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Then he gently coaxed out of her resting place in a curled-over leaf another garden spider,
在卷曲的葉子中棲息著另外一只園蛛，他輕輕地將其哄騙了出來，
very skillful in weaving wheel-shaped webs of great beauty.
這種蜘蛛可以編織輪子形狀的大網。
The wonderful webs of these two spiders he was careful not to disturb,
他小心翼翼地不去破壞兩只蜘蛛織成的美麗蛛網，
stopping only to leave a grasshopper or other insect as a token of goodwill.
只留下了一只螞蚱或其它昆蟲以示友好。
At the foot of an open muddy slope he saw a round, black mass about the size of a dinner plate moving in the water's edge.
在一片空曠泥濘的斜坡腳下，一團大小和餐盤一樣的黑色物質在河流邊緣移動。
Going closer, he discovered a father catfish, or bullhead, in charge of his multitude of babies.
走近一看，他發現了一條鯰魚爸爸，也被叫做大頭魚，他正在指揮他的孩子們。
The young ones were swimming round and round while the father guarded just outside in the deeper water.
孩子們在水里游來游去，爸爸在遠處的深水區觀看。
The boy thought the old bullhead was the mother, and did not learn
小男孩認為老大頭魚是媽媽，但他當時不知道，
until years later that it was the father who takes charge of the eggs and the young.
直到幾年后他才懂得父親負責小魚們。
While he watched, a small rock bass stole up to grab a baby catfish, and was promptly chased away by father bullhead,
他一邊看，一邊發現一條巖鱸偷偷地逮了一條小大頭魚，并立馬遭到父親的追逐，
but at once another bass stole up from the other side, snatched one, and made his safe getaway.
但突然另一條巖鱸從另外一個方向進入，又逮了一只，并安全逃跑。
Thus these two pirates took turns from one side or the other until the distracted father knew not what to do.
這兩只巖鱸輪換著從一邊或是另一邊進入，直到暈頭轉向的父親不知如何做好。
Fascinated, the small boy watched what was going on in the water,
小男孩興致盎然地看著水里發生的一切，
sympathizing wholly with the catfish but powerless to help.
同情這些大頭魚，但卻無能為力。
He knew that the baby multitude had already dwindled to half its original size,
他知道這些小魚的數量已經減到了之前的一半，
and would continue to dwindle until only a thin line remained along the shore in the shallow water.
并繼續減少，我們只能在沿岸淺水區看到一條細細的魚群。
So our young friend went regretfully on his way. At the lotus bed the boy wandered delighted from flower to flower.
我們的這位年輕朋友繼續上路，但卻十分懊惱，在蓮花棲息地，小男孩興高采烈地在花朵之間漫步。
Breathing deeply the sweet odor from each lily before plucking it,
在摘下百合花之前，他深深聞了每一顆百合的芳香，
he marveled that the blossom could draw such a wealth of sweetness from the stickiest and blackest of mud.
他驚訝地發現，這些百合花能夠從厚厚的黑色泥土中滲透出飽滿的香味。
The young unopened blossoms had the finest fragrance, and of these he picked a dozen, a fair-sized bouquet.
這些未開的百合花散發的香味最誘人，他從中采了十二朵，差不多是一束花的量。
Wrapping a cool lily pad or two about their stems, he tied the whole together with twigs of young willow.
用一片或兩片百合葉子纏繞莖部，他將所有百合用黃色柳樹枝纏繞在一起。
