engineering gang fell earnestly to work on jammed valves. 轮机组都起劲地埋头修理堵塞的阀门。 来自辞典例句

3 bugle   

n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集

参考例句：

• When he heard the bugle call, he caught up his gun and dashed out.他一听到军号声就抓起枪冲了出去。
• As the bugle sounded we ran to the sports ground and fell in.军号一响，我们就跑到运动场集合站队。

4 combinations   

n.合作( combination的名词复数 )；密码组合；联合体；排列

参考例句：

• The music students are learning how to score tunes for various combinations. 学音乐的学生把曲调改编为各种器乐组曲。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some antigens, or combinations of antigens, are much more potent than others. 某些抗原或者联合抗原可比其它抗原作用强得多。 来自辞典例句

5 bugler   

喇叭手； 号兵； 吹鼓手； 司号员

参考例句：

• The general ordered the bugler to sound the retreat. 将军命令号手吹号收兵。
• There was nothing faded about the bugler under the cap. 帽子下面那个号手可一点也不是褪色的。

6 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。