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彩虹鸽|The Story of a Pigeon

第二章　彩虹鸽接受教育|PART ONE Chapter Two Education of Gay-Neck

属类： 双语小说 【分类】儿童读物 -[作者: 丹-戈帕尔-慕克吉] 阅读：[4710]
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鸟类世界中有两种甜美可爱的情景：一种是母鸟啄开蛋壳迎接小宝宝出生的时刻，另一种是母鸟哺育小宝宝的时刻。彩虹鸽得到了鸽爸爸和鸽妈妈最精心的抚育。对他来说，这种抚育就像人类对子女的拥抱一样，会给无助者温暖和幸福。对小鸟来说，这就像食物一样必不可少。这个时候，鸽巢里就不应该塞太多的棉花或法兰绒，而应该塞得越来越少，以免鸽巢的温度过高。一些无知鸽迷不明白，随着小鸽子越长越大，他自己的体内会散发出越来越多的热量。我认为，这段时间频繁清扫鸽巢并不明智。鸽爸爸和鸽妈妈允许留在鸽巢里的一切，都有助于他们的宝宝感到舒适和快乐。

1
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There are two sweet sights in the bird world: one when the mother breaks open her egg in order to bring to light her child, and the other when she broods and feeds him. Gay-Neck was brooded most affectionately by both his parents. This brooding did for him what cuddling does for human children. It gives the helpless ones warmth and happiness. It is as necessary to them as food. This is the time when a pigeon-hole should not be stuffed with too much cotton or flannel, which should be put there more and more sparingly so that the temperature of the nest does not get too hot. Ignorant pigeon fanciers do not realize that as the baby grows larger he puts forth more and more heat from his own body. And I think it is wise not to clean the nest frequently during this time. Everything that the parents allow to remain in the nest contributes to making their baby comfortable and happy.

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我还清晰地记得，从出生的第二天起，每当鸽爸爸或鸽妈妈飞回鸽巢的时候，小彩虹鸽就自动张开嘴，像风箱似的展开肉红色的身体。鸽爸爸或鸽妈妈把自己的嘴伸进他大大张开的嘴里，送进他们吃过的小米粒在自己的器官里形成的乳状物。我注意到了这一点：送进他嘴里的这种食物很软。即便到鸽宝宝快一个月大的时候，鸽爸爸或鸽妈妈还是会把种粒在自己的嗉囊里留一段时间，让食物软化，然后再让它进入鸽宝宝柔弱的胃部。

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I remember distinctly how, from the second day of his birth, little Gay-Neck automatically opened his beak and expanded his carnation-coloured body like a bellows every time one of his parents flew back to their nest. The father or the mother put their beaks into his wide-open maw and poured into it the milk made in their own organs from millet seeds that they had eaten. I noticed this; the food that was poured into his mouth was very soft. No pigeon ever gives any seeds to its baby even when it is nearly a month old without first keeping them in its throat for some time, which softens the food before it enters the delicate stomach of the baby.

3
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我们的彩虹鸽食量大得惊人。鸽爸爸和鸽妈妈分工协作，一个忙着去寻找食物，另一个伏窝守着他。我想，鸽爸爸伏窝为他辛劳，辛苦程度不亚于鸽妈妈。难怪彩虹鸽长得胖乎乎的。他从肉红色变成了黄白色——这是羽毛长出来的第一个迹象。随后，他的身上就出现了一些刺一般的白色羽毛，圆圆的，有些硬，像豪猪[1]毛似的。挂在嘴巴和眼睛周围的黄色胎记渐渐消失了。喙也慢慢地长出来了，牢牢的，尖尖的，长长的。多么有力的下颚啊！彩虹鸽大约三个星期大时，一只蚂蚁爬过彩虹鸽的身边，想爬进鸽巢，彩虹鸽就卧在鸽巢入口。谁也没有告诉他怎么做，他就用嘴去啄蚂蚁。原来完整的蚂蚁，现在变成了两半，躺在了那里。彩虹鸽低下头，凑近那只死蚂蚁，查看自己刚刚做了什么。毫无疑问，他把黑色的蚂蚁当成了种粒，啄死了一个无辜的过路者。蚂蚁对鸽类是友好的。让我们希望他为此惭愧吧。反正，他一生剩下的时间再也没有啄死过一只蚂蚁。

