吹小号的天鹅 第4期 池塘(1)
Chapter 2 The Pond
第二章 池塘
The pond Sam had discovered on that spring morning was seldom visited by any human being.
萨姆在那个春天的早晨发现的池塘很少有人来过。
All winter, snow had covered the ice; the pond lay cold and still under its white blanket.
整个冬天，冰面上都是雪;池塘则冷冷静静地躺在它的白毯子下面。
Most of the time there wasn't a sound to be heard.
多数时候这里听不到一丝声音。
The frog was asleep. The chipmunk was asleep.
青蛙睡着了。金花鼠也睡了。
Occasionally a jay would cry out.
松鸦偶尔会大叫一声。
And sometimes at night the fox would bark--a high, rasping bark.
夜里有时狐狸会叫——叫声尖厉，刺耳。
Winter seemed to last forever.
冬天似乎将永远这么持续下去。
But one day a change came over the woods and the pond.
但到了某一天时森林和池塘却会变样。
Warm air, soft and kind, blew through the trees.
温暖的微风会轻柔而又慈爱地在林间披拂。
The ice, which had softened during the night, began to melt.
坚冰会在夜间变软，开始融化。
Patches of open water appeared.
一片片的水面露了出来。
All the creatures that lived in the pond and in the woods were glad to feel the warmth.
感到天气变暖了，住在森林和池塘里的所有生物都很开心。
They heard and felt the breath of spring, and they stirred with new life and hope.
他们听到并觉出了春的气息，新的活力和希望便都被诱发出来。
There was a good, new smell in the air, a smell of earth waking after its long sleep.
空气中有一种美好的，清新的气息，大地在长睡后醒来时的气息。
The frog, buried in the mud at the bottom of the pond, knew that spring was here.
在池塘底的泥土中冬眠的青蛙，知道春天来了。
The chickadee knew and was delighted (almost everything delights a chickadee).
山雀知道这消息后也变得很快活(差不多每件事都会让山雀感到快活)。
The vixen, dozing in her den, knew she would soon have kits.
在她的洞里打瞌睡的雌狐，知道她很快就要生小宝宝了。
Every creature knew that a better, easier time was at hand--warmer days, pleasanter nights.
每种动物都知道，更美好，更舒适的日子就快来了——就会有温暖的白天，快乐的夜晚了。
Trees were putting out green buds; the buds were swelling.
树木正在萌出绿芽;芽苞正在一点点的膨胀。
Birds began arriving from the south.
鸟儿开始从南方往这里飞。
A pair of ducks flew in.
一对野鸭子飞了过来。
The Red-winged Blackbird arrived and scouted the pond for nesting sites.
红翼歌鸫来了，在池塘中寻找着可以筑巢的地方。
A small sparrow with a white throat arrived and sang, "Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada!"
一只灰莺飞过来唱：“噢，可爱的加拿大，加拿大，加拿大!”
And if you had been sitting by the pond on that first warm day of spring, suddenly, toward the end of the afternoon, you would have heard a stirring sound high above you in the air
如果你在春天的第一个温暖日子一直坐在那个池塘边，呆到下午快过去的时候，你会猛然听到一种从空中传来的激动人心的声音
a sound like the sound of trumpets. "Ko-hoh, ko-hoh!"
一种号角般嘹亮的鸣声。“吭—嗬，吭—嗬!”
And if you had looked up, you would have seen, high overhead, two great white birds.
如果你仰起头，就会看见在头顶高高飞着的两只白色大鸟。
They flew swiftly, their legs stretched out straight behind, their long white necks stretched out ahead, their powerful wings beating steady and strong.
他们飞得很快，腿直着向身后伸展着，长长的白脖子探在前面，强健的翅膀有力而稳健地扇动着。
"Ko-hoh, ko-hoh, ko-hoh!" A thrilling noise in the sky, the trumpeting of swans.
“吭—嗬，吭—嗬，吭—嗬!”空中响满了两只号手天鹅兴奋的叫声。
When the birds spotted the pond, they began circling, looking the place over from the air.
当天鹅们发现了这个池塘，就开始盘旋起来，从空中查看着。
Then they glided down and came to rest in the water, folding their long wings neatly along their sides and turning their heads this way and that to study their new surroundings.
接着，他们落到水上休息，拢起他们的长翅膀，转动着脑袋，打量起他们的新环境来。
They were Trumpeter Swans, pure white birds with black bills.
他们是号手天鹅，一种黑嘴的纯白大鸟。
They had liked the looks of the swampy pond and had decided to make it their home for a while and raise a family.
他们喜欢这个多沼泽的池塘的景色，决定把它当作一个短期的家，在此生儿育女。
The two swans were tired from the long flight. They were glad to be down out of the sky.
飞了这么久，这两只天鹅都已经累了。能离开天空在此歇息，他们都很高兴。
They paddled slowly about and then began feeding, thrusting their necks into the shallow water and pulling roots and plants from the bottom.
他们慢慢划着水，游了一会儿，想要找食物吃了，便把他们的长脖子插到浅水里，把一些植物和草根从水底拽出来。
Everything about the swans was white except their bills and their feet; These were black.
这两只天鹅浑身雪白，只除了喙和脚;它们都是黑色的。
They carried their heads high.
他们高高地昂起了头。
The pond seemed a different place because of their arrival.
池塘似乎变了个样子，因为他们到来了。
