美國(guó)語(yǔ)文第五冊(cè) 第255期：種子的傳播與種植（04）

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and they begin to pluck them long before they are ripe, so that when the crop of white-pine cones is a small one, as it commonly is,

那時(shí)松果成熟還早，果實(shí)還小，松鼠們便早早開(kāi)始動(dòng)手了。

they cut off thus almost everyone of these before it fairly ripens.

一般來(lái)說(shuō)，它們幾乎不會(huì)錯(cuò)過(guò)秋天里每一粒珍貴收獲。

I think, moreover, that their design, if I may so speak, in cutting them off green,

此外，依據(jù)松鼠設(shè)想，我是否可以這么猜測(cè)，松樹(shù)果實(shí)尚青嫩生澀，

is partly to prevent their opening and losing their seeds, for these are the ones for which they dig through the snow,

松鼠們便迫不及待地開(kāi)始采摘，一方面在于它們唯恐裂落地，失卻到嘴的美食；或許直到冬天來(lái)臨，松鼠才能從積雪里挖出，

and the only white-pine cones which contain anything then.

至于那些落地的白松松籽，那可是漫長(zhǎng)冬季里唯一貯有種子的活命糧。

I have counted in one heap the cores of two hundred and thirty-nine pitch-pine cones which had been cut off and stripped by the red squirrel the previous winter.

我曾發(fā)現(xiàn)一堆松果，那是上一個(gè)冬季紅松鼠嚙咬撕扯后藏匿下的，我數(shù)了數(shù)，竟有二百三十九顆松果。

The nuts thus left on the surface, or buried just beneath it,

堅(jiān)果被丟棄地面或淺埋土壤，

are placed in the most favorable circumstances for germinating.

給種子提供了極易萌發(fā)的環(huán)境，

I have sometimes wondered how those which merely fell on the surface of the earth got planted;

但我有時(shí)還是無(wú)法明白，那些落到地表的種子如何就能發(fā)芽？

but, by the end of December, I find the chestnut of the same year partially mixed with the mold, as it were,

12月末，我通過(guò)觀(guān)察后發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)年生栗子落地后，部分外殼已霉變，

under the decaying and moldy leaves, where there is all the moisture and manure they want, for the nuts fall fast.

殘枝頹葉混雜覆蓋地層，落地栗子從而獲得必需的濕濡與營(yíng)養(yǎng)。

In a plentiful year a large proportion of the nuts are thus covered loosely an inch deep,

掛果多的年頭，大多落地堅(jiān)果上覆蓋著腐泥頹葉，深達(dá)一英寸，

and are, of course, somewhat concealed from squirrels.

藏匿在稀疏軟泥下的果實(shí)，起碼可躲過(guò)松鼠一劫。