在上一章中，我们看到了小天鹅的诞生，也了解到天鹅爸爸独特的个性。今天的这个章节中呢，我们将第一次看到本书的主角-Louis。Louis天生的语言障碍让老爸老妈着实有点着急，在这一章当中，我们可以看到天鹅爸爸妈妈在面对这样一个有语言障碍的小天鹅是如何面对的。同时我们也看到天鹅爸爸用怎么样的一种方式来鼓励和安慰小天鹅。
In what way is Louis different from his brothers and sisters?
大家注意这样的一个表达，蛮常用的 - in what way - 在哪方面
"Come to think of it, I never have," replied the cob, who was beginning to look worried!
come to think of it ...字面意思是：来想一下，其实就是：仔细想想
come to 有时候用来提出一个话题，比如...I am no expert when comes to biology. 讲到生物呀，我还真是不擅长。
“Now that you mention it, I never have,” said the cob.
you mention it - 你提到，你说起
天鹅爸爸一想到自己的孩子可能是哑巴，还是有点方的：
What are you getting at? Do you wish me to believe that I have a son who is defective in any way?
what are you getting at? 你到底想说什么？
defective in any way - 在某方面有缺陷
Such a revelation would distress me greatly.
大家如果查单词：revelation，圣经里有一章叫做Revelation-启示录。其实，relelation就是表示启示，揭示的意思，但是在这里可以理解成“事实”，“这个事实还是让我很忧伤的。”
I want everything to go smoothly in my family life so that I can glide gracefully and serenely, now in the prime of my life, without being haunted by worry or disappointment.
gracefully and serenely - 注意他老爸用的两个副词...
in the prime of my life - 可以理解成 在我壮年之时，或是 人生巅峰之时，哈哈哈
Fatherhood is quite a burden, at best.
at best - 最多，充其量
这句话的意思：做老爸嘛，也就是累点。
I do not want the added strain of having a defective child, a child that has
something the matter with him.
我可以不希望有个不健全的孩子来徒增我更多的压力呀！
added strain - 额外的压力
“This is distressing beyond words. This is a very serious matter.”
beyond words - 无以言表
老妈的担忧并不那么急切，但是也有担心的原因：
His wife looked at him in amusement.
amusement 本意是娱乐，开心的意思，这里可以理解成“乐观”，老妈的态度比老爸乐观一点。
“It’s not too serious now,” she said. “But it will be serious two or three years from now when Louis falls in love, as he will surely do.
falls in love - 谈恋爱
A young male swan will be greatly handicapped in finding a mate if he is unable to say ko-hoh, ko-hoh, or if he can’t utter the usual endearments to the young female
of his choice.”
handicapped- 这个词可以和 defective一起记，都是表示“有障碍，有残疾的”
utter the usual endearments
utter - 和speak类似，有发声，表达的意思
endearments - 情话，甜言蜜语
天鹅妈妈忆往昔啦：
“I can remember perfectly well the springtime, years ago, when you fell in love with me and began chasing after me. What a sight you were, and what a lot of noise you made! It was in Montana, remember?
当年你追我的时候呀...你还记得吗？（害羞状，哈哈）
when you fell in love with me 爱上我，began chase after me 追求我
看一下天鹅妈妈是怎么说天鹅爸爸的声音的：
Well, the thing that attracted me most to you was your voice—your wonderful voice.”
attract someone to ...吸引某人
当年最吸引我的，就是你迷人的声音呀- wonderful voice
“Yes. You had the finest, most powerful, most resonant voice of any of the young male swans in the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana.”
你的声音最好听，最清脆，最洪亮...这一夸，不得了了。
“Yes, indeed. Every time I heard you say something in that deep voice of yours, I was ready to go anywhere with you.”
听到你那深沉的嗓音呀，我就被你深深迷倒呀，你去哪我就去哪呀...哈哈哈
deep voice -深沉的嗓音/ deep blue eyes 深邃的蓝眼睛
我们看看天鹅爸爸被夸后的反应：
He was obviously delighted with his wife’s praise. It tickled his vanity and made him feel great. He had always fancied himself as having a fine voice, and now to hear it from his wife’s own lips was a real thrill. In the pleasure of the moment, he forgot all about Louis and thought entirely of himself.
