第76课 家鼠

　　This little animal likes to live near the dwellings of men, for there it finds most easily the food which it likes best to eat. Mice generally remain in their holes during the daytime. It is only the young and foolish mice that come out then. The old ones are too much afraid of being caught and eaten by the cat. But at night they are bolder, and they come out from the holes which they have gnawed in the woodwork of the house, and run about seeking for something to eat and to drink.

　　这种小动物喜欢生活在人们的住所附近, 因为可以在那里轻松地找到最爱的各类食物。白天, 老鼠通常都呆在自己的洞穴中。只有年幼和愚笨的老鼠才会在那个时候跑出来。成年老鼠非常害怕被猫给抓到和吃掉。不过, 当夜幕降临以后, 它们的胆子就大了很多。它们会爬出自己在房间的木头中啃咬而成的洞穴, 到处寻找可供吃喝的东西。

　　The mouse is a very small animal, hardly three inches in length if we do not reckon its tail. But the tail is very nearly as long as the body. The body of the mouse is covered with short, velvety grey fur, which is darker on the back than on the rest of the body.

　　老鼠是一种体型很小的动物, 不算尾巴, 身长一般不超过三英寸。然而, 它们的尾巴却和身体差不多长。老鼠全身都覆盖着柔软的灰色短毛, 背上的毛色比身体其他部分要深一些。

　　The mouse has two bright little black eyes, so small that they look like beads. Its ears are large, and it can move them about so that they catch every sound. The feet of the mouse have sharp little claws, one for each toe. There are four toes on each fore foot, and five on each hind foot.

　　老鼠长有明亮的黑色小眼睛, 这双眼睛实在太小了, 看起来就像是两颗珠子。耳朵很大, 而且可以到处转动, 这样就能捕捉到各种动静。脚上长有尖锐的小爪子, 每个脚趾上都有一个爪子。两只前脚长有四根脚趾, 两只后脚则长有五根脚趾。

　　We can almost always tell something about the habits of an animal, and the nature of its food, by looking at its teeth. The teeth of the mouse are like those of the rat, the rabbit, and the squirrel; they are made for gnawing, or cutting through hard substances such as wood.

　　一般说来, 只需观察动物的牙齿, 我们基本上就能够判断它的生活习惯与进食特征。老鼠的牙齿与大鼠、兔子及松鼠的牙齿一样；它们的作用就是啃咬, 或者凿穿诸如木头这样的硬物。

　　In the front or middle of its mouth, the mouse has two long cutting or gnawing teeth in each jaw. These teeth never wear short, for they keep on growing at the end which is buried in the gum as fast as they wear away at the cutting end.

　　在老鼠嘴巴的前端或中部, 上下颚的位置上分别长有两根长长的切牙或门牙。这些牙齿从来就不会因为磨损而变短, 因为当前面的牙齿有所磨损, 埋藏在牙床中的另一端就会迅速生长出新的一部分。