吹小号的天鹅 第80期:塞蕾娜(3)

 Louis was right. Serena, the swan of his desiring, had been caught by the fierce storm and blown all the way across America.

路易斯是对的。塞蕾娜，他思慕的这只天鹅，不幸被猛烈的风暴卷住，一直吹到了美国的这个地方。

When she looked down and saw Bird Lake, she ended her flight, almost dead from exhaustion¹.

当她从空中瞥见鸟湖时，已经再也没力气飞了，差点因力竭而死掉。

Louis was tempted² to rush right over.

路易斯忍不住要立刻冲过去。

But then he thought, "No, that would be a mistake.

可他转念又想，“不，那会是一个错误的。

She is in no condition at the moment to perceive the depth of my affection and the extent of my love.

在这种情况下她觉不出我对她的爱有多深。

She is too pooped. I will wait. I will bide³ my time. I will give her a chance to recover.

她太累了。我要等等再说。我要静候良机。我要给她一段恢复的时间。

Then I will renew our acquaintance and make myself known."

然后我将重建我们的关系，对她进行自我介绍。”

Louis did not go to his job that night; the weather was too bad.

路易斯那天晚上没去工作；天气实在太坏了。

All night, he stayed awake, keeping watch, at a slight distance from his beloved.

整夜，他都在他的爱人附近醒着，守望着。

吹小号的天鹅

When morning came, the wind subsided⁴. The skies cleared. The lake grew calm. The storm was over.

早晨到来时，风暴平息了。天空清爽了。湖面恢复了平静。风暴已经过去。

Serena stirred and woke. She was still exhausted⁵, and very mussy.

塞蕾娜动了动，醒了过来。她还是很虚弱，全身羽毛凌乱。

Louis stayed away from her. "I'll just wait," he thought.

路易斯离开了她。“我只有等下去，”他想。

"When in love, one must take risks.

“在恋爱时，你得冒险才行。

But I'm not going to risk everything with a bird who is too tired to see straight. I won't hurry, and I won't worry.

可我不能为一只累得什么都看不清的鸟儿冒什么险呀。我不急，我不着急。

Back home on Upper Red Rock Lake, I was without a voice; she ignored me because I could not tell her of my love.

在上红石湖是老家那会儿，我是没有嗓子的；她不理我是因为我不能对她说出我的爱。

Now, thanks to my brave father, I have my trumpet⁶.

现在，多谢我那勇敢的父亲，我有了我的小号了。

Through the power of music, I will impress her with the intensity⁷ of my desire and the strength of my devotion.

靠着音乐的力量，我能对她表达出我爱欲的激情和浓烈程度。

She will hear me say ko-hoh. I'll tell her I love her in a language anybody can understand, the language of music.

她将会听到我说‘吭—嗬’的。我要用音乐语言，一种任何人都能听懂的语言告诉她我爱她。

She will hear the trumpet of the swan, and she will be mine. At least, I hope she will."

她将听到天鹅的喇叭，她将是我的。至少，我希望她将如此。”

Usually, if a strange bird appeared on Bird Lake,

通常，如果鸟湖上来了一只陌生的鸟儿，

one of the keepers would report its arrival to the Head Man in Charge of Birds, whose office was in the Bird House.

其中的一个管理员就会向鸟类管理负责人汇报，他的办公室就设在鸟屋里。

The Head Man would then give the order to have the new bird pinioned--have one of its wings clipped.

这个负责人接着就会下令给新来的鸟儿“打尖”——剪掉它的一只翅膀尖。

But today, the keeper who usually tended the waterfowl was sick with the flu and had not come to work.

可今天，那个平时负责照看水禽的管理员恰巧得了流感，没来上班。

Nobody noticed that a new Trumpeter Swan had arrived.

没有人注意到这里新来了一只号手天鹅。

Serena was being very quiet, anyway--she was not attracting any attention.

而且，塞蕾娜表现得又很安静——因此她没有引起任何人的注意。

There were now five Trumpeters on the lake.

现在湖上有五只号手天鹅了。

There were the original three captive swans, Curiosity, Felicity, and Apathy⁸. There was, of course, Louis.

原来这里只有三只被囚禁的天鹅，好奇，快活和冷淡。当然还有路易斯

And now there was the new arrival, Serena, still exhausted but beginning to revive.

现在这儿新来了一只天鹅，塞蕾娜，她虽然仍是浑身乏力，可身体却在渐渐地康复。

1 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

2 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

3 bide   

v.忍耐；等候；住

参考例句：

• We'll have to bide our time until the rain stops.我们必须等到雨停。
• Bide here for a while. 请在这儿等一会儿。

4 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

6 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

7 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

8 apathy   

n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡

参考例句：

• He was sunk in apathy after his failure.他失败后心恢意冷。
• She heard the story with apathy.她听了这个故事无动于衷。