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Two or three times during the long three weeks that followed,
在隨后漫長的三周里，有2-3次
Mr. bobwhite took his turn upon the eggs for half an hour, while his wife went for a dust bath.
山齒鶉先生會待在鶉蛋上半個小時，妻子去沙子中翻滾。
About the twentieth of June Mrs. Bob-White appeared, closely followed by fourteen quail chicks.
差不多是6月20號，妻子出現(xiàn)時后面緊跟著14個小家伙。
She was clucking and bristling like the good mother partridge that she was, while each of the tiny chicks was spry as a cricket.
妻子發(fā)出唧唧的叫聲，并豎起毛發(fā)，它的樣子好似持家有方的山鶉家族一員，而它本來就是，每個小家伙活蹦亂跳有如蟋蟀。
After the first tiny little creature had picked his way through the shell,
當(dāng)?shù)谝粋€幼崽破殼而出后，
his peep had set all the others to work, and in half an hour the whole brood had arrived.
他唧唧的叫聲讓其它幼崽緊隨其后，半個小時所有幼崽都出現(xiàn)在眼前。
Then when they had dried and had a little time in which to gain strength, they were ready for the world.
當(dāng)它們晾干了身體，又等待一會積蓄能量后，它們將準(zhǔn)備迎接這個世界。
Forth they all came, the mother clucking and bristling and the chicks scampering this way and that,
它們相繼破殼而出后，媽媽發(fā)出唧唧的叫聲，豎一豎毛發(fā)，幼崽們活蹦亂跳地到處跑，
pecking at almost invisible plant lice and bugs, feeding themselves within the same hour that they came from the nest.
一小口一小口啄食肉眼幾乎看不到的蚜蟲和小蟲子，從出生到自己吃食是在一個小時內(nèi)發(fā)生的。
For two or three nights Mrs. bobwhite led them back to the old nest,
有兩三晚，雌山齒鶉讓幼崽們回到老巢，
but after that it was given up, and they never returned to it.
但最終放棄了這一想法，它們從沒有回到過這里。
Family Misfortunes
家庭悲劇
One night when they were about a week old, Mrs. bobwhite led them to sleep in a little hollow under an overhanging rock.
它們差不多有一周大了，那天晚上，雌山齒鶉讓它們在懸掛巖石的下方空洞中睡覺。
During the night there was a terrible downpour of rain, and the hollow filled rapidly.
夜間下起了暴雨，空洞迅速充滿了水。
Before the young mother could conduct her chicks to higher and drier ground, three were drowned in the puddle.
等不到年輕媽媽讓幼崽們轉(zhuǎn)移到更高的干燥地方，它們淹死在了水坑中。
For the first two weeks bobwhite stayed with his family trying to protect them
前兩周，山齒鶉爸爸和家人在一起，為的是保護(hù)她們
and giving his wife much good advice about bringing up children;
并給妻子提出一些育兒的好主意；
but she finally told him that she could get along quite well without him, and he flew away.
但她說她沒有他一樣做的很好，爸爸最終飛走了。
