吹小號的天鵝 第1期 薩姆(1)

第一章 薩姆

Walking back to camp through the swamp, Samwondered whether to tell his father what he hadseen.

薩姆一面從沼澤地往營地走，一面猶豫著，不知是否該把他剛才看見的一切告訴爸爸。

"I know one thing," he said to himself.

“我只清楚一點，”他自語道。

"I'm going back to that little pond again tomorrow.And I'd like to go alone.

“那就是明天我打算再到那個小池塘去。我還是愿意一個人去。

If I tell my father what I saw today, he will want to go with me.

如果我把今天看到的告訴爸爸，他就會想和我一起去的。

I'm not sure that's a very good idea."

我覺得那未必是個好主意。”

Sam was eleven. His last name was Beaver.

薩姆十一歲了。他姓比弗。

He was strong for his age and had black hair and dark eyes like an Indian.

就他這個年齡來說，他長得很壯實。他的頭發(fā)和眼睛都是黑色的，就像一個印第安人。

Sam walked like an Indian, too, putting one foot straight in front of the other and making verylittle noise.

薩姆走路的姿態(tài)也像一個印第安人，步子呈一條直線，發(fā)出的響動很小。

The swamp through which he was traveling was a wild place

他剛才去的那個沼澤地是個荒涼的地方

there was no trail, and it was boggy underfoot, which made walking difficult.

那里沒有人跡，沼澤很多，非常難走。

Every four or five minutes Sam took his compass out of his pocket and checked his course tomake sure he was headed in a westerly direction.

每過四、五分鐘薩姆就從兜里掏出他的羅盤檢查一下方位，看自己是不是在一直往西走。

Canada is a big place. Much of it is wilderness.

加拿大是一個很大的地方。它的多數(shù)地方都罕有人跡。

To get lost in the woods and swamps of western Canada would be a serious matter.

如果在加拿大的西部森林和沼澤迷路可是件麻煩的事情。

As he trudged on, the boy's mind was full of the wonder of what he had seen.

在往營地跋涉的路上，這個男孩子的腦子里都是剛才見到的那些奇妙的東西。

Not many people in the world have seen the nest of a Trumpeter Swan.

在這世上并沒有多少人親眼見過一個號手天鵝的窩的。

Sam had found one on the lonely pond on this day in spring.

可薩姆卻在這個春日從那個僻靜的池塘邊上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個。

He had seen the two great white birds with their long white necks and black bills.

他看見了兩只有著雪白的長脖子和黑喙的白色大鳥。

Nothing he had ever seen before in all his life had made him feel quite the way he felt, on thatwild little pond, in the presence of those two enormous swans.

他這輩子所見過的任何東西給他的感覺都和那兩只龐大的天鵝從那個小野塘出現(xiàn)時給他的感覺不同。他們比他見過的任何鳥兒都大得多。

They were so much bigger than any bird he had ever seen before. The nest was big, too--amound of sticks and grasses.

那個窩也很大——是用一堆樹枝和草棍鋪成的。

The female was sitting on eggs; the male glided slowly back and forth, guarding her.

雌天鵝正坐在里面孵蛋;公鵝則在附近慢慢來回游動著，守護著她。

When Sam reached camp, tired and hungry, he found his father frying a couple of fish for lunch.

當薩姆走回營地時，已經又累又餓了，他發(fā)現(xiàn)父親正在煎兩條魚當午飯呢。

"Where have you been?" asked Mr. Beaver.

“你去哪兒了?”比弗先生問。

"Exploring," replied Sam. "I walked over to a pond about a mile and a half from here. It's theone we see from the air as we're coming in.

“探險，”薩姆回答，“我到離這里一里半遠的池塘那兒去了。它就是我們來時在空中見到的那個。”

It isn't much of a place--nowhere near as big as this lake we're on."

那地方很小--遠不如我們身邊的這個湖大。

"Did you see anything over there?" asked his father.

“你在那邊看到什么了嗎?”他的父親問。

"Well," said Sam, "it's a swampy pond with a lot of reeds and cattails.

“唔，”薩姆說，“它不過是個生著許多蘆葦和香蒲的沼澤地而已。

I don't think it would be any good for fishing. And it's hard to get to--you have to cross aswamp."

我不認為去那里釣魚會有什么意思。而且路也很難走--因為你不得不穿越一個沼澤地。”

"See anything?" repeated Mr. Beaver.

“你看到什么了嗎?”比弗先生又問了一遍。

"I saw a muskrat," said Sam, "and a few Red-winged Blackbirds."

“我看見了一只麝鼠，”薩姆說，“還有幾只紅翼歌鶇。”

Mr. Beaver looked up from the wood stove, where the fish were sizzling in a pan.

比弗先生抬起頭，不再去看正在柴爐上的煎鍋里咝咝做響的魚。

"Sam," he said, "I know you like to go exploring. But don't forget--these woods and marshesare not like the country around home in Montana.

“薩姆，”他說，“我知道你喜歡探險。不過可別忘了--這些森林和沼澤與我們蒙大拿家鄉(xiāng)附近的那些不同。

If you ever go over to that pond again, be careful you don't get lost.

如果你再去那個池塘，千萬要小心，不要迷路。

I don't like you crossing swamps. They're treacherous. You could step into a soggy place andget bogged down, and there wouldn't be anybody to pull you out."

我不愿意你去穿越沼澤。它們是很可怕的。你很可能會一步走錯陷到沼澤里的，那里可不會有人來把你拉出來。”

"I'll be careful," said Sam.

“我會小心的。”薩姆說。