他的妻子有些好笑地看着他。

　　"It's not too serious now," she said. "But it will be serious two or three years from now when Louis falls in love, as he will surely do.

　　“现在情况还不算太严重，”她说，“不过等到两三年后，路易斯开始恋爱的时候，他就会有麻烦了。

　　A young male swan will be greatly handicapped in finding a mate if he is unable to say ko-hoh, ko-hoh,

　　一个年轻的雄天鹅将很难找到爱侣的，如果他不能说‘吭—嗬，吭—嗬’，

　　or if he can't utter the usual endearments to the young female of his choice."

　　或者不能对他选中的年轻雌天鹅说出那些通常的表示爱慕的言辞的话。”

　　"Are you sure?" asked the cob.

　　“你能肯定吗？”雄天鹅问。

　　"Certainly I'm sure," she replied. "I can remember perfectly well the springtime, years ago, when you fell in love with me and began chasing after me.

　　“我当然能，”她回答，“你爱上我并开始追求我的那个春天，虽然已经过去这么多年了，我现在还记忆犹新呢。

　　What a sight you were, and what a lot of noise you made! It was in Montana, remember?"

　　那时的你有多么潇洒，发出了多少种甜蜜的声音！那是在蒙大拿，还记得吗？”

　　"Of course I remember," said the cob.

　　“我当然记得。”雄天鹅说。

　　"Well, the thing that attracted me most to you was your voice--your wonderful voice."

　　“很好，当时最吸引我的就是你的声音——你那绝妙的声音。”

　　"It was?" said the cob.

　　“是吗？”雄天鹅说。

　　"Yes. You had the finest, most powerful, most resonant voice of any of the young male swans in the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana."

　　“是的。在蒙大拿的红石湖国家野生动物保护区里，你是所有的年轻雄天鹅中嗓音最棒的，最嘹亮的，最具感染力的。”

　　"I did?" said the cob.

　　“我有那么好的嗓子？”雄天鹅说。

　　"Yes, indeed. Every time I heard you say something in that deep voice of yours, I was ready to go anywhere with you."

　　“有，的确有。每当听到你用你那浑厚的嗓音对我说话，我就愿意和你一起去任何地方。”

　　"You were?" said the cob.

　　“真的吗？”雄天鹅说。

　　He was obviously delighted with his wife's praise. It tickled his vanity and made him feel great.

　　妻子的赞扬显然让他十分开心。这些话撩起了他的虚荣心，使他觉得自己很了不起。

　　He had always fancied himself as having a fine voice, and now to hear it from his wife's own lips was a real thrill.

　　他本来就一直以为自己有一副好嗓子，现在又听到妻子亲口这么说，这可真让他欣喜若狂了。

　　In the pleasure of the moment, he forgot all about Louis and thought entirely of himself.

　　在这狂喜的瞬间，他把有关路易斯的事情全都忘得干干净净，光想着他自己了。

　　And, of course, he did remember that enchanted springtime on the lake in Montana when he had fallen in love.

　　当然了，他还记得他在蒙大拿的湖边坠入爱河的那个令人销魂的春天。

　　He remembered how pretty the swan had been, how young and innocent she seemed, how attractive, how desirable.

　　他仍记得那时的雌天鹅是多么漂亮，多么年轻纯真，多么有魅力，多么楚楚可爱。

　　Now he realized fully that he would never have been able to woo her and win her if he had been unable to say anything.

　　现在他完全明白了，如果他当时不能对她开口示爱的话，他永远都没法向她求婚并且赢得她的芳心。

　　"We'll not worry about Louis for the time being," said the swan. "He's still very young.

　　“我们现在不必为路易斯担忧，”雌天鹅说，“他还很小呢。

　　But we must watch him next winter when we are in Montana for the season.

　　不过等我们明年冬天去蒙大拿过冬时，我们必须注意观察他才行。

　　We must stay together as a family until we see how Louis makes out."

　　我们一家必须要呆在一起，直到我们看到路易斯是怎么度过这个难关的。”

　　She walked over to where her sleeping cygnets were and settled down next to them.

　　她走到她的小天鹅们睡觉的地方，挨着他们蹲坐下来。

　　The night was chill.

　　夜里很冷。

　　Carefully, she lifted one wing and covered the cygnets with it. They stirred in their sleep and drew close to her.

　　她轻轻地举起一只翅膀盖到了小天鹅们的身上。他们在睡梦中扭动着向她靠过来。