吹小号的天鹅 第15期 小天鹅(4)

An hour went by.

一小时过去了。

One of the cygnets, more daring than the others, leftthe nest and teetered around on the shore of thelittle island.

一只比其他的更胆大的小天鹅离开了窝，颤颤巍巍地在小岛的岸边一圈圈溜达起来。这时，

When this happened, the mother swan stood up. Shedecided the time had come to lead her children intothe water.

天鹅妈妈站了起来。她觉得现在该领孩子们下水了。

"Come on!" she said. "And stay together!

“过来!”她说，“呆在一起!

Note carefully what I do. Then you do the same. Swimming is easy."

注意看我怎么做。然后你们也照着去做。游泳很容易学的。”

"One, two, three, four, five," Sam counted.

“一、二、三、四、五，”萨姆数着，

"One, two, three, four, five. Five cygnets, just as sure as I'm alive!"

“一、二、三、四、五。五只小天鹅，这就像我还活着一样可以肯定!”

The cob, as he saw his children approach the water, felt that he should act like a father. Hebegan by making a speech.

当雄天鹅看到他的孩子们靠近水边的时候，感到自己必须做得像个父亲一样才行。他开始演说了。

"Welcome to the pond and the swamp adjacent!" he said.

“欢迎到池塘和与之比邻的沼泽来!”他说，

"Welcome to the world that contains this lonely pond, this splendid marsh, unspoiled andwild!

“欢迎到这个包括了静寂的池塘，壮美的沼泽，还有未被破坏过的野生世界里来!

Welcome to sunlight and shadow, wind and weather; welcome to water!

欢迎到阳光和阴影里来，到风和雨里来;欢迎到水中来!

The water is a swan's particular element, as you will soon discover.

水对天鹅来说是种很特别的环境，就象你们不久将发现的那样。

Swimming is no problem for a swan.

对一只天鹅来说，游泳也根本不是问题。

Welcome to danger, which you must guard against

欢迎到危险中来，你们必须时刻警惕

the vile fox with his stealthy tread and sharp teeth, the offensive otter who swims up underyou and tries to grab you by the leg,

要提防那长着尖牙走路鬼鬼祟祟的坏透了的狐狸，还有从水下游向你并试图抓住你的腿的水獭，

the stinking skunk who hunts by night and blends with the shadows, the coyote who hunts andhowls and is bigger than a fox.

想趁着黑夜和阴影的掩护伤害你的臭鼬，嚎叫着想伤害你的比狐狸大得多的郊狼。

Beware of lead pellets that lie on the bottom of all ponds, left there by the guns of hunters.

小心躺在池塘底部的小铅弹，那是从猎人的枪里射出来的。

Don't eat them--they'll poison you!

别吃它们——它们能毒死你!

Be vigilant, be strong, be brave, be graceful, and always follow me!

要警觉，强壮，勇敢，优雅，永远跟随着我!

I will go first, then you will come along in single file, and your devoted mother will bring up therear.

我先走，你们排成一行跟着，深爱着你们的妈妈就在你们的后头。

Enter the water quietly and confidently!"

下水时要安静，充满信心!”

The mother swan, glad the speech was over, stepped into the water and called her little ones.

演说终于结束了，天鹅妈妈很高兴。她跨进水里，招呼她的孩子们过来。

The cygnets gazed for a second at the water, then tottered forward, gave a jump, and wereafloat.

小天鹅们对水看了一眼，然后摇晃着走上前去，跳进水里浮了起来。

The water felt good. Swimming was simple-- nothing to it.

在水里的感觉很好。游泳很简单——没什么难的。

The water was good to drink. Each baby dipped up a mouthful.

水很好喝。每个孩子都喝了一大口。

Their happy father arched his long graceful neck over and around them, protectively.

他们快乐的父亲在他们的头顶弯着他那优美的长脖子保护着他们。

Then he set off very slowly, with the cygnets following along in single file. Their mother broughtup the rear.

然后他慢慢地出发了，身后跟着排成一行的小天鹅。他们的妈妈跟在最后面。

"What a sight!" Sam said to himself. "What a terrific sight!

“多好看呀!”萨姆自语，“好看死了!

Seven Trumpeters all in line, five of them just out of the egg. This is my lucky day."

七只号手天鹅排成一行，其中的五只还是刚出蛋壳的。今天真是我的幸运日。”

He hardly noticed how stiff he had become from sitting so long on the log.

虽然在那根木头上坐了这么久，身子都坐硬了，可他却几乎没有觉察到这一点。