一个夏天的某日，快长到二十岁的萨姆正和它的父亲坐在他们在加拿大的营帐里。

　　It was after supper. Mr. Beaver was rocking in a chair, resting after a day of fishing.

　　晚饭已经吃完了。比弗先生在钓了一天鱼后，已经感到很累了，此时正在摇椅上摇来晃去地歇着呢。

　　Sam was reading a book.

　　萨姆在读一本书。

　　"Pop," said Sam, "what does "crepuscular" mean?"“爸，”萨姆说，“‘Crepuscular ’是什么意思？”

　　"How should I know?" replied Mr. Beaver. "I never heard the word before."“我怎么知道？”比弗先生回答，“我以前从没听过这个词儿。”

　　"It has something to do with rabbits," said Sam. "It says here that a rabbit is a crepuscular animal."“这个词是和兔子有关的，”萨姆说，“这上面说兔子是一种‘Crepuscular’的动物。”

　　"Probably means timid," said Mr. Beaver.

　　“可能这是胆小的意思吧，”比弗先生说，

　　"Or maybe it means that it can run like the dickens. Or maybe it means stupid.

　　“也可能是跑得像魔鬼一样快的意思。要不就是说它很愚蠢。

　　A rabbit will sit right in the middle of the road at night and stare into your headlights and never get out of the way,兔子在晚上会坐到路中间，就那么一动不动地盯着你的车头灯，从来都不知道让路，and that's how a lot of rabbits get run over. They're stupid."而这就是许多兔子的死亡原因。他们太蠢了。”

　　"Well," said Sam, "I guess the only way to find out what "crepuscular" means is to look it up in the dictionary."“好了，”萨姆说，“我猜唯一能查明Crepuscular 这个词的方法就是去翻字典了。”

　　"We haven't got a dictionary here," said Mr. Beaver. "You'll have to wait till we get back to the ranch."“我们这儿没字典，”比弗先生说。“你只好等我们回到农场后再说了。”

　　Just then, over at the pond where the swans were,这时候，在天鹅们所在的池塘那边，

　　Louis raised his horn and played taps, to let his children know that the day had come to an end.

　　路易斯举起他的小号吹起了熄灯号，让他的孩子们知道这一天就要结束了。

　　The wind was right, and the sound carried across the swamp.

　　当时正好是顺风，所以这声音一直传出了沼泽地。

　　Mr. Beaver stopped rocking. "That's funny!" he said. "I thought I heard the sound of a trumpet just then."比弗先生停止了摇晃。“真有意思！”他说，“我觉得我刚才听到了小号声。”

　　"I don't see how you could," replied Sam. "We're alone in these woods."“我不明白你怎么听到的，”萨姆回答，“这森林里只有我们两个呀。”

　　"I know we are," said Mr. Beaver. "Just the same, I thought I heard a trumpet. Or a bugle."“我知道只有我们俩，”比弗先生说，“尽管如此，我还是觉得刚才听到小号声了。也许是号角声吧。”

　　Sam chuckled. He had never told his father about the swans in the pond nearby.

　　萨姆心里暗笑起来。他从来没有对他父亲说起过住在这个池塘附近的天鹅们。

　　He kept their secret to himself. When he went to the pond, he always went alone.

　　他仍然只把他们的秘密藏在心底。当他去池塘时，总是单独行动的。

　　That's the way he liked it. And that's the way the swans liked it.

　　他喜欢这样。天鹅们也喜欢这样。