蟋蟀唧唧，黑乎乎的吟游小歌手，昆虫的故事

A little bird with a blue back was going in and out of a round hole in an old tree near the river.Now and then he would stop and say"Tru-i-lee,tru-i-lee,"very softly to his mate.He sang as if he liked the hole,and perhaps he did;for was this not the place where he and his mate had nested in the spring?And now,before they flew far off to the south,had he not come back again to sit near the old doorway and sing to her?

河边有一棵老树，树上有一个圆圆的洞。一只背上长着蓝色羽毛的小鸟从洞中进进出出，忙个不停。他时不时地停下来，呼唤他的另一半：“快进来，快进来”，声音温柔极了。听声音，他好像很喜欢这个洞。也许的确如此。毕竟，春暖花开的时候，他和她曾经在这里筑巢做窝；现在，他又一次回来坐在熟悉的家门口，就是为了向她一展歌喉，然后，他们将离开这里，一起飞往遥远的南方。

One tree on the river-bank was red and one was yellow,for it was an October day and their leaves were no longer green.Under them the quiet water seemed red and yellow,too,as if a big looking-glass lay there for the trees to see themselves in.

河岸上有一棵红色的树，还有一棵黄色的树，因为金秋十月，树叶已经不绿了。树下，静静的河水躺在那里，红一块，黄一块的，像是为岸上的树准备的一面大镜子。

With a bluebird singing his good-bye song and the gay leaves making bright places in the water,it was a day to be happy in.

蓝色知更鸟的告别欢歌，还有缤纷的树叶倒映在水中的靓影！今天可真是个好日子呀！

There he sat，the happy little fellow.
他就坐在那儿，这个快乐的小家伙。

And Gryl Cricket was happy,even though he did not listen to the bird or look at the river.He was singing,too,the only song he knew.A funny sort of song it was,with all the words in the verse alike,and every verse just like the one before,and not much change in the tune.But although it was the same music over and over again,it had different sounds for all that.When near by,it was something like"Gr-gryl-1,grgryl-1,gr-gryl-1,"tinkled oh,so quickly on a tiny bell;and when it was far off,it was more like"Cri-cricri-cri."

虽然蟋蟀唧唧没有侧耳聆听鸟儿的欢叫，也没有举目朝水里张望，可是，他很开心。他也在欢歌，他只会唱一首歌。这首歌有点可笑，每句话的词都一样，每句话都在重复上一句，曲调也没变化。可是，尽管整首曲子重复来重复去，没什么变化，听起来却不一样。近听有点像“嘀铃铃——嘀铃铃”，啊，清脆得就像是一个快速摇动着的小铃铛；远听更像是“唧唧——唧唧——唧唧——唧唧”。

Whether far or near,it was very good music for an October day.Anyway,Gryl liked to make it:you may be sure of that,for he kept at it,off and on,all the warm sunny part of the day.And in the summer,before the nights were so cool,he sang in the dark,too.

无论近听还是远听，这歌声都是金秋十月的美妙享受。不管怎么说，唧唧喜欢唱这首歌，这一点可以肯定。白天，只要阳光明媚、天气暖和，他就会时不时地唱上一曲；炎炎夏日，夜晚也很热，即使天黑了，他也照唱不误。

With so much singing day after day,does his little black throat ache and his voice grow hoarse?

这样日复一日地唱，每天都唱个不停，他的小黑嗓子会疼吗？他的声音会哑吗？

Not a bit of it;for Gryl's music-box is not like yours and the birds'.It is not in his throat at all!He wears a fiddle on his back and sings,not through his throat,but with his wings.

一点儿都不会！唧唧有一个音乐盒，和你的音乐盒、鸟儿的音乐盒都不一样。他的音乐盒根本不在嗓子里！他背上背着一个小提琴，歌声是从翅膀那里飞出来的，不是从嗓子眼儿里唱出来的。

There he sat,the happy little fellow,before his open door,and fiddled.He lifted two wings and rubbed them together so that the row of tiny hard ridges on the under side of his right wing hit against the hard wrinkles on the upper side of his left wing,and that is the way he made music for himself.

瞧！这个快乐的小家伙，坐在敞开的家门前，起劲儿地拨弄着琴弦。只见他抬起两个翅膀相互摩擦，右翅下侧那一排又小又硬的隆起的棱，敲打着左翅上侧硬硬的褶皱。他就是这样自编自唱的。

His"Cri-cri-cri"just now seemed to be a song of thankfulness,as hungry people often say"grace"before they eat.Gryl had been too cold to get up for his breakfast,and now it was dinner-time and he was sitting before a feast and fiddling as he ate."I have meat and I can eat,"he seemed to be saying over and over to himself.

刚才，他那“嘀铃铃——嘀铃铃——嘀铃铃”的鸣叫似乎是在表达他的感激之情，就好像人饿了要吃饭时，常常先做祷告一样。唧唧太冷了，他连早餐都没有起来吃。这会儿，已经是晚餐时间了，他正对着一顿盛筵，一边吃一边拨弄着琴弦。“我有肉吃，我能吃。”他似乎在一遍又一遍地自言自语。

If he was glad,it was no wonder;he had found,when he went hunting,a nice fresh leg of grasshopper which a blackbird had dropped near his home.Now Gryl liked a grasshopper-leg as surely as you like a turkey's drumstick for Thanksgiving dinner.So he munched and munched all by himself,and fiddled as he ate.