[1]豪猪，又称箭猪，是一类披有尖刺的啮齿目动物，其尖刺可用来防御掠食者，体色有褐色、灰色和白色。不同豪猪物种的刺有不同的形状。旧大陆豪猪（豪猪科）的刺是一束束的，而新大陆豪猪（美洲豪猪科）的刺则是与毛发夹杂在一起。其天敌是渔貂。
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Our Gay-Neck was a tremendous eater. He kept one of his parents busy getting food while the other brooded or stayed with him. I think the father bird brooded and worked for him no less hard than the mother. No wonder his body grew very fat. His carnation colour changed into a yellowish-white—the first sign of feathers coming on. Then that gave way to prickly white feathers, round and somewhat stiff, like a porcupine needle. The yellow things that hung about his mouth and eyes fell away. Slowly the beak emerged, firm, sharp and long. What a powerful jaw! When he was about three weeks old, an ant was crawling past him into the pigeon hole at whose entrance he was sitting. Without any instruction from anybody he struck it with his beak. Where there had been a whole ant now lay its two halves. He brought his nose down to the dead ant and examined what he had done. There was no doubt that he had taken that black ant for a seed, and killed an innocent passer-by who was friendly to his race. Let us hope he was ashamed of it. Anyway, he never killed another ant the rest of his life.

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等长到五个星期大的时候，彩虹鸽就能跳出鸽巢，到那只留在鸽巢附近的盘子里去喝水了。虽说现在他还得让父母亲喂养，但他每天都在设法自己寻找食物。他有时会站在我的手腕上，从我的手掌里啄起一粒种粒。他像玩杂耍的人向空中抛球一样，把食物在喉咙里抛接两三次，然后才一口吞下。彩虹鸽每次这样做的时候，都会转过头，望着我的眼睛，好像在说：“我做得不好吗？等我的父母亲从房顶晒完太阳飞下来的时候，你一定要告诉他们我是多么聪明。”在我喂养的所有鸽子中，彩虹鸽在能力发展方面仍然是最慢的。

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By the time he was five weeks old he could hop out of his birth nest and take a drink from the pan of water left near the pigeon holes. Even now he had to be fed by his parents, though every day he tried to get food on his own account. He would sit on my wrist and dig up a seed at a time from the palm of my hand. He juggled it two or three times in his throat like a juggler throwing up balls in the air, and swallowed it. Every time Gay-neck did that, he turned his head and looked into my eyes as much as to say: "Am I not doing it well? You must tell my parents how clever I am when they come down from sunning themselves on the roof." All the same, he was the slowest of my pigeons in developing his powers.

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就在那段时间，我有了新的发现。我以前从来不知道鸽子如何能在沙尘暴中飞行而不会失明。但是，在我观察不断成长的彩虹鸽时，有一天我注意到他的眼睛上蒙着一层薄膜。我以为他要失明了。惊慌失措之中，我伸出一只手，想把他拉到我的面前，以便仔细察看他。我刚一伸手，他就睁开了金色的眼睛，退到了鸽巢的后部。不过，我照样抓住了他，把他带到房顶上，在五月火热的阳光下仔细观察他的眼睑。是的，我终于恍然大悟：彩虹鸽眼睑上附有一层绵纸般的纤细薄膜，每当我把他的脸对着太阳的时候，他就会把那层薄膜盖在金色的眼睑上面。于是，我知道了，正是这层保护膜才使得这只鸟可以在沙尘暴中飞行或径直飞向太阳。

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Just at this time I made a discovery. I never knew before how pigeons could fly in a dust-storm without going blind. But as I watched the ever-growing Gay-Neck, I noticed one day that a film was drawn over his eyes. I thought he was losing his sight. In my consternation I put forth my hand to draw him nearer to my face in order to examine him closely. No sooner had I made the gesture than he opened his golden eyes and receded into the rear of the hole. But just the same I caught him and took him up on the roof, and in the burning sunlight of May I scrutinized his eyelids. Yes, there it was: he had, attached to his eyelid, another thin lid as delicate as tissue paper, and every time I put his face toward the sun he drew that film over the two orbits of gold. And so I learned that it was a protective film for the eye that enabled the bird to fly in a dust-storm or straight toward the sun.

