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At once the ants swarmed out. Some ran around the hill, while a few of them began to carry away fat, white eggs. The old partridge, coming to her children, picked up one of these juicy-looking eggs and clucked. Then she dropped it, picked it up again, and clucked, and finally swallowed it.
螞蟻們立刻蜂擁而出。有些螞蟻繞著蟻丘跑，有些開始搬運胖胖的白蛋。鷓鴣媽媽走到孩子們面前，撿起一顆看起來很漂亮的蛋，咯咯叫著。然后她把它扔掉，再撿起來，咯咯叫著，最后把它吞了下去。
The young ones stood around, watching.
小鷓鴣們站在旁邊看著。
Then one little fellow, the one that had sat on the chip, picked up an ant-egg, dropped it a few times, and then swallowed it; so he had learned to eat. Within twenty minutes, even the smallest partridge had learned. And a merry time they all had scrambling after the eggs which their mother sent rolling down the sides of the ant-hill. Soon every young partridge had swallowed so many eggs that he could eat no more.
然后那個坐在碎片上的小家伙撿起一顆蟻蛋，扔了幾次，然后把它吞了；于是它學會了吃東西。不到二十分鐘，即使是最小的鷓鴣也學會了吃東西。他們都高興地爭奪著媽媽從蟻丘邊上滾下來的蟻蛋。不久，每只小鷓鴣都吃了很多蟻蛋，再也吃不下了。
Then the mother led her children up the stream. On a sandy bank, well hidden by bushes, they lay all that afternoon. They learned how pleasant it was to feel the cool dust running between their hot little toes.
然后鷓鴣媽媽領著孩子們到了小溪上游。在沙岸邊，他們好好地藏在灌木叢里躺了一下午。他們了解到，涼爽的灰塵穿過火熱的小腳丫是多么愉快。
They lay on their sides as their mother did and scratched happily with their tiny feet.
他們像媽媽一樣躺著，用他們的小腳快樂地抓著。
That night Mother Partridge took her little ones to a dry thicket near by. There, among the dead leaves and under the bushes, she covered them with her soft feathers. The wee cuddling things peeped in their sleep and snuggled against her warm body.
那天晚上，鷓鴣媽媽帶著孩子們來到了附近的一個干燥灌木叢里。在枯葉和灌木叢下，她用自己柔軟的羽毛覆蓋住他們。小可愛們做著美夢，偎依著她溫暖的身體。