天鹅爸爸一直以来都比较自信，很爱面子，这一下更是了...简直忘乎所以了
to hear it from his wife’s own lips was a real thrill - 从自己老婆嘴里听到这样的赞扬，非常的开心，激动 （其实夫妻之间，有时候是需要互相鼓励，夸奖的嘛，哈哈）
天鹅爸爸也忆往昔了：
And, of course, he did remember that enchanted springtime on the lake in Montana when he had fallen in love. He remembered how pretty the swan had been, how young and innocent she seemed, how attractive, how desirable.
enchanted springtime - 迷人的春天，美好的春天
注意天鹅爸爸这里用的几个词：how pretty 多美美丽呀，how young 多么年轻呀，how innocent 多么单纯呀，how attractive 多么迷人呀，how desirable - 多么让人向往呀
Now he realized fully that he would never have been able to woo her and win her if he had been unable to say anything.
he would never have been able to woo her and win her if he had been unable to say anything...这是一个虚拟语气，如果当年他没有这么好的嗓音，他肯定追求不到了这只雌天鹅了。虚拟语气一般都是对现实的一种假设，一般来说都是和现实相反的假设
woo- 求爱 ，我们还学了另一个词，叫 chase after 还有一个词叫 court
National Wildlife Refuge in Montana
这是一个野生动物保护基地，1935年4月22日由美国前总统富兰克林罗斯福发起创办的，1961年改成了现在的名字。大家有兴趣可以到他们的网站看看，还蛮有趣的。
网址：https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Red_Rock_Lakes/about.html
网站里关于Trumpeter Swan有一段这样的描述
Trumpeter Swan
In 1932, fewer than 70 trumpeters were known to exist worldwide, at a location near Yellowstone National Park. This led to the establishment of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in 1935.
1932年在美国黄石国家公园附近发现了世界仅存的70只左右的Trumpeter Swan。基于这个现实，1935年就建立了这个Red Rock Lakes野生动物保护基地。
Red Rock Lakes is located in Montana's Centennial Valley and is part of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Nearly half of the known trumpeter swans in 1932 were found in this area.
这个野生动物保护基地在Montana's Centennial Valley，这个地方本身也属于整个黄石公园生态系统的一部分。当年有一半左右的稀有Trumpeter Swan活动在这片区域。
Warm springs provide year-round open waters where swans find food and cover even in the coldest weather.
这里温暖的春天，四季开放的水域给天鹅们提供了充足的食物，即使是寒冷的冬天也不用担心。
Today, estimates show about 46,225 trumpeter swans reside in North America, including some 26,790 in the Pacific Coast population (Alaska,Yukon, and NW British Columbia) which winter on the Pacific Coast; 8,950 in Canada; about 9,809 in the Midwest; and about 487 in the tri-state area of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana (including the Red Rock Lakes refuge flock).
那么现在有多少天鹅呢？整个北美地区大概有46255只，其中26790生活在太平洋沿海一带，8950只在加拿大，美国中西部有9809只，还有487只生活在Idaho, Wyoming和Montana三州交接处。
附一美国地图：
We must stay together as a family until we see how Louis makes out.
see how Louis makes out - 看Louis到时候要怎么办
The night was chill. Carefully, she lifted one wing and covered the cygnets with it.
They stirred in their sleep and drew close to her.
当老妈用翅膀保护他们的时候，小天鹅们本能地：stirred in their sleep（在睡着的状态下动了动） and drew close to her（靠近妈妈），有孩子的可以想象一下你靠近睡梦中的孩子时，ta的反应。没孩子的，自己去找个孩子看看...哈哈哈哈
老爸为这个不能发声的小天鹅操碎了心，这个时候我们看到其实天底下的父母都是一些样的，连天鹅的爸妈都是这样：
想了很久，他对自己说：
There must be some way out of this difficulty.
must be a way out - 总是有办法的！！
He stood on one leg, quietly, but sleep never came.
sleep never came - 一直没有困意
“Here we are, gracefully floating, supremely buoyant, at some distance from the others, in perfect surroundings—a fine morning, with the pond quiet except for the song of the blackbirds, making the air sweet.
gracefully floating, supremely buoyant - 大家可以去总结总结天鹅老爸喜欢用的这些浮夸的副词呀形容词呀...很有意思
in perfect surroundings - 这里的surroundings我说过了哈，去翻翻
Louis虽然年纪不大，不会说话，但还是很了解他爸爸的：
“I wish my father would get to the point,” thought Louis.
get to the point - 讲重点！“我希望老爸可以直接讲重点”
我们看一下老爸说的话：真的很绕呀
“This is an ideal place for our conference,” continued the cob.