如果他心情愉快，那没什么可奇怪的。因为，出去觅食的时候，他发现了一条新鲜美味的蚱蜢腿，是一只乌鸫鸟掉在他家附近的。要知道，蟋蟀唧唧喜欢吃蚱蜢腿，就好像感恩节的盛宴上，你喜欢吃火鸡腿一样。所以，他咯吱咯吱自顾自地大嚼特嚼，一边吃还一边拨弄琴弦。

Sometimes at parties,or in lunch-rooms,we have someone play to us during dinner.But we have to hire our meal-time music.A man can not play a fiddle on his back and eat at the same time.Funny little Gryl could do just that,and it would make you laugh right out loud to see him do it.

我们在宴会上或者午餐室用餐的时候，有时候会有人为我们演奏音乐。可是，这种音乐得付钱。再说，没人能做到一边拨弄背上的琴弦，一边吃东西。可是，可爱的小唧唧却能做到，而且他边吃边拉琴的样子，一定会让你哈哈大笑。

The longer Gryl nibbled and fiddled,the more restless Taffy grew.Taffy Cricket,I forgot to say,was Gryl's neighbor,and he lived so near that he could smell Gryl's marrow-bone;and,like his namesake in the old verse,Taffy was a thief.

唧唧啃得时间越长，琴拉的时间就越长，塔夫就越焦躁不安。哦，忘了说了，蟋蟀塔夫是唧唧的邻居，住得很近，近得都能闻到唧唧啃出的骨髓味。就像老儿歌里的那个同名同姓的小偷一样，蟋蟀塔夫也是个小偷。

Perhaps if Taffy's home had been where the sun warmed it earlier than it did Gryl's,Taffy would have wakened in time to find the bone first.But as it was,he had been too cold and lazy to start out until Gryl was half through his dinner.And the more he smelled that bone,the more he wanted it.So before long he crept out from under the slanting stone that covered his cave,and slipped very quietly in under the old piece of flat tin that made a roof for Gryl's dining-room.

如果塔夫住的地方能比唧唧住的地方先照到太阳，也许，塔夫就会及时醒来先发现这块骨头。可实际上，他太冷了，也太懒，所以，唧唧的晚餐都吃了一半了，他才出来。他越闻那块骨头越馋。不久，他就从斜盖在洞顶上的那块石头底下爬了出来，爬到那块旧罐头皮上，然后悄悄地溜下去，溜进了唧唧的餐厅。

While Gryl was making a merry,noisy tune over his meal,could Taffy come very softly and join the feast?

唧唧冲着他的美食大声欢唱的时候，塔夫能静静地过来和他共进晚餐吗？

Gryl and Taffy
唧唧和塔夫

He tried,and what happened to him was something like what would happen to you if you tried to take away a dog's bone.For wherever a dog has found his bone,he feels very,very sure,in his own mind,that it belongs to him,and no one except his master must go near him while he is eating.If we do,and get hurt,then it is our own fault and we must not blame the dog.

他尝试了一下，接下来发生的事情不难想象。试想，假如你要拿走一只狗正在啃的骨头会是什么结果呢？不管这个骨头是从哪里弄到的，狗儿们都会非常非常肯定地认为那块骨头是他的。狗儿啃骨头的时候，除了主人之外，任何人都不能靠近。如果我们非要靠近，受了伤，那也是我们自己的错，不能说狗的不是。

Perhaps Gryl felt that way,for he ran right up to Taffy and scared him off.The funny part of it was that he didn't stop fiddling while he ran!He just lifted his wings higher and fiddled louder,and this time he was not playing gently,"I have meat and I can eat,"to himself:he was playing a threat to Taffy which meant,"Taffy Cricket this is my bone.I hunted for it.I found it.I brought it home.You lazy thing,you just go out and hunt for your own dinner.Go away!Go away!Go away!"

也许，唧唧就是这么想的，他冲到塔夫跟前把他吓跑了。可笑的是，他冲过去的时候，也没忘记拨弄他的小提琴！他把翅膀抬得比平时高，琴声也拨得比平时大，不过这次，他可不是温柔地自言自语“我有肉吃，我能吃”，而是在威胁塔夫，“蟋蟀塔夫，这骨头是我的！是我千辛万苦找到的，是我带回家的。你这个懒东西，找你自己的晚餐去。走开！走开！快走开！”

Taffy must have understood him,even though what he said sounded like“cre-ek,cre-ek,cre-ek!”He understood so well that he did not even stop to turn round.He just stepped out backward and left Gryl,as he had found him,fiddling over his dinner.

