美国小学英语教材6:第32课 山齿鹑家族(3)

 　　Two or three times during the long three weeks that followed, 在随后漫长的三周里，有2-3次

　　Mr. bobwhite took his turn upon the eggs for half an hour, while his wife went for a dust bath. 山齿鹑先生会待在鹑蛋上半个小时，妻子去沙子中翻滚。

　　About the twentieth of June Mrs. Bob-White appeared, closely followed by fourteen quail¹ chicks. 差不多是6月20号，妻子出现时后面紧跟着14个小家伙。

　　She was clucking and bristling² like the good mother partridge that she was, while each of the tiny chicks was spry as a cricket. 妻子发出唧唧的叫声，并竖起毛发，它的样子好似持家有方的山鹑家族一员，而它本来就是，每个小家伙活蹦乱跳有如蟋蟀。

　　After the first tiny little creature had picked his way through the shell, 当第一个幼崽破壳而出后，

　　his peep had set all the others to work, and in half an hour the whole brood had arrived. 他唧唧的叫声让其它幼崽紧随其后，半个小时所有幼崽都出现在眼前。

　　Then when they had dried and had a little time in which to gain strength, they were ready for the world. 当它们晾干了身体，又等待一会积蓄能量后，它们将准备迎接这个世界。

　　Forth³ they all came, the mother clucking and bristling and the chicks scampering⁴ this way and that, 它们相继破壳而出后，妈妈发出唧唧的叫声，竖一竖毛发，幼崽们活蹦乱跳地到处跑，

　　pecking at almost invisible plant lice and bugs⁵, feeding themselves within the same hour that they came from the nest. 一小口一小口啄食肉眼几乎看不到的蚜虫和小虫子，从出生到自己吃食是在一个小时内发生的。

　　For two or three nights Mrs. bobwhite led them back to the old nest, 有两三晚，雌山齿鹑让幼崽们回到老巢，

　　but after that it was given up, and they never returned to it. 但最终放弃了这一想法，它们从没有回到过这里。

　　Family Misfortunes 家庭悲剧

　　One night when they were about a week old, Mrs. bobwhite led them to sleep in a little hollow under an overhanging rock. 它们差不多有一周大了，那天晚上，雌山齿鹑让它们在悬挂岩石的下方空洞中睡觉。

　　During the night there was a terrible downpour of rain, and the hollow filled rapidly. 夜间下起了暴雨，空洞迅速充满了水。

　　Before the young mother could conduct her chicks to higher and drier ground, three were drowned in the puddle⁶. 等不到年轻妈妈让幼崽们转移到更高的干燥地方，它们淹死在了水坑中。

　　For the first two weeks bobwhite stayed with his family trying to protect them 前两周，山齿鹑爸爸和家人在一起，为的是保护她们

　　and giving his wife much good advice about bringing up children; 并给妻子提出一些育儿的好主意；

　　but she finally told him that she could get along quite well without him, and he flew away. 但她说她没有他一样做的很好，爸爸最终飞走了。

1 quail   

n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖

参考例句：

• Cowards always quail before the enemy.在敌人面前，胆小鬼们总是畏缩不前的。
• Quail eggs are very high in cholesterol.鹌鹑蛋胆固醇含量高。

2 bristling   

a.竖立的

参考例句：

• "Don't you question Miz Wilkes' word,'said Archie, his beard bristling. "威尔克斯太太的话，你就不必怀疑了。 "阿尔奇说。他的胡子也翘了起来。
• You were bristling just now. 你刚才在发毛。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 scampering   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A cat miaowed, then was heard scampering away. 马上起了猫叫，接着又听见猫逃走的声音。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• A grey squirrel is scampering from limb to limb. 一只灰色的松鼠在树枝间跳来跳去。 来自辞典例句

5 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。