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One summer, when Sam Beaver was about twenty, he and his father were sitting in their camp in Canada.
一個(gè)夏天的某日，快長到二十歲的薩姆正和它的父親坐在他們在加拿大的營帳里。
It was after supper. Mr. Beaver was rocking in a chair, resting after a day of fishing.
晚飯已經(jīng)吃完了。比弗先生在釣了一天魚后，已經(jīng)感到很累了，此時(shí)正在搖椅上搖來晃去地歇著呢。
Sam was reading a book.
薩姆在讀一本書。
"Pop," said Sam, "what does "crepuscular" mean?"
“爸，”薩姆說，“‘Crepuscular ’是什么意思？”
"How should I know?" replied Mr. Beaver. "I never heard the word before."
“我怎么知道？”比弗先生回答，“我以前從沒聽過這個(gè)詞兒。”
"It has something to do with rabbits," said Sam. "It says here that a rabbit is a crepuscular animal."
“這個(gè)詞是和兔子有關(guān)的，”薩姆說，“這上面說兔子是一種‘Crepuscular’的動(dòng)物。”
"Probably means timid," said Mr. Beaver.
“可能這是膽小的意思吧，”比弗先生說，
"Or maybe it means that it can run like the dickens. Or maybe it means stupid.
“也可能是跑得像魔鬼一樣快的意思。要不就是說它很愚蠢。
A rabbit will sit right in the middle of the road at night and stare into your headlights and never get out of the way,
兔子在晚上會(huì)坐到路中間，就那么一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地盯著你的車頭燈，從來都不知道讓路，
and that's how a lot of rabbits get run over. They're stupid."
而這就是許多兔子的死亡原因。他們太蠢了。”
"Well," said Sam, "I guess the only way to find out what "crepuscular" means is to look it up in the dictionary."
“好了，”薩姆說，“我猜唯一能查明Crepuscular 這個(gè)詞的方法就是去翻字典了。”
"We haven't got a dictionary here," said Mr. Beaver. "You'll have to wait till we get back to the ranch."
“我們這兒沒字典，”比弗先生說。“你只好等我們回到農(nóng)場后再說了。”
Just then, over at the pond where the swans were,
這時(shí)候，在天鵝們所在的池塘那邊，
Louis raised his horn and played taps, to let his children know that the day had come to an end.
路易斯舉起他的小號吹起了熄燈號，讓他的孩子們知道這一天就要結(jié)束了。
The wind was right, and the sound carried across the swamp.
當(dāng)時(shí)正好是順風(fēng)，所以這聲音一直傳出了沼澤地。
Mr. Beaver stopped rocking. "That's funny!" he said. "I thought I heard the sound of a trumpet just then."
比弗先生停止了搖晃。“真有意思！”他說，“我覺得我剛才聽到了小號聲。”
"I don't see how you could," replied Sam. "We're alone in these woods."
“我不明白你怎么聽到的，”薩姆回答，“這森林里只有我們兩個(gè)呀。”
"I know we are," said Mr. Beaver. "Just the same, I thought I heard a trumpet. Or a bugle."
“我知道只有我們倆，”比弗先生說，“盡管如此，我還是覺得剛才聽到小號聲了。也許是號角聲吧。”
Sam chuckled. He had never told his father about the swans in the pond nearby.
薩姆心里暗笑起來。他從來沒有對他父親說起過住在這個(gè)池塘附近的天鵝們。
He kept their secret to himself. When he went to the pond, he always went alone.
他仍然只把他們的秘密藏在心底。當(dāng)他去池塘?xí)r，總是單獨(dú)行動(dòng)的。
That's the way he liked it. And that's the way the swans liked it.
他喜歡這樣。天鵝們也喜歡這樣。
