第76課 家鼠
This little animal likes to live near the dwellings of men, for there it finds most easily the food which it likes best to eat. Mice generally remain in their holes during the daytime. It is only the young and foolish mice that come out then. The old ones are too much afraid of being caught and eaten by the cat. But at night they are bolder, and they come out from the holes which they have gnawed in the woodwork of the house, and run about seeking for something to eat and to drink.
這種小動(dòng)物喜歡生活在人們的住所附近, 因?yàn)榭梢栽谀抢镙p松地找到最?lèi)?ài)的各類(lèi)食物。白天, 老鼠通常都呆在自己的洞穴中。只有年幼和愚笨的老鼠才會(huì)在那個(gè)時(shí)候跑出來(lái)。成年老鼠非常害怕被貓給抓到和吃掉。不過(guò), 當(dāng)夜幕降臨以后, 它們的膽子就大了很多。它們會(huì)爬出自己在房間的木頭中啃咬而成的洞穴, 到處尋找可供吃喝的東西。
The mouse is a very small animal, hardly three inches in length if we do not reckon its tail. But the tail is very nearly as long as the body. The body of the mouse is covered with short, velvety grey fur, which is darker on the back than on the rest of the body.
老鼠是一種體型很小的動(dòng)物, 不算尾巴, 身長(zhǎng)一般不超過(guò)三英寸。然而, 它們的尾巴卻和身體差不多長(zhǎng)。老鼠全身都覆蓋著柔軟的灰色短毛, 背上的毛色比身體其他部分要深一些。
The mouse has two bright little black eyes, so small that they look like beads. Its ears are large, and it can move them about so that they catch every sound. The feet of the mouse have sharp little claws, one for each toe. There are four toes on each fore foot, and five on each hind foot.
老鼠長(zhǎng)有明亮的黑色小眼睛, 這雙眼睛實(shí)在太小了, 看起來(lái)就像是兩顆珠子。耳朵很大, 而且可以到處轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng), 這樣就能捕捉到各種動(dòng)靜。腳上長(zhǎng)有尖銳的小爪子, 每個(gè)腳趾上都有一個(gè)爪子。兩只前腳長(zhǎng)有四根腳趾, 兩只后腳則長(zhǎng)有五根腳趾。
We can almost always tell something about the habits of an animal, and the nature of its food, by looking at its teeth. The teeth of the mouse are like those of the rat, the rabbit, and the squirrel; they are made for gnawing, or cutting through hard substances such as wood.
一般說(shuō)來(lái), 只需觀(guān)察動(dòng)物的牙齒, 我們基本上就能夠判斷它的生活習(xí)慣與進(jìn)食特征。老鼠的牙齒與大鼠、兔子及松鼠的牙齒一樣;它們的作用就是啃咬, 或者鑿穿諸如木頭這樣的硬物。
In the front or middle of its mouth, the mouse has two long cutting or gnawing teeth in each jaw. These teeth never wear short, for they keep on growing at the end which is buried in the gum as fast as they wear away at the cutting end.
在老鼠嘴巴的前端或中部, 上下顎的位置上分別長(zhǎng)有兩根長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的切牙或門(mén)牙。這些牙齒從來(lái)就不會(huì)因?yàn)槟p而變短, 因?yàn)楫?dāng)前面的牙齒有所磨損, 埋藏在牙床中的另一端就會(huì)迅速生長(zhǎng)出新的一部分。
英語(yǔ)美文