美国小学英语教材2:第11课 鹪鹩搬家记

 　　How the Wren¹ Family Moved 鹪鹩搬家记

　　All the birds were wondering about the strange-looking man that stood in farmer Brown's cornfield. 所有的鸟儿都想知道那个站在农夫布朗的稻田里、长相怪异的人。

　　The bluejays, the blackbirds, and the crows were frightened. 冠蓝鸦、黑鹂和乌鸦都害怕它。

　　They wanted to dig² up the corn, but they were afraid of the scarecrow. 它们想啄稻谷，但害怕稻草人。

　　"Now," said the farmer, "the birds will not eat my corn as soon as it comes up. 农夫说：“现在，稻草人一出现，鸟儿们就不会吃我的稻谷了。

　　This scarecrow looks so much like a man that the birds will not come near it." 稻草人看起来非常像人，鸟儿不会到它附近的。”

　　But the wrens³ were not afraid of the scarecrow. 但鹪鹩不怕稻草人。

　　They had lived near houses, and they had learned⁴ that people would not hurt them. 它们住在房子附近，知道人们不会伤害自己。

　　They flew all around the scarecrow and soon saw that it was not a man. 它们在稻草人周围飞来飞去，不久就发现它不是真人。

　　Then Mrs.Wren found a little hole in the scarecrow's hat. 随后，鹪鹩太太发现了稻草人帽子上的一个小洞。

　　She looked inside and saw a good place for a nest. 她看了看里面，看到了一个筑巢的好地方。

　　Wrens are very small birds. They are afraid of most big birds. 鹪鹩体型非常小。它们害怕多数大鸟。

　　They hide their nests so that crows and bluejays will not find their eggs and eat them. 它们把窝藏起来，这样乌鸦和冠蓝鸦就找不到它们的蛋并吃掉了。

　　That is why wrens often make their nests in very strange places. 这就是为什么鹪鹩经常把窝安在非常奇怪的地方。

　　Mr. and Mrs.Wren thought that the scarecrow's hat would be the best place in the world for a nest. 鹪鹩夫妇认为稻草人的帽子是世界上筑窝的最佳之处。

　　They knew that the bigger birds were afraid to come near the scarecrow. 它们知道大鸟害怕靠近稻草人。

　　Soon Mr. and Mrs.Wren were very busy. 不久鹪鹩夫妇忙了起来。

　　They brought weeds and grass from the pasture⁵ to build their tiny round nest. 它们从牧场上带了野草和青草来筑造他们的小圆窝。

　　Then they found some feathers and put them inside the nest to make it soft and warm. 它们发现了一些羽毛，就把它放到窝里，让窝柔软舒适。

　　It took the birds just five days to make their nest. 它们花了5天的时间筑成了窝。

　　One week after it was done, there were six little spotted⁶ eggs in the nest inside the scarecrow's hat. 筑窝一周后，稻草人帽子的窝里有了六个带小斑点的鸟蛋。

　　Mrs.Wren sat on her nest day after day. In two weeks there were six tiny wrens in the nest. 鹪鹩太太日复一日地坐在窝里。两周内，窝里有了六只小鹪鹩。

　　At first the baby wrens had no feathers and could not open their eyes. 最初，鹪鹩宝宝没有翅膀，也不能睁开眼睛。

　　They looked very strange, but Mr. and Mrs. Wren were sure they were the most beautiful children in the world. 它们看起来很奇怪，但鹪鹩夫妇却肯定它们是世界上最漂亮的宝宝。

　　The little wrens were always hungy. 小鹪鹩总是饿。

　　Though father and mother Wren worked all day, 虽然鹪鹩夫妇整天工作，

　　they could hardly get bugs⁷ and worms⁸ enough for the six hungry mouths. 但它们还是不能捉到足够多的虫子来喂饱这六张饥饿的小嘴。

　　How proud Mr. and Mrs.Wren were of their little family and the strange home inside the scarecrow's hat! 鹪鹩夫妇对它们的小家人和稻草人里面怪异的家感到多么的自豪啊！