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随后的两个星期，彩虹鸽要学习如何飞行。尽管彩虹鸽天生是鸟，但要学习飞行根本不容易。小孩子喜欢水，但在学习游泳技术的时候，都不得不犯错误，呛几口水。我的鸽子也类似。他张开翅膀的时候有些将信将疑，连续几个小时都站在房顶上，天空吹来的风没有加快他去飞行的进程。为了说清当时的情况，让我给你描述一下我的房顶。房顶四周有结实的水泥墙，有十四岁男孩子那样高。夏夜，我们大多数人都会睡在房顶上，那道墙甚至可以阻止梦游者从四楼顶上滑下来。

6
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In another fortnight Gay-Neck was taught how to fly. It was not at all easy, bird though he was by birth. A human child may love the water, yet he has to make mistakes and swallow water while learning the art of swimming. Similarly with my pigeon. He had a mild distrust of opening his wings, and for hours he sat on our roof, where the winds of the sky blew without quickening him to flight. In order to make the situation clear, let me describe our roof to you. It was railed with a solid concrete wall as high as a boy of fourteen. That prevented even a sleep-walker from slipping off the height of four stories on summer nights, when most of us slept on the roof.

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我每天都把彩虹鸽放在那道水泥墙上。他迎风站在那里，一站就是好几个小时，但仅此而已。有一天，我在房顶上放了一些花生，叫他跳下来啄。他用探询的目光看了我一会儿，然后从我身上转开目光，又低头看着那些花生。他把这个动作重复了好几次。当最后确信我不会把这美味可口的食物送上来给他吃的时候，他就开始在围栏上走来走去，不时地伸长脖子想去啄大约三英尺以下的那些花生。最终，过了伤心犹豫的十五分钟之后，他跳了下来。就在他的脚触地的时候，因为要在坚果上保持身体平衡，他就突然张开了迄今还没有张开过的翅膀，犹如鼓起了一面风帆。多么了不起的胜利啊！

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Gay-Neck I put on that concrete wall every day. There he sat for hours at a time, facing the wind, but that was all. One day I put some peanuts on the roof and called him to hop down and get them. He looked at me with an inquiring eye for a few moments. Turning from me, he looked down again at the peanuts. He repeated this process several times. When at last he was convinced that I was not going to bring these delicious morsels up for him to eat, he began to walk up and down the railing, craning his neck occasionally towards the peanuts about three feet below. At last, after fifteen minutes of heart-breaking hesitancy, he hopped down. Just as his feet struck the floor, his wings, hitherto unopened, suddenly spread themselves out full sail as he balanced himself over the nuts. What a triumph!

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大约就在这个时候，我注意到了彩虹鸽羽毛颜色的变化。他的羽毛不是毫不起眼的灰蓝色，而是一种富有光泽的海蓝色，令他浑身上下绚丽夺目。突然，一天早晨，他的颈部在阳光下像彩珠一样闪耀。

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About this time I noticed the change of colours on his feathers. Instead of a nondescript grey-blue, a glossy aquamarine glowed all over him. And suddenly one morning in the sunlight his throat glistened like iridescent beads.

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此刻就到了飞行这个最重要的问题了。我期待他的爸爸妈妈教他第一课。不过，我还是尽我所能，采取唯一的方式来帮助他。我每天都让他在我的手腕上站几分钟，然后我会多次上下晃动胳膊；为了在如此高难的位置上保持平衡，他不得不频繁地张合翅膀。这对他有好处，但我教的这部分到此为止。你也许会问，我为什么对这些事情如此着急。一是彩虹鸽学习飞行课已经落后了，二是印度六月份就开始下雨了，随着雨季来临，任何长途飞行都不可能了。我希望训练他能尽快学会辨别方向。

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Now came the supreme question of flight. I waited for his parents to teach him the first lessons, though I helped the only way I could. Every day for a few minutes I made him perch on my wrist; then I would swing my arm up and down many times, and in order to balance himself on such a difficult perch he had to shut and open his wings frequently. That was good for him, but there ended my part of the teaching. You may ask me the reason of my hurrying matters so. He was already behind in his flying lessons, and in June the rains begin to fall in India; and with the approach of the rainy season any long flight becomes impossible. I wished to train him in learning his directions as soon as I could.

