美国语文第五册 第150期:鹌鹑(3)

 　　I never yet heard of the parental¹ tenderness of a trout², eating up his little baby, 我未曾听说有似水柔情的鳟鱼父母，它们能吃光自己的宝贝；

　　nor of the filial gratitude³ of a spider, nipping the life out of his gray-headed father, and usurping⁴ his web. 亦未曾听说有孝顺感恩的蜘蛛，那些能咬死垂老的父母，从而占据它们的窝。

　　But if you would see the purest, the sincerest, the most affecting piety⁵ of a parent's love,  但是，如果你觉察到父母对子女纯粹真挚及感人至深的眷爱，

　　startle a young family of quails⁶, and watch the conduct of the mother.  势必惊讶于鹌鹑的幼小家庭，不妨看看鹌鹑母亲的所作所为吧。

　　She will not leave you. No, not she.  她不会丢下子女逃之夭夭，决不！

　　But she will fall at your feet, uttering a noise which none but a distressed⁷ mother can make,  她会假装落到人们脚边，发出母亲的唯一痛苦声音。

　　and she will run, and flutter, and seem to try to be caught, and cheat your outstretched hand,  她同时奔跑，一边拍动双翼，似乎即将被人捉住。她会欺骗你张开手掌，

　　and affect to be wing-broken and wounded, and yet have just strength to tumble along,  假装它的翅膀断了或受伤，甚至费劲地一路翻滚，

　　until she has drawn⁸ you, fatigued⁹, a safe distance from her threatened children and the young hopes of her heart;  直到把你折磨得筋疲力尽，将你从她受到生命威胁的孩子处成功引开，这才是她的希望所在。

　　and then will she mount, whirring with glad strength, and away through the maze¹⁰ of trees you have not seen before,  然后，她最终就呼啦啦快乐地飞走，飞进那些你不曾知晓的树林深处，飞去她潜藏孩子的地方，

　　like a close-shot bullet, fly to her skulking¹¹ infants,  像近距离射出的子弹，倏尔不知所终。

　　Listen now. Do you hear those three half-plaintive notes, quickly and clearly poured out?  听！你听见那三声近乎悲痛哀伤、急速清晰的倾诉心声吗？

　　She is calling the boys and girls together.  她在呼唤她的儿女聚拢一起。

1 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

2 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

3 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

4 usurping   

篡夺，霸占( usurp的现在分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权

参考例句：

• Earlier the Ukrainian President dissolved Parliament because it claimed it was usurping power. 之前乌克兰总统解散国会因为国会声称要夺权。

5 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

6 quails   

鹌鹑( quail的名词复数 )； 鹌鹑肉

参考例句：

• Speckled quails rustled in the underbrush. 鹌鹑在矮树丛里沙沙作响。
• I went out to pop some quails. 我出去打几只鹌鹑。

7 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 fatigued   

adj. 疲乏的

参考例句：

• The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
• The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑，疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。

10 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

11 skulking   

v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There was someone skulking behind the bushes. 有人藏在灌木后面。
• There were half a dozen foxes skulking in the undergrowth. 在林下灌丛中潜伏着五六只狐狸。 来自辞典例句