《珍珠鸟》
A Pair of Pearl Birds
真好！朋友送我一对珍珠鸟。放在一个简易的竹条编成的笼子里，笼内还有一卷干草，那是小鸟舒适又温暖的巢。
What a nice pair of Pearl birds my friend gave me! I kept them in a simple cage woven with bamboo strips. Inside the cage I put some dry grass to serve as their nest and keep them warm and comfortable.
有人说，这是一种怕人的鸟。
It is said that the Pearl birds are easily scared in the present of man.
我把它挂在窗前，那儿还有一盆异常茂盛的法国吊兰。我便用吊兰长长的、串生着小绿叶的垂蔓蒙盖在鸟笼上，它们就像躲进深幽的丛林一样安全；从中传出的笛儿般又细又亮的叫声，也就格外轻松自在了。
I hung the cage over the window next to a pot of exuberant French bracketplant. I put the long trailing vines of the plant with their small green leaves on the top of the cage, making the birds feel safe and sound as they did deep in the woods. Their singing, as clear and pleasant as the flute, was an indication that they were very much relaxed and at ease.
阳光从窗外射入，透过这里，吊兰那些无数指甲状的小叶，一半成了黑影，一半被照透，如同碧玉；斑斑驳驳，生意葱茏。小鸟的影子就在这中间隐约闪动，看不完整，有时连笼子也看不出，却见它们可爱的鲜红小嘴从绿叶中伸出来。
When the sunlight streamed through the window, half of the small nail-like leaves of the plant were left in the shadow and the other half illuminated, looking like emeralds, casting greenish specks of light on my desk. The shadows of the birds flashed back and forth among the leaves. You could hardly see their bodies, not even the cage sometimes, but occasionally you could see them putting out their lovely red beaks through the leaves.
我很少扒开叶蔓瞧它们，它们便渐渐敢伸出小脑袋瞅瞅我。我们就这样一点点熟悉了。
As I seldom tried to part the leaves to look at them, gradually they plucked up their courage to put out their small heads to look at me. By and by they became accustomed to my presence.
三个月后，那一团愈发繁茂的绿蔓里边，发出一种尖细又娇嫩的鸣叫。我猜到，是它们，有了雏儿。我呢？决不掀开叶片往里看，连添食加水时也不睁大好奇的眼去惊动它们。过不多久，忽然有一个小脑袋从叶间探出来。更小哟，雏儿！正是这个小家伙。
Three months later some thinner and weaker cries were heard through the more exuberant leaves. I knew what had happened. They must have had a baby bird. However, I was not so curious as to look inside the cage and disturb them, not even when I added food and water for them. A few days later I saw a tiny head thrust out. Oh, it was the tiny baby bird, the one that had been uttering the thin and weak cries.
它小，就能轻易地由疏格的笼子钻出身。瞧，多么像它的母亲：红嘴红脚，灰蓝色的毛，只是后背还没有生出珍珠似的圆圆的白点；它好肥，整个身子好像一个蓬松的球儿。
As it was very small, it could easily get out of the cage through the holes. It looked very much like its mother, the red beak, the red claws and the grayish blue down. The only difference was that it had not developed the pearl-like whitish dots on its back. Its body was as plump as a ball of fluff.
起先，这小家伙只在笼子四周活动，随后就在屋里飞来飞去，一会儿落在柜顶上，（一会儿神气十足地站在书架上，啄着书背上那些大文豪的名字；）一会儿把灯绳撞得来回摇动，跟着跳到画框上去了。只要大鸟在笼里生气儿地叫一声，它立即飞回笼里去。
For the first few days it fluttered about the cage only, and then it began to fly all over the room. At one minute it got to the top of the cupboard; at another it darted to the bookcase, pecking at the names of the great writers on the spines of the books. At one moment, it knocked the string of the switch and left it swinging back and forth like a pendulum; at another, it switched around to the frame of the painting. But it had to fly back to the cage when its parents were angry and called it to return.
我不管它。这样久了，打开窗子，它最多只在窗框上站一会儿，决不飞出去。
I let it do as it pleased. After some time, even when I opened the window, it would not fly away. The most it would do was to stand on the window frame for a few moments and then turn around and flutter back again.
渐渐它胆子大了，就落在我书桌上。
By and by it became so bold as to come and rest on my desk. At first it kept at arm's length from me.
它先是离我较远，见我不去伤害它，便一点点挨近，然后蹦到我的杯子上，俯下头来喝茶，再偏过脸瞧瞧我的反应。我只是微微一笑，依旧写东西，它就放开胆子跑到稿纸上，绕着我的笔尖蹦来蹦去；跳动的小红爪子在纸上发出嚓嚓响。
Seeing that I was not harmful, it inched toward me, jumped up to the edge of my cup and lowered its head to drink my tea and then turned to look at me and see what I was going to do in response to its mischief. I gave it a smile and went on with my writing. It then moved onto my paper, hopping around the nib of my pen, scratching the paper with its red claws.
我不动声色地写，默默享受着这小家伙亲近的情意。这样，它完全放心了。索性用那涂了蜡似的、角质的小红嘴，“嗒嗒”啄着我颤动的笔尖。我用手抚一抚它细腻的绒毛，它也不怕，反而友好地啄两下我的手指。（有一次，它居然跳进我的空茶杯里，隔着透明光亮的玻璃瞅我。它不怕我突然把杯口捂住。是的，我不会。）
I wrote on, undistracted, enjoying in silence the friendliness of the small creature. By now it seemed to trust me completely. What happened next was that it started pecking at the nib of the pen with its wax-like hard beak. I gently stroked its soft fluff and it was very well received. To show its intimacy toward me, it pecked at my fingers a couple of times. Once it even got into my empty cup, eyeing me through the transparent glass. It was not worried that I should put my hand over the cup and smother it inside. No, I would never do that.
白天，它这样淘气地陪伴我；天色入暮，它就在父母的再三呼唤声中，飞向笼子，扭动滚圆的身子，挤开那些绿叶钻进去。
During the day it kept me company joyfully. When it turned dark, it would return to the cage at the repeated calls of its parents, waggling its small plump body inside through the leaves.
有一天，我伏案写作时，它居然落到我的肩上。我手中的笔不觉停了，生怕惊跑它。呆一会儿，扭头看，这小家伙竟扒在我的肩头睡着了，银灰色的眼睑盖住眸子，小红脚刚好给胸脯上长长的绒毛盖住。我轻轻抬一抬肩，它没醒，睡得好熟！还呷呷嘴，难道在做梦？
One day I was working at the desk when the small bird flew over and rested on my shoulder. I stopped writing for fear that it would fly off. After a moment when I turned and looked at it, I found it had fallen asleep there, its silver eye-lids covering its eye-balls, its red claws buried in its fluffy chest. I slightly lifted my shoulder, but it did not awake. It was having a fast sleep. Once it opened its beak a bit — obviously it was enjoying itself in a dream.
我笔尖一动，流泻下一时的感受：
I then put my pen to the paper, noting down my feelings of the moment.
信赖，往往创造出美好的境界。
Mutual trust can create happy relationships indeed.
（译者：张梦井、杜耀文）
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