吹小號的天鵝 第82期:塞蕾娜(5)

Louis swam ashore to pick up his things.

路易斯游到岸邊去找他的東西。

When he looked under the bush, he received aterrible jolt:

當他往灌木叢下看時，他驚呆了：

his medal was there, his slate and chalk pencil werethere, his moneybag was there, but where was thetrumpet?

他的獎章還在那兒，他的石板石筆，他的錢袋也都在那兒，可小號哪里去了呢?

His trumpet was gone. Poor Louis! His heart almoststopped. "Oh, no!" he said to himself.

他的小號沒有了?？蓱z的路易斯!他的心跳幾乎都停止了。“噢，不!”他自語。

"Oh, no!" Without his trumpet, his whole life would be ruined, all his plans for the future wouldcollapse.

“噢，不!” 沒有了他的小號，他的整個生活將會毀滅，他所有為將來的打算都會落空的。

He was frantic with anger and fear and dismay.

他又氣又怕，慌亂得快要發(fā)狂了。

He dashed back into the water and looked up and down the lake.

他跳回水中，在湖里四下打量著。

Far off, he saw a small Wood Duck that seemed to have something shiny in its mouth.

他遠遠地看見了一只小林鴨，他的嘴邊似乎有些什么在閃著光。

It was the trumpet, all right! The duck was trying to play it.

正是那把小號，沒錯!林鴨正在試著吹它呢。

Louis was furious. He skimmed down the lake, going even faster than he had on the day he hadsaved Applegate from drowning.

路易斯狂怒起來。他飛一樣地掠過湖面，速度比他從水中救起阿普爾蓋特那天還要快得多。

He swam straight for the duck, knocked him on the head with a swift blow from his wing,

他直沖到林鴨身邊，用他的翅膀照他的頭猛烈一擊，

and grabbed the precious trumpet. The duck fainted.

奪回了這把珍貴的小號。林鴨昏了過去。

Louis wiped the horn, blew the spit out of it, and hung it around his neck, where it belonged.

路易斯擦凈小號，吹去里面的口水，把它掛回到他的脖子上，它本該在的那個地方。

Now he was ready. "Let the night come! Let the hours pass!

現(xiàn)在他準備好了。“讓夜晚降臨吧!讓時間過去吧!

Let morning come, when my beautiful dreamer wakes unto me!"

讓早晨到來，那時我那美麗的夢中人將會為我而醒來!”

Night came at last. Nine o'clock came. Louis went off to work, riding in the cab.

夜終于降臨了。九點鐘到了。路易斯坐著出租車去工作了。

The Zoo quieted down. The visitors had all gone home.

動物園靜了下來。游客們全回了家。

Many of the animals slept or snoozed.

多數(shù)動物都在睡覺或者打瞌睡。

A few of them--the great cats, the raccoon, the armadillo, the ones that enjoy the nighttime--prowled and became restless.

只有幾種動物——如獅子，浣熊，犰狳等這些喜歡在夜里活動的動物——還在不安地踱來踱去。

Bird Lake was clothed in darkness. Most of the waterfowl tucked their heads under their wingsand slept.

鳥湖被籠罩在黑暗之中了。多數(shù)的水鳥都把他們的頭縮到翅膀底下睡著了。

At one end of the lake, the three captive swans-- Curiosity, Felicity, and Apathy--were alreadyasleep.

在湖的一頭，那三只被囚禁的天鵝——好奇，快活和冷淡——也已經(jīng)睡熟了。

Near the island, Serena, the beautiful Serena, was fast asleep and dreaming.

在小島附近，塞蕾娜，那美麗的塞蕾娜，則睡得更早，早已置身夢里了。

Her long white neck was folded neatly back; her head rested on soft feathers.

她的白色長脖子正優(yōu)美地盤在背上;她的頭就在她柔軟的羽毛中間安睡著。

Louis got home from work at two in the morning.

路易斯在凌晨兩點回到了家。

He flew in over the low fence and splashed down near Serena, making as little noise aspossible.

他飛過那道低矮的籬笆，濺落到塞蕾娜身邊，同時盡量使自己不弄出太大的響聲。

He did not try to sleep. The night was fair and crisp, as nights often are just before Christmas.

他并不想睡。夜疏朗而又清爽，如同圣誕節(jié)前的那些晚上一般。

Clouds drifted across the sky in endless procession, partially hiding the stars.

云朵綿綿不絕地依次在天空里蕩過，隱失了些許的星星。

Louis watched the clouds, watched Serena as she slept, and waited for day to come--hour afterhour after hour.

路易斯望著云朵，望著睡夢中的塞蕾娜，苦等著白天的到來——一小時又一小時再一小時的等下去。