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The cob's wife pretended not to notice that her husband was showing off, but she saw it, all right, and she was proud of his strength and his courage.
雄天鹅的妻子假装没看到丈夫的卖弄，可她当然看见了，而且，她也为丈夫的力量和勇气而骄傲。
As husbands go, he was a good one.
作为一个丈夫来说，他可真是个好样的。
The cob watched his beautiful wife sitting there on the tiny island.
雄天鹅望着他那蹲坐在小岛上的美丽妻子。
To his great joy, he saw her begin to turn slowly round and around, keeping always in the same spot, treading the mud and grass.
他很高兴地看到，她开始慢慢地在同一地点转来转去，踩着湿泥和青草。
She was making the first motions of nesting.
她正在做造窝的第一个动作。
First she squatted down in the place she had chosen.
她先蹲坐在她选定的地方。
Then she twisted round and around, tamping the earth with her broad webbed feet, hollowing it out to make it like a saucer.
然后，她又来回转着，用她那宽阔带蹼的脚掌把泥土踩实，将其踏出坑来，使之像个盘子。
Then she reached out and pulled twigs and grasses toward her and dropped them at her sides and under her tail, shaping the nest to her body.
接着，她伸长脖子把小树枝和青草拉到身边，放到她的周围和尾巴下面，在她的身下造出一个窝。
The cob floated close to his mate. He studied every move she made.
雄天鹅靠近了他的伴侣。他观察着她的每一个动作。
"Now another medium-sized stick, my love," he said.
“现在再来一根中等大小的树枝，我亲爱的，”他说。
And she poked her splendid long white graceful neck as far as it would go, picked up a stick, and placed it at her side.
她把华贵而又高雅的白色长脖子伸得尽可能的远，衔起一根树枝，放到她的身边。
"Now another bit of coarse grass," said the cob, with great dignity.
“现在再来点粗壮些的草，”雄天鹅非常威严地说。
The female reached for grasses, for moss, for twigs--anything that was handy.
雌天鹅去叼青草，青苔，小树枝--任何她可以够得到的东西。
Slowly, carefully, she built up the nest until she was sitting on a big grassy mound.
她就这样慢慢地，仔细地把她的窝建成了，最后，她坐到了这个大草堆上面。
She worked at the task for a couple of hours, then knocked off for the day and slid into the pond again, to take a drink and have lunch.
她做这个工作用了大约两小时，然后才暂时停下今天的工作，游到池塘里，开始喝水和吃午餐。
"A fine start!" said the cob, as he gazed back at the nest.
“一个很好的开始！”雄天鹅回头望着那个窝，说道，
"A perfect beginning! I don't know how you manage it so cleverly."
“一个完美的开端！我真不知道你是怎么把它弄得这么妙的。”
"It comes naturally," replied his wife.
“这全靠本能，”他的妻子回答，
"There's a lot of work to it, but on the whole it is pleasant work."
“虽然有很多活儿得干，但总的来说，这还是个叫你愉快的工作。”
"Yes," said the cob. "And when you're done, you have something to show for your trouble
“是的，”雄天鹅说，“不过等你把这一切全做完，你就会从你的辛苦中得到一些回报了
you have a swan's nest, six feet across. What other bird can say that?"
你有了一个天鹅窝啦，直径六英尺长呢。别的鸟儿能有这本事？”
"Well," said his wife, "maybe an eagle can say it."
“唔，”他的妻子说，“鹰大概能做到。”
"Yes, but in that case it wouldn't be a swan's nest, it would be an eagle's nest,
“是的，可他造的不是天鹅窝，只能是一个老鹰窝而已，
and it would be high up in some old dead tree somewhere, instead of right down near the water, with all the conveniences that go with water."
那样的话，它就会建在别的地方，比如一棵枯死的老树高处，而不是正好建在水边，有着种种和水有关的方便了。”
They both laughed at this.
他们都因此大笑起来。
Then they began trumpeting and splashing and scooping up water and throwing it on their backs, darting about as though they had suddenly gone crazy with delight.
然后他们开始吹号，击水，把水铲起来泼到他们的背上，彼此打闹，好像他们突然乐得发疯了似的。
"Ko-hoh! Ko-hoh! Ko-hoh!" they cried.
“吭—嗬，吭—嗬，吭—嗬！”他们高喊。
Every wild creature within a mile and a half of the pond heard the trumpeting of the swans.
池塘一里半之内的所有野生动物都听到了他们的吹号声。
The fox heard, the raccoon heard, the skunk heard.
狐狸听到了，浣熊听到了，臭鼬也听到了。
One pair of ears heard that did not belong to a wild creature.
还有一双耳朵也听到了，可它们却不是野兽的。
But the swans did not know that.
不过天鹅们并不知道这一点。
