美国语文第五册 第253期:种子的传播与种植(2)

 　　As I walk amid hickories, even in August,  甚至8月期间，当我走在山核桃林里，

　　I hear the sound of green pignuts falling from time to time, cut off by the chickaree over my head.  头顶上端不时传来山核桃被山雀啄落的声音，果子还绿茵茵的。

　　In the fall I notice on the ground, either within or in the neighborhood of oak woods,  秋天，在小镇周围橡树林里或树林附近，

　　on all sides of the town, stout¹ oak twigs² three or four inches long, bearing half a dozen empty acorn³ cups,  我留意到三四英寸长的粗短橡树枝，挂着七八个空空的橡实壳，

　　which twigs have been gnawed⁴ off by squirrels, on both sides of the nuts, in order to make them more portable.  松鼠咬断坚果两侧硬枝，完全出于搬运简单方便。

　　The jays scream and the red squirrels scold while you are clubbing and shaking the chestnut⁵ trees,  每当人们敲打或摇晃栗树，便招来松鸦、红松鼠叽喳不停，

　　for they are there on the same errand, and two of a trade never agree.  它们，抑或我们，光顾森林的目的没什么不同，所谓同行冤家，一点不假。

　　I frequently see a red or a gray squirrel cast down a green chestnut burr, as I am going through the woods,  行在树林中，我经常看见红松鼠或灰松鼠扔下带芒刺的绿色栗果，

　　and I used to think, sometimes, that they were cast at me.  我总觉得，它们想必是冲我砸来的。

　　In fact, they are so busy about it, in the midst of the chestnut season,  栗子成熟季节，松鼠忙碌地奔跑，

　　that you can not stand long in the woods without hearing one fall.  只需在树林中稍站片刻，便能清晰地听见栗子的落地声。

　　A sportsman told me that he had, the day before—that was in the middle of October—seen a green chestnut burr dropped on our great river meadow,  一位喜欢捕猎的朋友对我说，就在前一天，该是10月中旬吧，他还看见一颗绿色带芒刺的栗果，丢在小镇大河边的湿地草原上。

　　fifty rods from the nearest wood, and much farther from the nearest chestnut tree,  那颗栗果离最近的林子有五十杆距离，距最近的栗树林就更远了，

　　and he could not tell how it came there.  他实在想不出那粒栗子究竟从哪冒出来的。

　　Occasionally, when chestnutting in midwinter, I find thirty or forty nuts in a pile,  深冬季节，我有时去森林里采摘栗子，有时会发现三四十颗栗子聚拢成堆,

　　left in its gallery just under the leaves, by the common wood mouse. 裹藏在腐叶下森林里常见的林鼠洞边。

1 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

2 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。

3 acorn   

n.橡实，橡子

参考例句：

• The oak is implicit in the acorn.橡树孕育于橡子之中。
• The tree grew from a small acorn.橡树从一粒小橡子生长而来。

4 gnawed   

咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物

参考例句：

• His attitude towards her gnawed away at her confidence. 他对她的态度一直在削弱她的自尊心。
• The root of this dead tree has been gnawed away by ants. 这棵死树根被蚂蚁唼了。

5 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。