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The result of my bargain with the caterpillars is that I soon have some thirty nests within a few steps of my door. With such treasures daily before my eyes, I cannot help seeing the pine caterpillar’s story unfolded at full length. These caterpillars are also called the processionaries, because they always go out in a procession.
我和毛毛蟲討價還價的結果是，我很快就能在離家幾步之遙的地方找到大約30個巢穴。每天都有這么多寶藏在眼前，我無從選擇地看到松毛蟲的故事徐徐展開了。這些毛毛蟲也被稱為“行軍者”，因為它們總是列隊前進。
First of all, there is the egg. During the first half of August, if we look at the lower branches of the pine trees, we shall discover, here and there on the foliage, certain little whitish cylinders spotting the green. These are the pine moth’s eggs; each cylinder is the cluster laid by one mother. The cylinder is like a tiny muff about an inch long and a fifth or sixth of an inch wide, wrapped around the base of the pine needles, which are grouped in twos. This muff has a silky appearance and is white, slightly tinted with reddish brown. It is covered with scales that overlap like the shingles on a roof.
第一步，是卵。在八月的上半月，如果我們觀察一下松樹較低的枝干，就會發現在樹葉上到處都有一些發白的小圓筒，點綴著綠色。這些都是松蛾的卵；每個圓柱體是由一個母親放置的集群。圓柱體就像一個大約一英寸長，五分之一或六分之一英寸寬的小筒，包裹在松樹針的底部，松針被分成兩組。圓筒外觀柔滑，白色，略帶紅棕色。它覆蓋著鱗片，像屋頂上的瓦片一樣相互重疊。