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然而，五月底的一天，鸽爸爸承担了这项任务。这个特别的日子，一直到处横扫、冷却城市空气的凛冽北风刚刚停息了。天空像透明的蓝宝石一般清澈。天空如此晴朗，你可以看到我们城市的一座座房顶和最远处的一块块田野和乡村的一处处凉亭。下午大约三点钟，彩虹鸽站在房顶的水泥墙上晒太阳。一直在空中飞来飞去的鸽爸爸这时飞下来，落在他的身边，用奇怪的目光看着儿子，好像在说：“嘿，懒骨头，你都快三个月大了，却还不敢飞行。你是鸽子还是蚯蚓啊？”但是，这个拥有高贵灵魂的彩虹鸽没有回答。这激怒了鸽爸爸。鸽爸爸开始用鸽语咕咕隆隆对他鸣叫起来。为了摆脱那种咕咕隆隆的鸽语，彩虹鸽挪动了一下，但是，鸽爸爸跟在他的后面，咕咕隆隆，猛击他的翅膀。彩虹鸽自己继续越挪越远；鸽爸爸没有心软，而是加倍咕咕隆隆，紧追不舍。最后，鸽爸爸将彩虹鸽推到了最边缘，他只有一个选择，那就是滑下房顶。突然，鸽爸爸将自己整个身体的重量都压在了彩虹鸽幼小的身体上。彩虹鸽滑了下去。彩虹鸽刚滑下半英尺，就张开翅膀，飞了起来。噢，对所有关心他的人来说，这是一个多么令人振奋的时刻！下午，鸽妈妈正在楼下，蘸着那里的水，进行午后的梳洗，这时候她穿过楼梯上来，飞过去，陪伴儿子。他们在房顶上盘旋了至少十分钟后，才飞下来栖息。当他们到达房顶的时候，鸽妈妈很自然地收拢翅膀，落在那里。她的儿子却不是这样：他惊慌失措，就像走进又冷又深的水里的小男孩一样。他浑身颤抖，拍打翅膀，拼命滑过，以便保持平衡，落下的时候两只脚小心翼翼地踩住房顶。最后，他胸脯碰在墙壁上，终于停了下来，像我们合拢扇子一样飞快地收拢翅膀。彩虹鸽因兴奋而气喘吁吁，这时鸽妈妈抚摩着他，用胸脯依偎着他，仿佛他仅仅是一个急需喂养的小宝宝。看到自己的任务圆满完成，鸽爸爸就飞到楼下洗澡去了。

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However, one day long before the end of May, his father undertook the task. This particular day a brisk north wind, which had been sweeping about and cooling the atmosphere of the city, had just died down. The sky was as clear as a limpid sapphire. The spaces were so clear that you could see the house-tops of our town, then the fields and arbours of the country in the farthest distance. About three o’clock in the afternoon, Gay-Neck was sunning himself on the concrete wall of the roof. His father, who had been flying about in the air, came down and perched next to him. He looked at his son with a queer glance, as much as to say: "Here, lazy-bones, you are nearly three months old, yet you do not dare to fly. Are you a pigeon or an earthworm?" But Gay-Neck, the soul of dignity, made no answer. That exasperated his father, who began to coo and boom at him in pigeon-language. In order to get away from that volubility, Gay-Neck moved; but his father followed, cooing, booming and banging his wings. Gay-Neck went on removing himself farther and farther; and the old fellow, instead of relenting, redoubled his talk, and pursued. At last the father pushed him so close to the edge that Gay-Neck had only one alternative, that is, to slip off the roof. Suddenly his father thrust upon his young body all the weight of his old frame. Gay-Neck slipped. Hardly had he fallen half a foot when he opened his wings, and flew. Oh, what an exhilarating moment for all concerned! His mother, who was downstairs dipping herself in the water, and performing her afternoon toilet, came up through the staircase and flew to keep her son company. They circled above the roof for at least ten minutes before they came down to perch. When they reached the roof the mother folded her wings as a matter of course, and sat still. Not so the son: he was in a panic, like a boy walking into cold and deep water. His whole body shook, and his feet trod the roof gingerly as he alighted, skating over it furiously and flapping his wings in order to balance himself. At last he stopped, as his chest struck the side of the wall, and he folded his wings as swiftly as we shut a fan. Gay-Neck was panting with excitement, while his mother rubbed him and placed her chest against him as if he were a mere baby who badly needed brooding. Seeing that his task had been done successfully, Gay-Neck’s father went down to take his bath.

