VI. Summer Days

六．夏天

The early summer days on a farm are the happiest and fairest days of the year. Lilacs bloom and make the air sweet, and then fade. Apple blossoms come with the lilacs, and the bees visit around among the apple trees. The days grow warm and soft. School ends, and children have time to play and to fish for trouts in the brook. Avery often brought a trout Home in his pocket, warm and stiff and ready to be fried for supper.

在农场里，初夏时节是一年当中最快乐，最美丽的时光。丁香花开得正欢，空气里都是它的味道，然后又慢慢散去。丁香花谢以后，苹果树又开花了，蜜蜂们在苹果园里忙来忙去的。天气一天比一天暖和，让人觉得舒服。学校也放假了，孩子们有大把的时间玩，在小河里钓鱼。艾弗利就经常把一条鳟鱼放在口袋里带回家，到家里时鱼已经变得硬梆梆的了，正好煎了当晚餐。
　　Now that school was over, Fern visited the barn almost every day, to sit quietly on her stool. The animals treated her as an equal. The sheep lay calmly at her feet.

由于学校已经放假了，弗恩几乎每天都来看望威尔伯，她安静的坐在她的小凳子上，动物们都把她当成自己的同类，绵羊们都温驯的躺在她的脚边。
　　Around the first of July, the work horses were hitched to the mowing machine, and Mr. Zuckerman climbed into the seat and drove into the field. All morning you could hear the rattle of the machine as it went round and round, while the tall grass fell down behind the cutter bar in long green swathes. Next day, if there was no thunder shower, all hands would help rake and pitch and load, and the hay would be hauled to barn in the high hay wagon, with Fern and Avery riding at the top of the load. Then the hay would be hoisted, sweet and warm, into the big loft, until the whole barn seemed like a wonderful bed of timothy and clover. It was fine to jump in, and perfect to hide in. And sometimes Avery would find a little grass snake in the hay, and would add it to the other things in his pocket.

七月份的头一天，那些马就会被套上割草机，而扎克曼先生会骑在马背上赶它们进入田地。整个上午你都能听到割草机发出轰鸣声，在田地里绕来绕去，那些高高的草在它后面倒成一条长长的绿色通道。如果运气好没有下雨的话，所有人都会帮忙把草扎起来，摞成一堆，等干了以后就会放在谷仓里堆成高高的一堆，而弗恩和艾弗利就会坐在高高的顶端玩耍.   然后,这个热哄哄香喷喷的干草堆就会被轻轻的吊起来,放进那个大阁楼里,直到整个谷仓变成一张由猫尾草和三叶草组成的大草床，在那上面跳来跳去真好玩，同时它还是一个很好的藏身之所。有时，艾弗利会在里面发现一条小草蛇，把它放到自己的口袋中，于是，他那些杂七杂八的东西便又多了一样。
　　Early summer days are a jubilee time for birds. In the fields, around the house, in the barn, in the woods, in the swamp--everywhere love and songs and nests and eggs. From the edge of the woods, the white-throated sparrow(which must come all the way from Boston) calls, "Oh, Peabody, Peabody, Peabody!" On an apple bough, the phoebe teeters and wags its tail and says, "Phoebe, phoe-bee!" The song sparrow, who knows how brief and lovely life is, says, "Sweet, sweet, sweet interlude; sweet, sweet, sweet interlude." If you enter the barn, the swallows swoop down from their nests and scold. "Cheeky, cheeky!" they say.

对鸟儿们来说，夏初是很好的纪念日，在田野里，谷仓里，树林里，沼泽地里，还有房子四周，到处都是发情的鸟儿们歌唱的声音，它们在那里共筑爱巢，生儿育女。在树林的边缘处，白喉麻雀（它们肯定从遥远的波士顿来的）不停的叫：皮博迪，皮博迪；而在苹果树的枝桠间，那东菲比霸王翁摇头摆尾的兀自歌唱：菲比，菲——比；而那知道生命有多短促和甜蜜的歌雀说：甜滋滋，甜滋滋，甜滋滋的插曲，甜滋滋，甜滋滋，甜滋滋的插曲。而当你走进谷仓，便会有燕子从它们窝中飞下来责备你：放肆，放肆。
　　In early summer there are plenty of things for a child to eat and drink and suck and chew. Dandelion stems are full of milk, clover heads are loaded with nectar, the Frigidaire is full of ice-cold drinks. Everywhere you look is life; even the little ball of spit on the weed stalk, if you poke it apart, has a green worm inside it. And on the under side of the leaf of the potato vine are the bright orange eggs of the potato bug.

