海边红树
重新开动博客，摄影欣赏。
读《The Trumpet Of The Swan》（3）
《吹小号的天鹅》这本书里，作者的文笔很好，不仅词汇丰富，在而且不论在描写自然景物上，还是在描写天鹅的飞行上，除了语言形象生动之外，而且还注重细节的描述。
曾经多次的拍摄过天鹅的图片，也录制过天鹅的视频。但是当时只关注天鹅外形的优雅，游在水面时的闲逸神情。读了天鹅的故事之后，才知道天鹅从起飞到升高的过程中，是要进行体力以及精神上的一番努力而完成的。另外，它们在迁徙的过程中，还要随时应对天气的情况作出调整，比如看风向等等。
读着天鹅迁徙的故事，不由想起40多年前学世界地理的时候，老师在课堂上介绍非洲动物大迁徙的知识。在东非的坦桑尼亚和肯尼亚两国交界处。上百万头角马，斑马，羚羊等食草动物为了追寻新鲜的水源和青草，它们就会沿着塞伦盖蒂国家公园（坦桑尼亚）和马赛马拉国家保护区（肯尼亚）之间的环形路线，进行长达数千公里的史诗级大迁徙。在课堂上，老师介绍了自然界中的一种食物链，是与气候的变化紧密相关的。当非洲的热带草原气候进入干季的时候，动物们为了生存就会迁徙到雨季开始的地带。当食草动物大军浩浩荡荡的向前行走的时候，食肉动物狮子，老虎，豹等食肉动物就会紧紧的尾随着食草动物。
所以，不论是动物，还是飞禽，它们的迁徙是为了生存。
"It sounds very nice," said the cygnet, "but I'm not sure I can do it. I might get dizzy way up there-if I look down."
听起来不错，一个小天鹅说道。但是我不确定我能做到。如果从空中往下看，我可能会眩晕。
"Don't look down!" said his father. “Look straight ahead. Ander don't lose your nerve. Besides, swans do not get dizzy--they feel wonderful in the air. They feel exalted.”
雄天鹅说：“别往下看，往前看，你就不会紧张。另外，天鹅不会昡晕，它们在空中的感觉很美妙，那是一种意气风发的感觉。”
"What dose 'exalted' mean?" asked the cygnet.
“什么是意气风发？”小天鹅问道。
"It means you will feel strong, glad, firm, high, proud, successful, satisfied, powerful, and elevated--as though you had conquered life and had a higher purpose."
”意思是你感觉到强健，欣喜，坚定，高昂，自豪，成功，满足，有力且意气风发。仿佛你已征服了生活，并怀有崇高的目标“
Louis listened to all this with great attention. The idea of flying frightened him. "I won't be able to say ko-hoh," he thought. "I wonder whether a swan can fly if he has no voice and can't say ko-hoh." （这几句话描写了小天鹅露易斯的心理活动，细节的描写衬托出露易斯的智力没有问题。）
露易斯全神贯注地听着这一切，不由忧虑浮上心头。我不能象其它天鹅那样发声，它an想。”如果一只天鹅没有声音，也发不出‘k-hoh’的叫声，它还能飞吗？“
“I think,”said the cob, "the best plan is for me to demonstrate flying to you. I will make a short exhibition flight while you watch. Observe everything I do!“
“我想”雄天鹅说道：“最好的方案是由我向你们演示飞行。我会进行一次简短的飞行演示，你们在旁边观看，并仔细观察我的一举一动。”
Watch me pump my neck up and down before the takeoff! Watch me test the wind by turning my head this way and that! The takeoff must be into the wind--it's much easier that way. Listen to the noise I make trumpeting! watch how I raise my great wings! See how I beat them furiously as I rush through the water with my feet going like mad!