　　The scarecrow was a good friend to the wrens. 稻草人是鹪鹩的好朋友。

　　He frightened away the crows and bluejays. 它吓走了乌鸦和冠蓝鸦。

　　His big hat kept the hot sun and the rain away from the six baby birds in the tiny nest. 它的大帽子为小窝里的六只宝宝遮挡了火热的太阳和雨。

　　One day both Mr. and Mrs.Wren were away from the nest a long time. 一天，鹪鹩夫妇都离开窝很久了。

　　They were looking for bugs and worms. 它们正在寻找虫子。

　　When they came back, they did not see the scarecrow. Their little home was gone. 它们回来时没有看见稻草人。它们的小家也没了。

　　How frightened and sad they were! 它们多么害怕和伤心啊！

　　Though they called and called to the young birds, there was no answer. 即使它们不停地呼唤鸟宝宝，还是没有应答声。

　　They flew around and around. All at once they saw the scarecrow. 它们到处飞。突然，它们发现了稻草人。

　　Farmer Brown was carrying it across the field in his arms. 农夫布朗正抱着它穿过田野。

　　The wrens followed the man farther⁹ and farther across the field. 鹪鹩跟着他穿过田野，越走越远。

　　They flew around and around him and tried to tell him not to hurt their little ones. 它们围着他，试图告诉他不要伤害它们的宝宝。

　　But the farmer did not know what they wanted. He had not seen the nest. 但农夫不知道它们想要什么。他没看见鸟窝。

　　On went farmer Brown.  农夫布朗继续走。

　　At last he stopped, and the wrens saw him put the scarecrow in the middle of his garden. 最后,他停住了，鹪鹩夫妇看到他把稻草人放到了花园的中央。

　　"Now," said the farmer, "the birds will not come and eat my young plants." 农夫说：“现在，鸟儿就不会来吃我的小植物了。”

　　As soon as he had gone, the wrens flew to the scarecrow. 他一离开，鹪鹩夫妇就飞向了稻草人。

　　They found their six young ones safe and happy. 它们发现六只小宝宝都平平安安的。

　　When Farmer Brown found that he had moved a family of birds into his garden, he laughed and laughed. 当农夫布朗发现他搬了一家的鸟到花园时，笑了。

　　"I am glad they are wrens,"he said. 他说：“它们是鹪鹩，我很高兴。”

　　"Wrens help to keep bugs and worms out of gardens." 鹪鹩能把花园里的虫子赶出去。

1 wren   

n.鹪鹩；英国皇家海军女子服务队成员

参考例句：

• A wren is a kind of short-winged songbird.鹪鹩是一种短翼的鸣禽。
• My bird guide confirmed that a Carolina wren had discovered the thickets near my house.我掌握的鸟类知识使我确信，一只卡罗莱纳州鹪鹩已经发现了我家的这个灌木丛。

2 dig   

v.挖（洞，沟等）；掘

参考例句：

• It is difficult to dig the ground when it is frozen.地面冻住了就不易挖掘。
• In those days we often went to dig for wild vegetables.那时候我们常常出去挖野菜。

3 wrens   

n.鹪鹩( wren的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Other songbirds, such as wrens, have hundreds of songs. 有的鸣鸟，例如鹪鹩，会唱几百只歌。 来自辞典例句

4 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

5 pasture   

n.牧场，牲畜饲养

参考例句：

• This is the place where they used to pasture.这就是他们过去经常放牧的地方。
• The boy got up very early every morning to pasture cattle.这男孩每天起得很早去放牛。

6 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

7 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 worms   

计算机网络"蠕虫"(可自我复制但无危害)

参考例句：

• Worms have a lifespan of a few months. 蠕虫的寿命为几个月。
• birds looking for worms 觅食蠕虫的鸟

9 farther   

adj.更远的，进一步的；adv.更远的，此外；far的比较级

参考例句：

• I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
• The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。