吹小号的天鹅 第107期:绿色的春天

 Chapter 21 The Greening Spring

第二十一章 绿色的春天

Louis and Serena were more in love than ever.

路易斯和塞蕾娜比以往更恩爱了。

When spring came, they flew north,

春天一到，他们便往北飞去了，

Louis wearing his trumpet¹ and his slate² and his chalk pencil and his medal, Serena wearing nothing at all.

路易斯在飞翔时仍然挂着他的小号，他的石板，他的石笔和他的奖章，塞蕾娜则什么都没带。

Now that he no longer had to work and earn, Louis felt a great sense of relief.

现在他不再需要找工作挣钱了，这使路易斯有了一种如释重负的感觉。

No more would he have to carry a moneybag around his neck.

他的脖子上再也不用挂什么钱袋了。

The two swans flew high and fast, ten thousand feet above the earth.

这两只天鹅又高又快地飞在离地面一万英尺的高空。

吹小号的天鹅

They arrived at last at the little pond in the wilderness³ where Louis had been hatched.

他们最后飞到了那个荒野中的小池塘，路易斯就是在那里被孵出来的。

This was his dream--to return with his love to the place in Canada where he had first seen the light of day.

这一直是他的梦想--和他的爱人一起飞到加拿大的那个他第一次见到光明的地方。

He escorted Serena from one end of the pond to the other and back again.

他护送着塞蕾娜从池塘的一头游到另一头，然后又游回来。

He showed her the tiny island where his mother's nest had been.

他把他妈妈当初的窝所在的那个小岛指给他看。

He showed her the log Sam Beaver⁴ had been sitting on when Louis had pulled his shoelace because he couldn't say beep.

他指给她看当自己因不能说“哔”而只好去拉萨姆的鞋带时萨姆曾坐过的那根大木头。

Serena was enchanted⁵. They were in love.

塞蕾娜看得都入了迷。他们在相爱。

It was spring. The frog was waking from his long sleep.

现在是春天了。青蛙正在从他的长睡中醒来。

The turtle was coming to life again after his nap.

乌龟在经过他的小睡后也开始渐渐的苏醒。

The chipmunk⁶ felt the warm air, soft and kind, blow through the trees,

花栗鼠感觉那轻柔而又慈爱地拂过林间的已经是温暖的春风了，

just as it did in that springtime when Louis's father and mother had visited the pond to nest and raise their young.

和路易斯的父母在这个池塘上造窝和哺育他们的小天鹅的那个春天时心里的感觉一样。

The sun shone down, strong and steady.

浓烈的阳光源源不绝地洒落下来。

Ice was melting; patches of open water appeared on the pond.

冰正在消融；片片开阔的水面从池塘里显露出来。

Louis and Serena felt the changing world, and they stirred with new life and rapture⁷ and hope.

路易斯和塞蕾娜被这个变化中的世界所触动了，全都萌生了对新生活的向往，心头泛起了狂喜和渴望。

There was a smell in the air, a smell of earth waking after its long winter.

空气中有一种特别的气息，大地在漫长的严冬过后醒来的气息。

The trees were putting out tiny green buds, the buds were swelling⁸.

树木正在抽出绿芽，绿芽正在渐渐的膨胀。

A better, easier time was at hand. A pair of Mallard Ducks flew in.

一段更美好的，更安闲的时光已经伸手可及了。

A sparrow with a white throat arrived and sang, "Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada!"

一对绿头鸭飞了过来。一只灰莺飞过来唱：“噢，可爱的加拿大，加拿大，加拿大！”

Serena chose a muskrat⁹ lodge¹⁰ on which to build her nest.

塞蕾娜选了一个麝鼠洞，在那上面造她的窝。

It was the right height above the water. The muskrats¹¹ had built it of mud and sticks.

这里离水的高度正好合适。这个麝鼠当初是用湿泥和树枝把洞铺成的。

Louis had hoped his wife might decide to make her nest in the same spot where his mother had built hers,

路易斯希望他的妻子能把窝建在他妈妈的窝当初所在的地方，

but females are full of notions;

可是雌天鹅们却都有自己的主意；

they want their own way, pretty much, and Serena knew what she was doing.

他们特别愿意按照自己的意愿行事，塞蕾娜当然也知道她正在干什么。

Louis was so delighted when he saw her begin to construct the nest, he didn't really care where it was.

看到她开始造窝了，路易斯感到很高兴，他其实并不在乎窝到底建在哪里。

He raised his horn to his mouth and played the beginning of an old song

他把他的小号举到嘴边，吹起了一首老歌的开头，

called "It's delightful¹² to be married, to be-be-be-be, be-be-be-be married ..."

这首歌的名字叫“结婚是快乐的，结—结—结—结，结—结—结—结 结婚……”，

Then he helped by bringing a few pieces of coarse grass.

然后他又帮着衔来了几截粗草。

1 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

2 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

3 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

4 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

5 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

6 chipmunk   

n.花栗鼠

参考例句：

• This little chipmunk is hungry.这只小花栗鼠肚子饿了。
• Once I brought her a chipmunk with a wound on its stomach.一次，我带了只腹部受伤的花栗鼠去找她。

7 rapture   

n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜

参考例句：

• His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.他的演说受到支持者们的热烈欢迎。
• In the midst of his rapture,he was interrupted by his father.他正欢天喜地，被他父亲打断了。

8 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

9 muskrat   

n.麝香鼠

参考例句：

• Muskrat fur almost equals beaver fur in quality.麝鼠皮在质量上几乎和海獭皮不相上下。
• I saw a muskrat come out of a hole in the ice.我看到一只麝鼠从冰里面钻出来。

10 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

11 muskrats   

n.麝鼠（产于北美，毛皮珍贵）( muskrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

12 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。