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Late in the afternoon, the swan was rewarded for her patience.
下午晚些時候，雌天鵝的耐心得到了回報。
She gazed down, and there, pushing her feathers aside, came a tiny head--the first baby, the first cygnet.
她往身下望去，在那兒，推開她的羽毛鉆出來的，是一個小腦袋——她的第一個小寶寶，第一只小天鵝。
It was soft and downy. Unlike its parents, it was gray. Its feet and legs were the color of mustard. Its eyes were bright.
那是個軟綿綿毛茸茸的小東西。它是灰色的，和它的父母不同。它的腿和腳是芥末色的。它的眼睛很亮。
On unsteady legs, it pushed its way up until it stood beside its mother, looking around at the world it was seeing for the first time.
它用站得還不太穩的小腿兒跌跌撞撞地走到媽媽的身邊，四處打量著這個它第一次親眼見到的世界。
Its mother spoke softly to it, and it was glad to hear her voice.
它的媽媽輕柔地對它說起話來，能聽到她的聲音，它很高興。
It was glad to breathe the air, after being cooped up so long inside an egg.
在蛋殼里禁錮了這么久之后，它也很高興能呼吸到新鮮空氣。
The cob, who had been watching intently all day, saw the little head appear.
一整天里一直在專心觀察著的雄天鵝，看到了這個露出來的小腦袋。
His heart leapt up with joy.
他的心狂跳起來。
"A cygnet!" he cried. "A cygnet at last!
“一只小天鵝！”他大叫，“一只小天鵝出世了！
I am a father, with all the pleasant duties and awesome responsibilities of fatherhood.
我是父親了，擁有了父親該有的全部快樂義務和可怕責任啦。
O blessed little son of mine,
噢，我那快樂的小兒子，
how good it is to see your face peering through the protecting feathers of your mother's breast, under these fair skies, with the pond so quiet and peaceful in the long light of afternoon!"
當池塘靜謐而又安詳地躺在下午那長久的陽光里的時候，在晴朗的天空下面，能看到在你媽媽胸口的羽毛的保護下窺視著四周的你的臉龐，這有多么美妙呀！”
"What makes you think it's a son?" inquired his wife.
“你憑什么認為它是個兒子？”他的妻子問，
"For all you know, it's a daughter.
“你知道，它是個女兒。
Anyway, it's a cygnet, and it's alive and healthy.
不管怎么說，它都是一只小天鵝，而且活得很健康。
I can feel others under me, too.
我還能感覺到身下的其他幾只呢。
Perhaps we'll get a good hatch. We may even get all five. We'll know by tomorrow."
可能我們會順利地把它們孵出來。我們甚至可能把五只都孵出來。明天我們就知道了?！?/div>
"I have every confidence that we will," said the cob.
“我相信我們絕對能成功?！毙厶禊Z說。
Next morning very early, Sam Beaver crawled out of his bunk while his father was still asleep.
第二天一早，薩姆·比弗就起了床，那時爸爸還睡著呢。
Sam dressed and lit a fire in the stove.
薩姆穿好衣服，在爐子里點上了火。
He fried a few strips of bacon, toasted two slices of bread, poured a glass of milk, and sat down and ate breakfast.
他煎了幾條腌肉，烤了兩片面包，倒了杯牛奶，然后就坐下吃早餐了。
When he was through, he found a pencil and paper and wrote a note.
吃罷飯，他找出鉛筆和紙，寫了個便條：
I have gone for a walk. Will be back for lunch.
我去散步。午飯時回來。
Sam left the note where his father would find it;
薩姆把這便條放到爸爸能找到的地方；
then he took his field glasses and his compass, fastened his hunting knife to his belt, and set out through the woods and over the swamp to the pond where the swans lived.
接著他帶上他的野外望遠鏡和羅盤，又把他的獵刀別在腰帶上，然后才動身穿越森林和沼澤，往天鵝們所在的那個池塘跋涉。
