Like all fathers, the cob wanted to show off hischildren to somebody. So he led the cygnets towhere Sam was.
像所有的父亲一样，雄天鹅也想把他的孩子向某人炫耀一番。于是他领着小天鹅往萨姆这边来。
They all stepped out of the water and stood in frontof the boy--all but the mother swan. She stayedbehind.
他们都走出水面站到了这个男孩的面前——只除了天鹅妈妈。她留在了后面。
"Ko-hoh!" said the cob.
“吭—嗬!”雄天鹅说。
"Hello!" said Sam, who hadn't expected anything like this and hardly dared breathe.
“你好!”萨姆说，他从没想过会发生这种事情，因此紧张得气都不敢喘了。
The first cygnet looked at Sam and said, "Beep." The second cygnet looked at Sam and said, "Beep."
第一只小天鹅望着萨姆说：“哔。”第二只小天鹅望着萨姆说：“哔。”
The third cygnet greeted Sam the same way. So did the fourth.
第三只小天鹅用同样的方式对萨姆打招呼。第四只也是。
The fifth cygnet was different. He opened his mouth but didn't say a thing.
第五只小天鹅则完全不同。他张开了嘴，可什么都没说出来。
He made an effort to say beep, but no sound came.
他拼命地想说“哔”，却怎么也发不出声音来。
So instead, he stuck his little neck out, took hold of one of Sam's shoelaces, and gave it a pull.
情急之下，他伸出他的小脖子，叼住萨姆的一只鞋带，把它拉了起来。他使劲地拽了一会儿。
He tugged at the lace for a moment. It came untied. Then he let it go.
鞋带松开了。然后他才松开了嘴。
It was like a greeting. Sam grinned.
这也算是一种问候吧。萨姆咧开嘴笑了。
The cob now looked worried. He ran his long white neck between the cygnets and the boy andguided the babies back to the water and to their mother.
雄天鹅现在有些担心了。他把白色的长脖子弯到小天鹅和男孩之间，领着孩子们回到水里去找他们的妈妈。
"Follow me!" said the cob. And he led them off, full of grace and bursting with pride.
“跟我来!”雄天鹅说。他带着他们离开了，一副神气十足，骄傲得不得了的样子。
When the mother thought her young ones had had enough swimming and might be chilly, shestepped out onto a sandy shore and squatted down and called them.
当天鹅妈妈觉得她的孩子们在水里游得够久了，再呆下去可能会着凉的时候，她便跨上沙岸，蹲下来招呼他们。
They quickly followed her out of the pond and burrowed down under her feathers to get warm.In a moment there wasn't a cygnet in sight.
他们很快地跟着她离开池塘，钻到妈妈的羽毛下取暖。片刻之间，一只小天鹅也看不见了。
At noon, Sam got up and walked back to camp, his mind full of what he had seen.
到了下午，萨姆才起身往营地走，满脑子还想着他刚才所见的一切。
Next day, he and his father heard Shorty's motor in the sky and saw the plane approaching.They grabbed their duffel bags.
第二天，他和他的爸爸听到了天空中响起的矬子的飞机声，看到了正在飞过来的飞机。他们拎起了他们的行李袋。
"Good-bye, camp! See you in the fall!" said Mr. Beaver, as he shut the door and gave it a pat.
“再见，营地!秋天再见!”比弗先生说着，关上了营地的门，还拍了拍它。
He and Sam climbed into the plane and were soon aloft, on their way home to Montana.
他和萨姆爬上飞机，很快地飞上了天，往他们蒙大拿家乡的方向去了。
Mr. Beaver did not know that his son had seen a Trumpeter Swan bring off her young ones.Sam kept the matter to himself.
比弗先生并不知道他的儿子看到了一只成功地孵出了她的小天鹅的号手天鹅。萨姆把这秘密留给了他自己。
"If I live to be a hundred years old," thought Sam, "I'll never forget what it feels like to have myshoelace pulled by a baby swan."
“即使我活到一百岁，”萨姆想，“我也永远不会忘记让自己的鞋带被一只小天鹅解开的感觉是怎么样的。”
Sam and his father were late arriving home at the ranch, but late as it was, Sam got out hisdiary before he turned in for the night. He wrote:
萨姆和他的父亲回到他们在牧场的家时已经很晚了，但尽管如此，萨姆在睡觉前还是拿出了他的日记本。他写道：
There are five cygnets. They are sort of a dirty brownish-gray color, but very cute.
有了五只小天鹅。他们都是棕灰色的，看起来有点儿脏，不过很可爱。
Their legs are yellow, like mustard.
他们的腿是黄的，就像芥末的颜色一样。
The old cob led them right up to me. I wasn't expecting this, but I kept very still.
那个年纪大的雄天鹅把他们一直带到了我面前。我没料到这一点，不过我还是保持了镇静。
Four of the babies said beep. The fifth one tried to, but he couldn't.
四只天鹅宝宝说“哔”。第五只也想说，可他说不出声来。
He took hold of my shoelace as though it was a worm and gave it a tug and untied it.
他叼住了我的鞋带，好象它是个小虫子一样，他叼着它使劲儿一拉，把它解开了。
I wonder what I'm going to be when I grow up?
我想知道，长大以后我会是什么样子?
He switched off the light, pulled the sheet up over his head, and fell asleep wondering what hewas going to be when he grew up.
他关上灯，把被单拉过头顶，想着自己长大以后会是什么样子，渐渐地睡着了。