LESSON 41 The swallow

第四十一课 燕子

Those who have watched swallows closely, think them weak of flight and less vigorous when they first appear.

那些密切关注燕子的人，第一次看到它们时，会认为它们飞行能力弱，而且没什么活力。

They could hardly be tired with the journey! What is a thousand miles to those light and graceful wings, which can with ease fly sixty miles an hour?

它们在旅途中几乎不会感到疲倦！那轻巧而优美的翅膀，可以以每小时六十英里的速度轻松飞行，而这一千英里又算什么呢？

Probably when they first return, insects are not plentiful enough to give them their full supply of food:

或许当它们第一次返回时，昆虫还不足以给它们提供充足的食物：

at any rate, it is two or three weeks before they think of beginning house-keeping.

无论如何，它们要两三个星期后才开始考虑养家糊口。

When they do begin, there is no more play, but real and earnest business.

它们开始筑巢时，就不再玩耍了，而是认真地辛苦劳作。

You must not think they are only amusing themselves as they dash over your heads, and you fancy what an easy life they must have of it,

你一定不要以为它们只是出于自娱自乐而在你头上俯冲，你想象它们肯定过着简单轻松的生活，

and how fresh the air must feel to them, and how pleasant it must be to have nothing to do but to play.

它们一定可以感受到新鲜的空气，除了玩耍外什么都不做一定非常愉快。

No! life is work to them; as it is, or ought to be, to every other living creature.

不是的！生活对它们而言是一种工作，就像对所有其他生物一样。

Their feet are so formed that they can only with difficulty rise from the ground, so that they rarely settle.

它们脚的形状，使它们从地面升起时比较困难，所以它们很少下落。

But there is no need: the sky is their home; and their eating, drinking, washing, and nearly all the occupations of their lives, are done upon the wing.

但也没有这样做的必要：天空就是它们的家；它们进食、饮水、洗漱，以及几乎生活中的所有日常活动，都能在羽翼下完成。

The chimney-swallow builds her nest in chimneys, five or six feet down!

有一种燕子将巢建在烟囱上五六英尺高的地方！

The nest is made of clay or mud, or like the house-martin's, and lined with grass and feathers.

巢是由粘土、泥筑成，或是像毛脚燕的巢那样，里面则铺着草和羽毛。

There she lays five or six eggs thickly spotted with pink.

然后，她将在巢里产下五六个粉红色的蛋。