吹小號的天鵝 第49期:夏令營(3)

One of the new boys who had never been to campbefore stood up.

一個以前從沒參加過夏令營的新生站了起來。

"Mr. Brickle," he said, "why is this camp called CampKookooskoos?

“布里克先生，”他說，“為什么這個夏令營叫庫庫斯庫斯夏令營?

What does Kookooskoos mean?"

庫庫斯庫斯是什么意思?”

"It's an Indian name for the Great Horned Owl,"replied Mr. Brickle.

“這是大雕梟的印第安名字。”布里克先生回答。

The new boy thought about this for a minute.

這個新生想了一分鐘。

"Then why didn't you just call it Camp Great Horned Owl instead of Camp Kookooskoos?"

“那么這個夏令營為什么不叫大雕梟夏令營，卻叫庫庫斯庫斯夏令營?”

"Because," replied Mr. Brickle, "a boys' camp should have a peculiar name;

“因為，”布里克先生回答，“‘一個男孩子的’夏令營應該有一個奇特的名字;

otherwise it doesn't sound interesting.

要不聽起來就沒勁了。

Kookooskoos is a terrific name.

庫庫斯庫斯可是個非常棒的名字。

It is a long word, but it has only three letters in it.

這是一個很長的單詞，但卻只由三個字母構成。

It has two s's, three k's, and six o's.

這個詞里有兩個‘S ’，三個‘K ’，六個‘O ’。

You don't find many names as kooky as that.

你不會找到太多名字像它這么乖僻的詞的。

The queerer the name, the better the camp.

名字越古怪，夏令營就越吸引人。

Anyway, welcome to Camp Kookooskoos.

用一句話說，就是歡迎你到庫庫斯庫斯夏令營來做客。

It rhymes with moose--that's another good thing about it.

還有，這個詞和‘Moose ’這個詞押韻——那是這個詞的另一個妙處。

"And now it's time for everybody to go to bed.

“現(xiàn)在到大家上床睡覺的時候了。

You may take a swim before breakfast tomorrow,

你們可以在明天早飯前去游泳。

and you don't need to wear your swim trunks.

到時候你們連游泳褲都不必穿。

Just jump out of bed when you hear the trumpet of the swan,

當你聽到天鵝的喇叭聲時，只需從床上跳出來，

strip off your pajamas, race to the dock, and dive in.

脫掉你的睡衣，跑到船塢，再扎到水里就可以了。

I will be there ahead of you to do my celebrated backflip from the diving tower.

我將在你們之前來到那里，從跳臺做我那聞名遐邇的后空翻。

It freshens me up for the hard day ahead.

這會讓我在辛勞的一天正式開始前就打起精神的。

Good night, Louis! Good night, Sam! Good night, Applegate! Good night, all!"

晚安，路易斯!晚安，薩姆!晚安，阿普爾蓋特!晚安，大伙兒們!”

The light was fading. The boys straggled off to their tents in the darkness.

火光漸漸黯淡下來。男孩子們陸續(xù)在黑暗中散開，回到他們的帳篷去了。

The senior counselors sat together on the porch and smoked one last pipe.

大輔導員們圍坐在走廊上，抽著他們的最后一袋煙。

Sam crawled in under his blankets in Tent Three.

薩姆爬到第三個帳篷里的毯子底下。

Louis walked to a high, flat rock by the shore and stood there, waiting.

路易斯走上高處，站到岸邊一塊平坦的巖石上，在那里等待著。

When the lights were all out, he faced the camp,

當所有的燈光全部熄滅后，他面向著營地，

raised his horn to his mouth, and blew taps.

把他的小號舉到嘴邊，吹起了熄燈號

The last note seemed to linger on the still waters of the lake.

最后一個音符仍在靜寂的湖上盤桓，似乎不忍離去。

From their beds, the boys heard the beautiful sound.

床上的男孩們聽著這美麗的樂音。

They felt sleepy and serene and happy

他們全都泛起了睡意，感到平靜而幸福

all but Applegate Skinner, who didn't care for birds at bedtime.

只除了阿普爾蓋特·斯金納，因為他在睡覺時不喜歡鳥來打擾。

But even Applegate was soon asleep, along with the others in his tent.

可沒過多久，阿普爾蓋特也睡了，和帳篷里的其他孩子一樣。

He was asleep, and he was snoring.

他在睡著后還打起了呼嚕。

People who dislike birds often snore.

不喜歡鳥的人往往愛打呼嚕。

A deep peace fell over Camp Kookooskoos.

一種無比寧靜的氣氛籠罩了庫庫斯庫斯夏令營。