吹小号的天鹅 第82期:塞蕾娜(5)

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路易斯游到岸边去找他的东西。

When he looked under the bush, he received a terrible jolt²:

当他往灌木丛下看时，他惊呆了：

his medal was there, his slate³ and chalk pencil were there, his moneybag was there, but where was the trumpet⁴?

他的奖章还在那儿，他的石板石笔，他的钱袋也都在那儿，可小号哪里去了呢？

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

他的小号没有了。可怜的路易斯！他的心跳几乎都停止了。“噢，不！”他自语。

"Oh, no!" Without his trumpet, his whole life would be ruined, all his plans for the future would collapse⁵.

“噢，不！” 没有了他的小号，他的整个生活将会毁灭，他所有为将来的打算都会落空的。

He was frantic⁶ with anger and fear and dismay.

他又气又怕，慌乱得快要发狂了。

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

他跳回水中，在湖里四下打量着。

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

他远远地看见了一只小林鸭，他的嘴边似乎有些什么在闪着光。

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

正是那把小号，没错！林鸭正在试着吹它呢。

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

路易斯狂怒起来。他飞一样地掠过湖面，速度比他从水中救起阿普尔盖特那天还要快得多。

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

他直冲到林鸭身边，用他的翅膀照他的头猛烈一击，

and grabbed the precious trumpet. The duck fainted.

夺回了这把珍贵的小号。林鸭昏了过去。

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

路易斯擦净小号，吹去里面的口水，把它挂回到他的脖子上，它本该在的那个地方。

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

现在他准备好了。“让夜晚降临吧！让时间过去吧！

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

让早晨到来，那时我那美丽的梦中人将会为我而醒来！”

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

夜终于降临了。九点钟到了。路易斯坐着出租车去工作了。

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

动物园静了下来。游客们全回了家。

Many of the animals slept or snoozed.

多数动物都在睡觉或者打瞌睡。

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

只有几种动物——如狮子，浣熊，犰狳等这些喜欢在夜里活动的动物——还在不安地踱来踱去。

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

鸟湖被笼罩在黑暗之中了。多数的水鸟都把他们的头缩到翅膀底下睡着了。

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

在湖的一头，那三只被囚禁的天鹅——好奇，快活和冷淡——也已经睡熟了。

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

在小岛附近，塞蕾娜，那美丽的塞蕾娜，则睡得更早，早已置身梦里了。

Her long white neck was folded neatly⁷ back; her head rested on soft feathers.

她的白色长脖子正优美地盘在背上；她的头就在她柔软的羽毛中间安睡着。

Louis got home from work at two in the morning.

路易斯在凌晨两点回到了家。

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

他飞过那道低矮的篱笆，溅落到塞蕾娜身边，同时尽量使自己不弄出太大的响声。

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，如同圣诞节前的那些晚上一般。

Clouds drifted across the sky in endless procession, partially⁸ hiding the stars.

云朵绵绵不绝地依次在天空里荡过，隐失了些许的星星。

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

路易斯望着云朵，望着睡梦中的塞蕾娜，苦等着白天的到来——一小时又一小时再一小时的等下去。

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