序号 英文/音标 中文解释 更多操作

brood

[bruːd]

n.一窝;一伙;一家孩子;一组事物

affectionate

[ə’fekʃənət]

adj.充满感情的;示爱的

cuddle

[’kʌdl]

vt.怀抱;拥抱

helpless

[’helpləs]

adj.无助的;无依靠的

bellows

[’beləʊz]

n. 手拉吹风器，风箱，(俗称)皮老虎;

beak

[biːk]

n.鸟嘴;鸟嘴状物体;鹰钩鼻

millet

[’mɪlɪt]

n.小米，黍

tremendous

[trə’mendəs]

adj.巨大的;惊人的

eater

[’iːtə(r)]

n.食者;腐蚀剂

past

[pɑːst]

a. 过去的;

halve

[hɑːv]

v.平分;减半

juggle

[’dʒʌɡl]

v.玩杂耍;同时做;纂改;欺骗

sooner

[’suːnə]

adv. soon的比较级

recede

[rɪ’siːd]

vi.后退;减弱

scrutinize

[’skruːtənaɪz]

v.仔细检查;细看

eyelid

[’aɪlɪd]

n.眼皮;眼睑

quicken

[’kwɪkən]

v.使加快;使活跃;刺激;变快;(孕妇) 进入胎动期;变活跃

delicious

[dɪ’lɪʃəs]

adj.美味的;可口的

morsel

[’mɔːsl]

n.少量;一口;一片

crane

[kreɪn]

n.起重机

hitherto

[ˌhɪðə’tuː]

adv.到目前为止;迄今

bead

[biːd]

n.珠子

rainy

[’reɪni]

adj.多雨的;下雨的

brisk

[brɪsk]

adj.敏锐的;活泼的;活跃的;轻快的;凛冽的

sapphire

[’sæfaɪə(r)]

n.蓝宝石;深蓝色

arbour

[’ɑːbə(r)]

n.藤架;凉亭

perching

[’pɜːtʃɪŋ]

n.栖息;验布;铲软,

queer

[kwɪə(r)]

a. 古怪的，奇怪的;

coo

[kuː]

vi. (鸽) 咕咕地叫；轻声而温情地说话;

bang

[bæŋ]

n.巨响;重击;刘海

relent

[rɪ’lent]

v.变宽厚;变温和;动怜悯之心;缓和;(坏天气)变好

redouble

[ˌriː’dʌbl]

v.加倍;再折叠;重复

thrust

[θrʌst]

v.刺;插入;推挤

downstairs

[ˌdaʊn’steəz]

adj.楼下的

staircase

[’steəkeɪs]

n.楼梯

tread

[tred]

n.步法

furious

[’fjʊəriəs]

adj.狂怒的;猛烈的

flap

[flæp]

n.拍打

swift

[swɪft]

adj.快的;迅速的;敏捷的

limpid

[’lɪmpɪd]

adj.清澈的;清晰的

farthest

[’fɑːðɪst]

adv.最远地

earthworm

[’ɜːθwɜːm]

n.蚯蚓

volubility

[vɒljʊ’bɪlɪtɪ]

n.健谈;流畅

perch

[pɜːtʃ]

n.栖木;高位;杆;河鲈鱼

gingerly

[’dʒɪndʒəli]

adv.极度小心谨慎地

alight

[ə’laɪt]

vi. 下(马、车);

skating

[’skeɪtɪŋ]

n.溜冰,

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