美国语文第五册 第98期:北美食米鸟(4)

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　　He has changed his name in traveling. 旅途中，它更换了名字，

　　Boblincoln no more, he is the reedbird now, the much-sought-for tidbit of Pennsylvanian epicures², the rival in unlucky fame of the ortolan! 不叫食米鸟，改称芦苇鸟了，居然成为宾夕法尼亚州最受热捧的小报趣闻，与伊壁鸠鲁享乐者们享有同等恶名。

　　Wherever he goes, pop! pop! pop! every rusty³ firelock in the country is blazing away. 无论食米鸟飞到哪里，砰！砰！砰！全州老枪火钪争相对准它瞄准开火，成千上万只食米鸟不停地倒毙死亡。

　　He sees his companions falling by thousands around him. Does he take warning and reform? 那么，它接受人们警告或者有所改变吗？

　　Alas⁴! not he. Again he wings his flight. The rice swamps of the south invite him. 哎呀！没有。食米鸟继续振动双翼，南方丰美稻田等待着它的光临。

　　He gorges⁵ himself among them almost to bursting; he can scarcely fly for corpulency. 在那里，食米鸟狼吞虎咽险乎撑死，它的体态变得臃肿不堪，甚至无法飞起。

　　He has once more changed his name, and is now the famous ricebird of the Carolinas. 它不得不再次更名，变成卡罗莱纳州闻名遐迩的稻米鸟，

　　Last stage of his career: behold⁶ him spitted with dozens of his corpulent companions, and served up, a vaunted dish, on some southern table. 这里，将是它一生的最后舞台：看着自己与无数大腹便便的同类被唾弃，最后变成北美大陆南方餐桌上为人称道的一道烘烤大餐。

　　Such is the story of the bobolink; once spiritual, musical, admired, the joy of the meadows, and the favorite bird of spring; 这就是食米鸟的故事，曾经具有精神信仰、富有音乐气质、令人钦佩、追逐自然草原快乐、钟爱春天蓬勃的鸟儿，

　　finally, a gross little sensualist, who expiates⁷ his sensuality in the larder⁸. 最终变异为恶俗拥趸，躲在角落里耽于世俗物质享受的恶鸟。

　　His story contains a moral worthy⁹ the attention of all little birds and little boys; 这篇食米鸟的故事具有典型的道德意义，世上青少年需引以为戒。

　　warning them to keep to those refined and intellectual pursuits which raised him to so high a pitch of popularity during the early part of his career, 故事旨在告诫那些年轻人，必须恪守对美好事物与崇高精神的执著坚守，保持懵懂之初纯洁的品质高度，戒绝世俗世界声色犬马的物欲满足。

　　but to eschew¹⁰ all tendency to that gross and dissipated indulgence which brought this mistaken little bird to an untimely end. 无疑，致命的外在诱惑只会给迷途难返的年轻生命带来过早的凋谢与终结。

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