12 小天鹅
Chapter 4 The Cygnets
第四 小天鹅
During the night, the swan thought she heard a pipping sound from the eggs.
那天夜里，雌天鹅觉得她听到了小天鹅用嘴啄蛋壳的声音。
And in the hour just before dawn, she was sure she felt a slight movement under her breast, as though a tiny body were wiggling there.
就在破晓前的那一小时，她确切地感觉到一胸一下有一阵轻微的动静，似乎有一个小身一子正在那里扭一动着。
Perhaps the eggs at last were hatching. Eggs, of course, can't wiggle, so the swan decided she must ha一ve something under her that wasn't an egg.
可能这些蛋终于被孵成小天鹅了。蛋壳当然是不能扭一动的，所以雌天鹅断定她身一子下一面的已经不再是蛋了。
She sat perfectly still, listening and waiting. The cob floated nearby, keeping watch.
她静静地端坐着，在那里倾听着，期待着。雄天鹅在附近游着，时刻观察着。
A little swan enclosed in an egg has a hard time getting out.
一只被封在蛋壳里的小天鹅得经过好长一段艰苦的时间才能钻出来。
It never would get out if Nature had not provided it with two important things: a powerful neck-muscle and a small dagger-tooth on the tip of its bill.
它永远也不会出世，如果大自然没把这两样重要的东西赋予它的话：一是有力的颈部肌肉，一是它的嘴尖上的小尖牙。
This tooth is sharp, and the baby swan uses it to pick a hole in the tough shell of the egg.
这牙很尖利，小天鹅用它就可以在蛋的硬壳上啄出一个洞。
Once the hole is made, the rest is easy. The cygnet can breathe now; it just keeps wiggling until it wiggles free.
一旦洞被啄出，其余的事儿就容易多了。小天鹅现在能呼吸了;它只需不断地挣扎，直到挣得自一由为止。
The cob was expecting to become a father any minute now.
雄天鹅现在随时都渴望着当爸爸。
The idea of fatherhood made him feel poetical and proud. He began to talk to his wife.
这个做父亲的念头让他的心里泛起了一种诗意和自豪感。他开始对他的妻子演说了。
"Here I glide, swanlike," he said, "while earth is bathed in wonder and beauty.
“当我在这儿像天鹅般优雅地滑翔时，”他说，“大地正沐浴在神奇而又美妙的辉光之中。
Now, slowly, the light of day comes into our sky.
现在，慢慢地，黎明之光在我们的天空中出现了。
A mist hangs low over the pond. The mist rises slowly, like steam from a kettle,
晨雾低低地悬挂在池塘的上空。当我像天鹅般优雅地滑翔的时候，当蛋被孵成的时候，
while I glide, swanlike, while eggs hatch, while young swans come into existence.
当小天鹅们来到这个世界上的时候，雾气像水壶里的蒸汽一般，正在渐渐地升腾。
I glide and glide.
我在滑翔呀滑翔。
The light strengthens. The air becomes warmer.
天光渐亮。空气转暖。
Gradually the mist disappears. I glide, I glide, swanlike.
雾气渐消。我在滑翔呀，我在滑翔，优雅得如同天鹅一样。
Birds sing their early song. Frogs that ha一ve croaked in the night stop croaking and are silent.
鸟儿唱起了他们的晨曲。呱噪了整夜的青蛙现在闭起嘴静默起来。
Still I glide, ceaselessly, like a swan."
而我还在不断地滑翔，像一只天鹅一样。”
"Of course you glide like a swan," said his wife. "How else could you glide? You couldn't glide like a moose, could you?"
“你当然滑翔得像一只天鹅一样了，”他的妻子说，“此外你还能像什么?你不能滑翔得像只麋鹿一样，对吧?”
"Well, no. That is quite true. Thank you, my dear, for correcting me."
“是的，不能。这话可真对。谢谢你纠正我，我亲一爱一的。”
The cob felt taken aback by his mate's commonsense remark.
他的伴侣给他的常识一性一提醒让他大吃一惊。
He enjoyed speaking in fancy phrases and graceful language, and he liked to think of himself as gliding swanlike.
他喜欢在讲话时使用新奇的措辞和文雅的语言，也喜欢想象着自己像天鹅一般滑翔。
He decided he'd better do more gliding and less talking.
他现在觉得自己最好还是多滑翔少说话为妙。
All morning long, the swan heard the pipping of the shells.
整个早晨，天鹅们都在听着啄蛋壳的声音。
And every once in a while, she felt something wriggle beneath her in the nest.
每过一会儿，她就感到身下的窝里有些什么在扭一动。
It was an odd sensation.
这是一种很奇怪的感觉。
The eggs had been quiet for so many, many days--thirty-five days in all
这些蛋那么多天，那么多天以来都是那么安静，一共一有三十五天
and now at last they were stirring with life.
可现在他们终于焕发了生机。
She knew that the proper thing to do was to sit still.
她知道这时候最好还是坐着别动。