美国小学英语教材6:第47课 金黄色的彩虹泥沼(3)

 Then he gently coaxed¹ out of her resting place in a curled-over leaf another garden spider, 在卷曲的叶子中栖息着另外一只园蛛，他轻轻地将其哄骗了出来，

very skillful in weaving wheel-shaped webs of great beauty. 这种蜘蛛可以编织轮子形状的大网。

The wonderful webs of these two spiders he was careful not to disturb, 他小心翼翼地不去破坏两只蜘蛛织成的美丽蛛网，

stopping only to leave a grasshopper² or other insect as a token of goodwill³. 只留下了一只蚂蚱或其它昆虫以示友好。

At the foot of an open muddy slope he saw a round, black mass about the size of a dinner plate moving in the water's edge. 在一片空旷泥泞的斜坡脚下，一团大小和餐盘一样的黑色物质在河流边缘移动。

Going closer, he discovered a father catfish⁴, or bullhead, in charge of his multitude of babies. 走近一看，他发现了一条鲶鱼爸爸，也被叫做大头鱼，他正在指挥他的孩子们。

The young ones were swimming round and round while the father guarded just outside in the deeper water. 孩子们在水里游来游去，爸爸在远处的深水区观看。

The boy thought the old bullhead was the mother, and did not learn 小男孩认为老大头鱼是妈妈，但他当时不知道，

until years later that it was the father who takes charge of the eggs and the young. 直到几年后他才懂得父亲负责小鱼们。

While he watched, a small rock bass⁵ stole up to grab a baby catfish, and was promptly⁶ chased away by father bullhead, 他一边看，一边发现一条岩鲈偷偷地逮了一条小大头鱼，并立马遭到父亲的追逐，

but at once another bass stole up from the other side, snatched one, and made his safe getaway. 但突然另一条岩鲈从另外一个方向进入，又逮了一只，并安全逃跑。

Thus these two pirates took turns from one side or the other until the distracted father knew not what to do. 这两只岩鲈轮换着从一边或是另一边进入，直到晕头转向的父亲不知如何做好。

Fascinated, the small boy watched what was going on in the water, 小男孩兴致盎然地看着水里发生的一切，

sympathizing wholly with the catfish but powerless to help. 同情这些大头鱼，但却无能为力。

He knew that the baby multitude had already dwindled⁸ to half its original size, 他知道这些小鱼的数量已经减到了之前的一半，

and would continue to dwindle⁷ until only a thin line remained along the shore in the shallow water. 并继续减少，我们只能在沿岸浅水区看到一条细细的鱼群。

So our young friend went regretfully on his way. At the lotus bed the boy wandered delighted from flower to flower. 我们的这位年轻朋友继续上路，但却十分懊恼，在莲花栖息地，小男孩兴高采烈地在花朵之间漫步。

Breathing deeply the sweet odor from each lily before plucking it, 在摘下百合花之前，他深深闻了每一颗百合的芳香，

he marveled that the blossom could draw such a wealth of sweetness from the stickiest and blackest of mud. 他惊讶地发现，这些百合花能够从厚厚的黑色泥土中渗透出饱满的香味。

The young unopened blossoms had the finest fragrance⁹, and of these he picked a dozen, a fair-sized bouquet¹⁰. 这些未开的百合花散发的香味最诱人，他从中采了十二朵，差不多是一束花的量。

Wrapping a cool lily pad or two about their stems, he tied the whole together with twigs¹¹ of young willow¹². 用一片或两片百合叶子缠绕茎部，他将所有百合用黄色柳树枝缠绕在一起。

 

1 coaxed   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱

参考例句：

• She coaxed the horse into coming a little closer. 她哄着那匹马让它再靠近了一点。
• I coaxed my sister into taking me to the theatre. 我用好话哄姐姐带我去看戏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

3 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

4 catfish   

n.鲶鱼

参考例句：

• Huge catfish are skinned and dressed by hand.用手剥去巨鲇的皮并剖洗干净。
• We gigged for catfish off the pier.我们在码头以鱼叉叉鲶鱼。

5 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

6 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

7 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

8 dwindled   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Support for the party has dwindled away to nothing. 支持这个党派的人渐渐化为乌有。
• His wealth dwindled to nothingness. 他的钱财化为乌有。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

10 bouquet   

n.花束，酒香

参考例句：

• This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。

11 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

12 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。