这个地方真是个谈心的好地方呀！（一看到 conference，有人就兴奋了，说：我知道，是会以的意思！然后就说：真是个开会的好地方！你家老爸跟你开会呀？对我说的就是你，躺枪了吧？适当的可以转换一下意思，别那么死板）
There is something I feel I should discuss with you very candidly and openly—something that concerns your future.
有件事呀，关系到你的未来，我想呢，咱们还是得开诚布公地谈谈！
very candidly and openly - 开诚布公地
concern your future -关系到你的未来（concern也有关心的意思）
We need not range over the whole spectrum of bird life but just confine our talk to the one essential thing that is before us on this unusual occasion.
我们不需要纵观鸟的一生，在这个特别的时候呢，我们只谈那些紧要的事儿。
range over - 纵观考虑，全局考虑
the whole spectrum of bird life 鸟的一生
confine to ...限定在某一个范围（某一个点）
essential thing - 重要的事儿
这要是我老爸，我也要抓狂了！！
接下来的整个长篇大论都是老爸在不停的鼓励儿子，安慰儿子：
“Well,” said the cob, “I guess it’s no use. I guess you are dumb.”
当讲到这个dumb的时候呢，老爸意识到着会让小Louis产生误解，收到伤害，于是他进一步解释了 dumb是什么意思：
“You misunderstand me, my son,” he said in a comforting voice. “You failed to understand my use of the word ‘dumb,’ which has two meanings. If I had called you a dumb cluck or a dumb bunny, that would have meant that I had a poor opinion of your intelligence. Actually, I think you are perhaps the brightest, smartest, most intelligent of all my cygnets. Words sometimes have two meanings; the word ‘dumb’ is such a word. A person who can’t see is called blind. A person who can’t hear is called deaf. A person who can’t speak is called dumb. That simply means he can’t say anything. Do you understand?”
intelligence - 智力，智商
老爸的鼓励：Actually, I think you are perhaps the brightest, smartest, most intelligent of all my cygnets.
老爸继续鼓励和安慰：
“Do not let an unnatural sadness settle over you, Louis,” said the cob. “Swans must be cheerful, not sad; graceful, not awkward; brave, not cowardly. Remember that
the world is full of youngsters who have some sort of handicap that they must overcome.
settle over - 占据，“别人悲伤占据了你的心！”
注意几组反义词：
cheerful/ sad
graceful/awkward
brave/ cowardly
You apparently have a speech defect. I am sure you will overcome it, in time.
你虽然有言语障碍，但是加以时日，一定可以克服的。
There may even be some slight advantage, at your age, in not being able to say anything. It compels you to be a good listener. The world is full of talkers, but it is rare to find anyone who listens. And I assure you that you can pick up more information when you are listening than when you are talking.”
换个角度来说，你不说话，也许可以成为一个更好的倾听者呀。这个世界上有太多夸夸其谈的人了，但是倾听者太少...（哈哈哈，小天鹅一副不信的样子！）
其实老爸今天讲的关于做一个倾听者的一番话，我还是蛮有感触的，不知道大家有什么感受，可以跟我们分享。
最后老爸给Louis做了一个承诺：
And I promise that someday I will make it possible for you to use your voice.
我一定会想尽办法，让你获得声音。
I don’t know how I will manage this, but in the fullness of time it shall be accomplished.
虽然我现在还不知道要怎么办，但是时机一成熟，我们就知道了。
in the fullness of time - 时机成熟时
And now that our talk has come to a close, let us return gracefully to the other end of the pond, where your mother and your brothers and sisters await us!
come to a close 结束了（也可以说 come to an end）
网友评论