那天晚饭后，萨姆和父亲在门口坐了一会儿。萨姆在看一本介绍鸟类的书。

　　"Pop," said Sam, "do you think we'll be coming back to camp again about a month from now

　　“爸，”萨姆说，“你说从现在起再过一个月我们还会回到这个营地来吗

　　I mean, in about thirty-five days or something like that?"

　　我是说，在大约三十五天或差不多那么久以后？”

　　"I guess so," replied Mr. Beaver. "I certainly hope so. But why thirty-five days? what's so special about thirty-five days?"

　　“我想会吧，”比弗先生回答，“我当然也这么希望。可为什么要过三十五天呢？为什么非得在三十五天之后？”

　　"Oh, nothing," said Sam. "I just thought it might be very nice around here in thirty-five days."

　　“噢，没什么，”萨姆说，“我只是想在三十五天后这附近会变得很美。”

　　"That's the craziest thing I ever heard of," said Mr. Beaver. "It's nice here all the time."

　　“这是我所听过的最疯的话，”比弗先生说。“这里什么时候都很美。”

　　Sam went indoors.

　　萨姆进了屋。

　　He knew a lot about birds, and he knew it would take a swan about thirty-five days to hatch her eggs.

　　他懂得很多关于鸟类的知识，因此他知道一只天鹅要用三十五天左右才能把她的蛋孵成。

　　He hoped he could be at the pond to see the young ones when they came out of the eggs.

　　他希望能在池塘亲眼看到这些小家伙出壳的情景。

　　Sam kept a diary--a daybook about his life. It was just a cheap notebook that was always by his bed.

　　萨姆有本日记--一本记录着他的生活内容的日记。那不过是一本便宜的笔记本，平时总放在他的床边。

　　Every night, before he turned in, he would write in the book.

　　每晚熄灯前，他都会在这个本子里写点什么。

　　He wrote about things he had done, things he had seen, and thoughts he had had.

　　他把今天做过的事，看到的事，想到的事都记在里面。

　　Sometimes he drew a picture.

　　有时他还会画上一幅画。

　　He always ended by asking himself a question so he would have something to think about while falling asleep.

　　他总是在最后问自己一个问题，这样在入睡前就可以有些什么可以想的了。

　　On the day he found the swan's nest, this is what Sam wrote in his diary:

　　在他发现天鹅窝的这天，萨姆在日记里是这么写的：

　　I saw a pair of trumpeter swans today on a small pond east of camp.

　　我今天在营地东边的一个小池塘里看到了一对号手天鹅。

　　The female has a nest with eggs in it.

　　雌天鹅有一个窝，里面有很多蛋。

　　I saw three, but I'm going to put four in the picture--I think she was laying another one.

　　我看到了三个，不过我要在这幅画里画上四个--我认为她正在准备下第四个蛋呢。

　　This is the greatest discovery I ever made in my entire life. I did not tell Pop.

　　这是我有生以来有过的最伟大的发现。我没告诉爸。

　　My bird book says baby swans are called cygnets.

　　我的那本介绍鸟类的书里说刚出生的天鹅叫Cygnets。

　　I am going back tomorrow to visit the great swans again.

　　明天我要再去拜访那对大天鹅。

　　I heard a fox bark today. Why does a fox bark?

　　今天我听到狐狸叫了。狐狸为什么要叫呢？

　　Is it because he is mad, or worried, or hungry, or because he is sending a message to another fox?

　　是因为愤怒，忧愁，饥饿，还是因为他想给另一只狐狸传口信？

　　Why does a fox bark?

　　狐狸为什么要叫？

　　Sam closed his notebook, undressed, crawled into his bunk,

　　萨姆合上笔记本，脱下衣服爬上他的床铺，

　　and lay there with his eyes closed, wondering why a fox barks.

　　闭着眼睛躺在那里，想着狐狸为什么要叫这个问题。

　　In a few minutes he was asleep.

　　几分钟内，他就睡着了。