看我起飞如何上下摆动脖子，看我如何左右转头试探风向，起飞必须迎风进行，那样会轻松得多。听听我那响亮的鸣叫声。看我如何展开巨大的双翼，看我如何在水面上奋力拍打翅膀，同时双脚全力的加速划水。
This frenzy will last for a couple of hundred feet, at which point I will suddenly be airborne, my wings still chopping the air with terrific force but my feet no longer touching the water! Then watch what I do! Watch how I stretch my long white elegant neck out ahead of me until it has reached its full length! Watch how I retract my feet and allow them to stream out behind, full-length, until they extend beyond my tail! Hear my cries as I gain the upper air and start trumpeting!
这种疯狂的冲刺将持续数百英尺，随后我便会骤然腾空，我的双翼仍以惊人的力量拍击着空气，而双脚已不再触碰水面。接着，看我的动作：看我如何将那修长，洁白而优雅的颈项向前伸展，直至完全伸直。看我如何收回双脚，任由它们向后舒展，完全伸展开来，直到超出我的尾巴。当我升入高空时，我会鸣叫，发出嘹亮号角般的长鸣。
See how strong and steady my wingbeat has become! Then watch me bank and turn, set my wings, and glide down! And just as I reach the pond again, watch how I shoot my feet out in front of me and use them for the splashdown, as though they were a pair of water skis! Having watched all this, then you can join me, and your mother, too, and we will all make a practice flight together, until you get the hang of it.
看看我的翅膀拍动变得多么有力，多么稳定。然后看我倾斜，转弯。展开双翼，滑翔而下。再次跃入池塘。看我如何将双脚伸出，用它们来溅起水花，就像它们是一双滑水板。看明白这些之后，你们就可以和我，还有你们的妈妈一起练习飞行。直到你们掌握要领为止。
Then tomorrow we will do it again, and instead of returning to the pond, we will head south to Montana. Are you ready for my exhibition flight?"
明天我们将会再练习一次 ，这次不再回池塘那边，而是向南飞行前往蒙他拿州。你们准备好观看我的飞行表演了吗？
"Ready!" cried all the cygnets except Louis.
“准备好了！”除了露易斯之外，其他几个小天鹅回答到。
"Very well, here I go!" cried the cob.
“那好，我要开始了。”
later，the seven great birds stayed aloft about half an hour, then returned to the pond, the cob still in the lead. They all had a drink to celebrate the successful flight. Next day they were up early. It was a beautiful fall morning, with mist rising from the pond and the trees shining in all colors. Toward the end of the afternoon, as the sun sank low in the sky, the swans took off from the pond and began their journey to Montana.
随后，这七只天鹅在空中盘旋了大约半小时，随后返回池塘，那只雄天鹅依然领头。它们畅饮一番，以此庆祝飞行的成功。第二天它们起的很早，这是一个美丽的秋天早晨，此时池塘上雾气升腾，树木在阳光下闪耀着斑斓色彩。临近傍晚时分，夕阳西下，天鹅们从池塘起飞，踏上了前往蒙他拿州的旅程。
"This way!" cried the cob.
“往这边走。”雄天鹅喊道。
He swung to his left and straightened out on a southerly course. The others followed, trumpeting as they went. As they over the camp where Sam Beaver was, Sam heard them and ran out, He stood watching as they grew smaller and smaller in the distance and finally disappeared.
它向左转弯，随即端正航向，径直向南飞去。全家都跟随着雄天鹅在空中飞行。一路上鸣叫着。当它们飞过萨姆.比弗所在的营地时，萨姆听到了天鹅的叫声，他跑出来观看，伫立原地，目送着它们的身影在拉长的距离中越来越小，最终消失不见。
Sam got out his diary, he wrote:
I heard the swans tonight. They are headed south. It must be wonderful to fly at night. I wonder whether I'll ever see one of them again. How does a bird know how to get from where he is to where he wants to be?
萨姆拿出他的日记写道：
今晚我听到了天鹅的叫声，它们正向南方飞去。在夜色中翱翔， 想必是美妙的体验。不知我是否还有机会再见到它们中的一员。天鹅究竟是如何知道该如何从当下所在之处，前往自己想去的地方呢？
待续
