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There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example—where had they gone? The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.
一种诡异的寂静笼罩了这个地方。比如，小鸟们都到哪儿去了？后院的喂鸟台已经荒废破败。偶尔还能看到的几只鸟儿也颤抖得厉害，飞不起来。这是一个悄无生息的春天。曾经的每个清晨随着破晓开始的鸟儿大合唱已不复存在；只有一片寂静笼罩着田野、树林和沼泽地。
The roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined with browned and withered vegetation as though swept by fire. These, too, were silent, deserted by all living things. Even the streams were now lifeless. Anglers no longer visited them, for all the fish had died.
曾经拥有迷人景色的道路两旁，现在满是焦黄、枯萎的植物，好像被大火烧过一样。这些地方也是寂静无声，了无生机。甚至小溪也失去了生命；钓鱼的人不再来了，因为鱼已经死光了。
Some weeks before a white powder had fallen like snow upon the roofs and the lawns, the fields and streams.
几星期前，一些白色的粉末像雪花般落到了屋顶、草坪、田野和溪流中。
No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves.
不是魔法，也不是敌人的破坏阻止了这个受灾地方新生命的繁衍生息，而是人类自己造成了这一切。
This town does not actually exist. I know of no community that has experienced all the misfortunes I describe. Yet every one of these disasters has actually happened somewhere, and many real communities have already suffered a substantial number of them, and this imagined tragedy may easily become a harsh reality we all shall know.
这个城镇实际上并不存在。我并不知道哪一个地方经受过我所描述的所有不幸。但其中我所描述的每一种灾难实际上都在某个地方发生过，并且确实有许多地方已经遭受了巨大的灾难，这个想象中的悲剧很可能变成一个我们将面对的残酷现实。
What has already silenced the voices of spring in countless towns in America? This book is an attempt to explain.
是什么使美国无数城镇的春天变得如此寂静？这本书试图为你解释这个问题。
