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His wife looked at him in amusement.
他的妻子有些好笑地看著他。
"It's not too serious now," she said. "But it will be serious two or three years from now when Louis falls in love, as he will surely do.
“現在情況還不算太嚴重，”她說，“不過等到兩三年后，路易斯開始戀愛的時候，他就會有麻煩了。
A young male swan will be greatly handicapped in finding a mate if he is unable to say ko-hoh, ko-hoh,
一個年輕的雄天鵝將很難找到愛侶的，如果他不能說‘吭—嗬，吭—嗬’，
or if he can't utter the usual endearments to the young female of his choice."
或者不能對他選中的年輕雌天鵝說出那些通常的表示愛慕的言辭的話。”
"Are you sure?" asked the cob.
“你能肯定嗎？”雄天鵝問。
"Certainly I'm sure," she replied. "I can remember perfectly well the springtime, years ago, when you fell in love with me and began chasing after me.
“我當然能，”她回答，“你愛上我并開始追求我的那個春天，雖然已經過去這么多年了，我現在還記憶猶新呢。
What a sight you were, and what a lot of noise you made! It was in Montana, remember?"
那時的你有多么瀟灑，發出了多少種甜蜜的聲音！那是在蒙大拿，還記得嗎？”
"Of course I remember," said the cob.
“我當然記得。”雄天鵝說。
"Well, the thing that attracted me most to you was your voice--your wonderful voice."
“很好，當時最吸引我的就是你的聲音——你那絕妙的聲音。”
"It was?" said the cob.
“是嗎？”雄天鵝說。
"Yes. You had the finest, most powerful, most resonant voice of any of the young male swans in the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana."
“是的。在蒙大拿的紅石湖國家野生動物保護區里，你是所有的年輕雄天鵝中嗓音最棒的，最嘹亮的，最具感染力的。”
"I did?" said the cob.
“我有那么好的嗓子？”雄天鵝說。
"Yes, indeed. Every time I heard you say something in that deep voice of yours, I was ready to go anywhere with you."
“有，的確有。每當聽到你用你那渾厚的嗓音對我說話，我就愿意和你一起去任何地方。”
"You were?" said the cob.
“真的嗎？”雄天鵝說。
He was obviously delighted with his wife's praise. It tickled his vanity and made him feel great.
妻子的贊揚顯然讓他十分開心。這些話撩起了他的虛榮心，使他覺得自己很了不起。
He had always fancied himself as having a fine voice, and now to hear it from his wife's own lips was a real thrill.
他本來就一直以為自己有一副好嗓子，現在又聽到妻子親口這么說，這可真讓他欣喜若狂了。
In the pleasure of the moment, he forgot all about Louis and thought entirely of himself.
在這狂喜的瞬間，他把有關路易斯的事情全都忘得干干凈凈，光想著他自己了。
And, of course, he did remember that enchanted springtime on the lake in Montana when he had fallen in love.
當然了，他還記得他在蒙大拿的湖邊墜入愛河的那個令人銷魂的春天。
He remembered how pretty the swan had been, how young and innocent she seemed, how attractive, how desirable.
他仍記得那時的雌天鵝是多么漂亮，多么年輕純真，多么有魅力，多么楚楚可愛。
Now he realized fully that he would never have been able to woo her and win her if he had been unable to say anything.
現在他完全明白了，如果他當時不能對她開口示愛的話，他永遠都沒法向她求婚并且贏得她的芳心。
"We'll not worry about Louis for the time being," said the swan. "He's still very young.
“我們現在不必為路易斯擔憂，”雌天鵝說，“他還很小呢。
But we must watch him next winter when we are in Montana for the season.
不過等我們明年冬天去蒙大拿過冬時，我們必須注意觀察他才行。
We must stay together as a family until we see how Louis makes out."
我們一家必須要呆在一起，直到我們看到路易斯是怎么度過這個難關的。”
She walked over to where her sleeping cygnets were and settled down next to them.
她走到她的小天鵝們睡覺的地方，挨著他們蹲坐下來。
The night was chill.
夜里很冷。
Carefully, she lifted one wing and covered the cygnets with it. They stirred in their sleep and drew close to her.
她輕輕地舉起一只翅膀蓋到了小天鵝們的身上。他們在睡夢中扭動著向她靠過來。
