吹小號的天鵝 第30期:求學(xué)生涯(4)

“他是種什么鳥?”她問。

"What kind of a bird is he?" she asked.

“他是一只年輕的號手天鵝，”薩姆說，

"He's a young Trumpeter Swan," said Sam.

“現(xiàn)在他的顏色是暗灰的，

"Right now he's sort of a dirty gray color,

可明年他就會變成你所見過的最美麗的鳥了——全身雪白，黑喙黑腳。

but in another year he'll be the most beautiful thing you ever saw--pure white, with black bill and black feet.

他是去年春天在加拿大被孵出來的，眼下住在紅石湖，

He was hatched last spring in Canada and now lives in the Red Rock Lakes,

可他不能像其他的天鵝那樣說‘吭—嗬’，這使他陷入了一個非常不利的境地。”

but he can't say ko-hoh the way the other swans can, and this puts him at a terrible disadvantage."

“為什么?”這個老師問。

"Why?" asked the teacher.

“因為就是如此，”薩姆說，

"Because it does," said Sam.

“如果你想說‘吭—嗬’卻發(fā)不出一絲聲音的話，你就不感到擔(dān)憂嗎?”

"If you wanted to say ko-hoh and couldn't make a single solitary sound, wouldn't you feel worried?"

“我可不想說‘吭—嗬’，”這個老師回答，“我甚至都不知道那是什么意思。

"I don't want to say ko-hoh," replied the teacher. "I don't even know what it means.

不管怎么說，這一切都太蠢了，薩姆。

Anyway, this is all just foolishness, Sam.

是什么使你認(rèn)為一只鳥也能學(xué)會讀寫?這絕不可能。“

What makes you think a bird can learn to read and write? It's impossible."

“給他個機(jī)會吧!”薩姆懇求，

"Give him a chance!" pleaded Sam.

“他非常守規(guī)矩，也很聰明，只是有特別嚴(yán)重的發(fā)聲缺陷而已。”

"He is well behaved, and he's bright, and he's got this very serious speech defect."

“他叫什么名字?”

"What's his name?"

“我不知道。”薩姆回答。

"I don't know," replied Sam.

“噢，”哈默博瑟姆太太說，“如果他進(jìn)了我的班，就得有個名字。

"Well," said Mrs. Hammerbotham, "if he's coming into my class, he's got to have a name.

也許我們能問出他的名字來。”

Maybe we can find out what it is."

她看著這只鳥。“你的名字叫喬嗎?”

She looked at the bird. "Is your name Joe?"

路易斯搖搖頭。

Louis shook his head.

“喬納森?” 路易斯搖搖頭。“唐納德?”

"Jonathan?" Louis shook his head. "Donald?"

路易斯又搖搖頭。

Louis shook his head again.

“你叫路易斯?”哈默博瑟姆太太問。

"Is your name Louis?" asked Mrs. Hammerbotham.

路易斯使勁點點頭蹦了一下，還拍了拍翅膀。

Louis nodded his head very hard and jumped up and down and flapped his wings.

“真是見了愷撒大帝的鬼了!”老師驚叫，“看那雙翅膀!好，他的名字叫路易斯——這是可以肯定的了。

"Great Caesar's ghost!" cried the teacher. "Look at those wings! Well, his name is Louis--that's for sure.

好吧，路易斯，你可以到我這個班來。就站到黑板旁邊吧。

All right, Louis, you may join the class. Stand right here by the blackboard.

你可不要把教室弄得亂七八糟!如果你有什么事想出去的話，要舉起一只翅膀請假。”

And don't mess up the room, either! If you need to go outdoors for any reason, raise one wing."

路易斯點點頭。一年級的小學(xué)生們都?xì)g呼起來。

Louis nodded. The first-graders cheered.

他們喜歡這個新生的樣子，急著想看看他能做什么。

They liked the looks of the new pupil and were eager to see what he could do.