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Late in the afternoon, the swan was rewarded for her patience.
下午晚些时候，雌天鹅的耐心得到了回报。
She gazed down, and there, pushing her feathers aside, came a tiny head--the first baby, the first cygnet.
她往身下望去，在那儿，推开她的羽毛钻出来的，是一个小脑袋——她的第一个小宝宝，第一只小天鹅。
It was soft and downy. Unlike its parents, it was gray. Its feet and legs were the color of mustard. Its eyes were bright.
那是个软绵绵毛茸茸的小东西。它是灰色的，和它的父母不同。它的腿和脚是芥末色的。它的眼睛很亮。
On unsteady legs, it pushed its way up until it stood beside its mother, looking around at the world it was seeing for the first time.
它用站得还不太稳的小腿儿跌跌撞撞地走到妈妈的身边，四处打量着这个它第一次亲眼见到的世界。
Its mother spoke softly to it, and it was glad to hear her voice.
它的妈妈轻柔地对它说起话来，能听到她的声音，它很高兴。
It was glad to breathe the air, after being cooped up so long inside an egg.
在蛋壳里禁锢了这么久之后，它也很高兴能呼吸到新鲜空气。
The cob, who had been watching intently all day, saw the little head appear.
一整天里一直在专心观察着的雄天鹅，看到了这个露出来的小脑袋。
His heart leapt up with joy.
他的心狂跳起来。
"A cygnet!" he cried. "A cygnet at last!
“一只小天鹅！”他大叫，“一只小天鹅出世了！
I am a father, with all the pleasant duties and awesome responsibilities of fatherhood.
我是父亲了，拥有了父亲该有的全部快乐义务和可怕责任啦。
O blessed little son of mine,
噢，我那快乐的小儿子，
how good it is to see your face peering through the protecting feathers of your mother's breast, under these fair skies, with the pond so quiet and peaceful in the long light of afternoon!"
当池塘静谧而又安详地躺在下午那长久的阳光里的时候，在晴朗的天空下面，能看到在你妈妈胸口的羽毛的保护下窥视着四周的你的脸庞，这有多么美妙呀！”
"What makes you think it's a son?" inquired his wife.
“你凭什么认为它是个儿子？”他的妻子问，
"For all you know, it's a daughter.
“你知道，它是个女儿。
Anyway, it's a cygnet, and it's alive and healthy.
不管怎么说，它都是一只小天鹅，而且活得很健康。
I can feel others under me, too.
我还能感觉到身下的其他几只呢。
Perhaps we'll get a good hatch. We may even get all five. We'll know by tomorrow."
可能我们会顺利地把它们孵出来。我们甚至可能把五只都孵出来。明天我们就知道了。”
"I have every confidence that we will," said the cob.
“我相信我们绝对能成功。”雄天鹅说。
Next morning very early, Sam Beaver crawled out of his bunk while his father was still asleep.
第二天一早，萨姆·比弗就起了床，那时爸爸还睡着呢。
Sam dressed and lit a fire in the stove.
萨姆穿好衣服，在炉子里点上了火。
He fried a few strips of bacon, toasted two slices of bread, poured a glass of milk, and sat down and ate breakfast.
他煎了几条腌肉，烤了两片面包，倒了杯牛奶，然后就坐下吃早餐了。
When he was through, he found a pencil and paper and wrote a note.
吃罢饭，他找出铅笔和纸，写了个便条：
I have gone for a walk. Will be back for lunch.
我去散步。午饭时回来。
Sam left the note where his father would find it;
萨姆把这便条放到爸爸能找到的地方；
then he took his field glasses and his compass, fastened his hunting knife to his belt, and set out through the woods and over the swamp to the pond where the swans lived.
接着他带上他的野外望远镜和罗盘，又把他的猎刀别在腰带上，然后才动身穿越森林和沼泽，往天鹅们所在的那个池塘跋涉。