当然，初夏的农场，还有很多可以供小孩子们吃喝玩乐的植物，充满乳腺液的蒲公英杆，满含糖浆的三叶草花球，还有冰箱里满目的冰冻饮料。到处都充满了生机，即使是野草茎上的一个小绒球，拔开里面也会钻出一条小青虫。而在土豆藤叶片的另一面，马铃薯甲虫金黄色的虫卵在闪闪发光。

　It was on a day in early summer that the goose eggs hatched. This was an important event in the barn cellar. Fern was there, sitting on her stool, when it happened.

初夏的一天，小鹅们被孵化出来了，这真是仓底的一件大事儿，那时，弗恩也正好在那儿，在她的小凳子上坐着。

Except for the goose herself, Charlotte was the first to know that the goslings had at last arrived. The goose knew a day in advance that they were coming--she could hear their weak voices calling from inside the egg. She knew that they were coming. She knew that they were in a desperately cramped position inside the shell and were most anxious to break through and get out. So she sat quite still, and talked less than usual.

夏洛蒂是除了鹅妈妈之外第一个知道小鹅出生的，鹅妈妈早在一天前就知道了，她听到了从那些蛋里面传出的微弱声音，就知道小鹅快要出世了。她知道那些小鹅在鹅蛋里的姿势极其别扭，因此它们迫不及待的要啄破蛋壳，早点出来。所以她很镇静的坐在那里，不像平时那么多话。

　When the first gosling poked its grey-green head through the goose's feathers and looked around, Charlotte spied it and made the announcement.

当第一只小鹅青灰色的小脑袋在鹅妈妈的羽毛下探出来时，夏洛蒂发现了，并宣布了小鹅出世的消息。

　"I am sure," she said," that every one of us here will be gratified to learn that after four weeks of unremitting effort and patience on the part of our friend the goose, she now has something to show for it. The goslings have arrived. May I offer my sincere congratulations!"

“我非常肯定的宣布，”她说：“在座的每一位，你们将会非常荣幸的见证，我们的朋友，母鹅四个星期的不懈努力和耐心等待，现在终于有结果了。小鹅仔们终于出世了。请接受我衷诚的祝福。鹅妈妈。”

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" said the goose, nodding and bowing shamelessly.

“谢谢，谢谢，非常感谢。”母鹅一迭声的说道，害羞的点头致敬。

　"Thank you," said the gander.

“谢谢你。”公鹅也表达了它的谢意。

　"Congratulations!" shouted Wilbur. "How many gosling s are there?" I can only see one."
　　"There are seven," said the goose.

“祝贺你们。”威尔伯兴奋的喊道：“一共有多少只小鹅？我只能看到一只。”

“一共有七只。”母鹅回答说。

　"Fine!" said Charlotte. "Seven is a lucky number."

“太好了！”夏洛蒂说：“七可是幸运数字。”

　　"Luck had nothing to do with this," said the goose. "It was good management and hard work."

“这事可跟幸运没半点关系。”母鹅说：“这全是我精心照料，辛苦工作的结果。”

　At this point, Templeton showed his nose from his hiding place under Wilbur's trough. He glanced at Fern, then crept cautiously toward the goose, keeping close to the wall. Everyone watched him, for he was not well liked, not trusted.

就在这时，邓普利顿从它的藏身之所——威尔伯的食槽底下，探出小小的脑袋。它先瞟了一眼弗恩，然后悄悄爬向母鹅，紧紧的挨着墙根，每个人都看着它。它并不受大家的欢迎，也不被信任。

"Look," he began in his sharp voice, "you say you have seven goslings. There were eight eggs. What happened to the other egg? Why didn't it hatch?"

“看。”它突然开口说，嗓子又尖双细；“你说你孵了七只小鹅，但是这里有八只蛋，还有一只怎么了，为什么没有孵成小鹅呢？”

"It's a dud, I guess," said the goose.

“我想，它是个坏品。”母鹅这样说。

"What are you going to do with it?" continued Templeton, his little round beady eyes fixed on the goose.

“你会怎样处置它呢？”邓普利顿继续问道，小小的圆豆子眼睛眨也不眨的盯着母鹅。

"You can have it," replied the goose. "Roll it away and add it to that nasty collection of yours." (Templeton had a habit of picking up unusual objects around the farm and storing them in his Home. He saved everything.)

“给你吧，把它滚回你的窝，放到你那堆肮脏的收藏品当中去吧。”母鹅说。（邓普利顿有个习惯，它收捡谷仓周围任何不寻常东西，把它们带回自己的窝里放着，它的窝里什么都有。）

"Certainly-ertainly-ertainly," said the gander. "You may have the egg. But I'll tell you one thing, Templeton, if I ever catch you poking-oking-oking your ugly nose around our goslings, I'll give you the worst pounding a rat ever took." And the gander opened his strong wings and beat the air with them to show his power. He was strong and brave, but the truth is, both the goose and the gander were worried about Templeton. And with good reason. The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything. He would kill a gosling if he could get away with it--the goose knew that. Everybody knew it.