第三章 一个拜访者

　　One day, almost a week later, the swan slipped quietly into her nest and laid an egg.

　　大约一周后，有一天，雌天鹅轻轻地蹲坐到她的窝里，下了一个蛋。

　　Each day she tried to deposit one egg in the nest. Sometimes she succeeded, sometimes she didn't.

　　每天她都想在窝里下一个蛋。有时她成功了，有时却不行。

　　There were now three eggs, and she was ready to lay a fourth.

　　窝里现在有三个蛋了，她正在准备下第四个。

　　As she sat there, with her husband, the cob, floating gracefully nearby, she had a strange feeling that she was being watched. It made her uneasy.

　　当她正在窝里坐着，她的丈夫样子高雅地浮在水面，陪在她身边的时候，她突然有种很奇怪的感觉，觉得有人在偷看她。这令她很不安。

　　吹小号的天鹅

　　Birds don't like to be stared at. They particularly dislike being stared at when they are on a nest.

　　鸟儿可不喜欢被谁盯着，当他们在窝里的时候，特别不喜欢被人看。

　　So the swan twisted and turned and peered everywhere.

　　于是她扭转身子四处搜寻起来。

　　She gazed intently at the point of land that jutted out into the pond near the nest.

　　她盯向那带与池塘接壤的靠近她的窝的沙地。

　　With her sharp eyes, she searched the nearby shore for signs of an intruder.

　　她以敏锐的目光在岸边搜索着入侵者的迹象。

　　What she finally saw gave her the surprise of her life.

　　她最终所看到的是让她惊讶万分的事，她以前可从未这么惊奇过。

　　There, seated on a log on the point of land, was a small boy.

　　在那儿，在沙地尽头的一根木头上坐着的居然是一个小男孩。

　　He was being very quiet, and he had no gun.

　　他静静地坐在那里，手上没有枪。

　　"Do you see what I see?" the swan whispered to her husband.

　　“你看到我看见的了吗？”雌天鹅对丈夫耳语。

　　"No. What?"

　　“没有。什么呀？”

　　"Over there. On that log. It's a boy! Now what are we going to do?"

　　“在那儿。在那根木头上。那是一个男孩子！现在我们该怎么办？”

　　"How did a boy get here?" whispered the cob.

　　“这个男孩是怎么到这里来的呢？”雄天鹅低语，

　　"We are deep in the wilds of Canada. There are no human beings for miles around."

　　“我们可是在加拿大的荒野深处呀。这里方圆数英里都该没有人类才对。”

　　"That's what I thought too," she replied.

　　“我也是这么想的，”她回答，

　　"But if that isn't a boy over there on that log, my name isn't Cygnus Buccinator."

　　“可是如果说坐在那根木头上的不是一个男孩子，我的名字就不叫颊肌天鹅。”

　　The cob was furious.

　　雄天鹅发怒了。

　　"I didn't fly all the way north into Canada to get involved with a boy," he said.

　　“我往北一直飞进加拿大，可不是为了和一个男孩子搅到一起的，”他说，

　　"We came here to this idyllic spot, this remote little hideaway, so we could enjoy some well-deserved privacy."

　　“我们来到这个诗一般的地方，这个遥远的小隐居所，是为了享受到一些应得的独居之乐的。”

　　"Well," said his wife, "I'm sorry to see the boy, too, but I must say he's behaving himself.

　　“不错，”他的妻子说，“看到这个男孩时我也很失望，不过我得说他还算守规矩。

　　He sees us, but he's not throwing stones.

　　他看到了我们，却没朝我们扔石块。

　　He's not throwing sticks.

　　他也没扔树枝。

　　He's not messing around. He's simply observing."

　　他并没有弄乱什么。他仅仅是在那里观察而已。”