吹小號的天鵝 第9期 一個拜訪者(3)

　　After he had watched for an hour, Sam got up.

　　觀察了一小時后，薩姆才站了起來。

　　He walked slowly and quietly away, putting one foot straight ahead of the other, Indian-fashion, hardly making a sound.

　　他又慢又輕地走開了，步子呈一條直線，就像印第安人那樣，幾乎沒弄出一絲聲響。

　　The swans watched him go.

　　天鵝們看著他離開。

　　When the female left the nest, she turned and looked back.

　　當雌天鵝離開窩后，便轉過身子往后看。

　　There, lying safely in the soft feathers at the bottom of the nest, was the fourth egg.

　　在那兒，安全地躺在窩底柔軟的羽毛中間的，正是那第四個蛋。

　　The cob waddled out onto the island and looked in the nest.

　　雄天鵝搖搖擺擺地走上小島，往窩里察看著。

　　"A masterpiece!" he said.

　　“一件杰作!”他說，

　　"An egg of supreme beauty and perfect proportions.

　　“一個外形絕美比例奇佳的蛋。

　　I would say that that egg is almost five inches in length."

　　我要說，那個蛋差不多有五英寸長。”

　　His wife was pleased.

　　他的妻子很高興。

　　When the swan had laid five eggs, she felt satisfied.

　　下完了第五個蛋后，雌天鵝心里非常滿意。

　　She gazed at them proudly.

　　她驕傲地望了望它們，

　　Then she settled herself on the nest to keep her eggs warm.

　　然后又坐回到窩里用體溫使她的蛋保持溫暖。

　　Carefully, she reached down with her bill and poked each egg until it was in just the right spot to receive the heat from her body.

　　她小心翼翼地用她的喙把每個蛋擺到合適的位置，以便它們能更好地吸取到她身體里的熱量。

　　The cob cruised around close by, to keep her company and protect her from enemies.

　　雄天鵝在附近巡視著，陪伴并保護著她，使她不受敵人的侵犯。

　　He knew that a fox prowled somewhere in the woods; he had heard him barking on nights when the hunting was good.

　　他知道森林中的某處有只覓食的狐貍;他在夜里聽到過這只狐貍在捕獵成功時發(fā)出的叫聲。

　　Days passed, and still the swan sat quietly on the five eggs.

　　幾個白天過去了，雌天鵝始終靜靜地蹲坐在那五個蛋上。

　　Nights passed. She sat and sat, giving her warmth to the eggs.

　　幾個夜晚過去了。她在窩里坐了又坐，把她的溫暖全都給了那些蛋。

　　No one disturbed her.

　　沒有誰來打擾她。

　　The boy was gone--perhaps he would never come back.

　　那個男孩子走了--可能他再也不會回來了。

　　Inside of each egg, something was happening that she couldn't see: a little swan was taking shape.

　　在每個蛋里，有些她看不見的變化發(fā)生了：一只小天鵝正在漸漸成形。

　　As the weeks went by, the days grew longer, the nights grew shorter.

　　幾周之后，白天更長了，夜晚變短了。

　　When a rainy day came, the swan just sat still and let it rain.

　　即使在下雨天，雌天鵝也冒雨坐在那里一動不動。

　　"My dear," said her husband, the cob, one afternoon,

　　“親愛的，”她的雄天鵝丈夫一天下午說，

　　"do you never find your duties onerous or irksome?

　　“你從不覺得你的工作繁重或者令你心煩嗎?

　　Do you never tire of sitting in one place and in one position, covering the eggs, with no diversions, no pleasures, no escapades, or capers?

　　老在同一個地方用同一種姿勢坐著，光是蓋著那些蛋，既沒有消遣，沒有快樂，也沒有冒險，沒有游戲，你就從不覺得厭倦?

　　Do you never suffer from boredom?"

　　這種乏味的事情從不令你難受?”

　　"No," replied his wife. "Not really."

　　“不，”她的妻子回答，“真的不。”

　　"Isn't it uncomfortable to sit on eggs?"

　　“坐在蛋上很不舒服吧?”

　　"Yes, it is," replied the wife.

　　“是的，”妻子回答，

　　"But I can put up with a certain amount of discomfort for the sake of bringing young swans into the world."

　　“不過為了把小天鵝們帶到這個世界上，我可以忍受這些不舒服。”

　　"Do you know how many more days you must sit?" he asked.

　　“你知道你還要再坐多少天嗎?”他問。

　　"Haven't any idea," she said.

　　“還不太清楚，”她說，

　　"But I notice that the ducks at the other end of the pond have hatched their young ones;

　　“可我注意到池塘另一頭的野鴨們已經孵出了小鴨子;

　　I notice that the Red-winged Blackbirds have hatched theirs,

　　我還發(fā)現(xiàn)紅翼歌鶇也孵出了他們的小寶貝，

　　and the other evening I saw a Striped Skunk hunting along the shore, and she had four little skunks with her.

　　不久前的一個晚上我看到了一條在岸邊捕食的縞臭鼬，她的身旁還跟著四只小臭鼬呢。

　　So I think I must be getting near the end of my time.

　　所以我想我的工作也快接近尾聲了。

　　With any luck, we will soon be able to see our children--our beautiful little cygnets."

　　運氣好的話，不久我們就能看見我們的孩子了--我們漂亮的小天鵝們。”

　　"Don't you ever feel the pangs of hunger or suffer the tortures of thirst?" asked the cob.

　　“你從不覺得餓得難受或渴得要命嗎?”雄天鵝問。

　　"Yes, I do," said his mate.

　　“哦，我怎么不覺得，”他的伴侶說，

　　"As a matter of fact, I could use a drink right now."

　　“實際上，我現(xiàn)在就想喝點兒水。”