唧唧的话听起来就像“唧啾——唧啾——唧啾”，但是塔夫肯定听懂了。他太明白这琴声的意思了，所以连身也没敢转就退了回来。不过，他只是退到了一旁，远远地看着唧唧一如既往地边吃边拉琴。

When Gryl had eaten plenty of food,he washed one of his front feet by putting it into his mouth.Then he pulled one of his long feelers down with his foot,until he could wash that,too.After that he brushed his shiny black sides with his hind-legs;for this was Gryl's wedding-day and of course he must be clean as well as happy.(www.xing528.com)

唧唧吃够了，就把一只前脚伸进嘴里洗刷干净。接着，伸出一只脚把一根长长的触角拉下来，一直拉到嘴边，也洗干净。最后，他伸出后腿把他那黑黝黝、闪闪发亮的身体两侧都刷干净。今天是唧唧举行结婚典礼的日子，他不仅要高高兴兴，而且还要干干净净。

In the afternoon he went for a walk in the sunshine.He was merry as could be,except when a man happened to come that way and shake the ground with his heavy foot.Then Gryl stopped fiddling and sat so still that even his feelers did not move.He stayed still a long,long time,and then crept off under some fallen leaves,to hide until the steps passed far away.He could never fly even when danger was near.His front wings were a fiddle and his hind ones weak,little folded things that were too feeble to carry him an inch.But he knew how to slip away and hide,as you would find if you tried to catch him for a pet.

下午，他顶着烈日去散步。一路上，他甭提有多美了。可是，途中，有个人碰巧从那边走过来，重重的脚步让地面都微微颤动。唧唧立即停住脚，静静地坐在那里，连触角都不敢动一下。他一动不动地待了很长很长时间，然后，才爬到一些落叶下面藏了起来，直到脚步声渐渐消失在远处。即使危在眉睫，唧唧也绝对不会飞走。他的一对前翅是小提琴，而后翅折叠在一起，弱不禁风，根本无法带他起飞，哪怕一英寸都不行。可是，他知道怎么溜到一边躲起来。假如你试图逮住他当宠物，那么，你就会深有体会。

Toward night he played a soft tune to Lucy Cricket,who lived under a bit of bark near his own little dug-out.

夜幕快要降临了，他为蟋蟀露西拉起了轻柔舒缓的曲子。她就住在离自己的“防空壕”不远处的一小块树皮底下。

Now Lucy was black as a piece of coal,and her head was so bald and shiny that not a hair could be seen on it anywhere,and she was dumb.

瞧，露西黑乎乎的，就像是一块煤炭。光秃秃的脑袋油光闪亮，连一根头发都找不到。另外，她还是个哑巴。

But she was not deaf,and she could hear Gryl's song and liked it.And what do you suppose she did?Do you think she painted her little black cheeks and put on a wig?Oh,no;she was an honest cricket and went out to her mate just as she was.As he was black as a piece of coal,too,and just as bald as she was,they really looked very much alike,except that her wings had no fiddles,and he had no long slender tail,but only two tail-feathers.

可是，她不聋。她能听见唧唧唱的歌，而且很喜欢。你以为她会怎么办？在她那小小的黑脸蛋上涂脂抹粉？带上假发套？噢，不会的。她是一只诚实的蟋蟀，所以，她就素面朝天地去见她的另一半。蟋蟀唧唧黑得也像一块煤炭，而且和她一样，脑袋也是秃秃的，他俩长得还真般配。不过，露西的翅膀上没有小提琴，而唧唧没有长长的细尾巴，只有两个尾羽。

Lucy and Gryl Cricket
露西和蟋蟀唧唧

Well,Gryl went right on fiddling,and this time it was their wedding march.For a wedding supper they had a wild-lettuce salad,with some apple-sauce for dessert;for there was a wild apple tree on the bank,and the apples that had dropped down were nice and soft.

好了，唧唧不停地拨弄着琴弦，这次他拉的是他们的婚礼进行曲。婚宴上，他们吃野莴苣做的蔬菜色拉，甜点是苹果酱。河岸上有一棵野苹果树，从树上掉下来的苹果软软的，很好吃。

Then Lucy went back to her cave under the bark and Gryl found his way to his own little dug-out.

婚礼结束，露西回到树皮底下自己的洞里，而唧唧也一路摸回了自己的小“防空壕”。

After all,he did not need any one to help him about his meals.He rather liked going out to hunt for them himself.And he needed no one to show him how to finish his dug-out.He knew just how to pick up the hard little bit of dirt or stone in his mouth and carry it off out of the way,and just how to scratch out the soft places with his head and feet.

要知道，唧唧不需要谁来帮他准备一日三餐，他很喜欢亲自出去觅食。他也不需要谁来告诉他怎么完成他的“防空壕”。他知道怎么叼起硬硬的土块或石块，把它搬到一边。他也知道怎么头脚并用把虚软的地方刮出来。

It was well that he felt that way about it,for Lucy was far too busy with her own task to help Gryl or any one else.It took her all her time for a while to take care of her eggs.For these must be put down so that they would keep all winter.

幸亏他有这样的生活理念。因为，露西自己的事情都还忙不过来呢，哪里还顾得上去帮唧唧或者别的什么人？有一阵子，她所有的时间都用来照顾她的卵了。她得把这些卵安置妥当，好让他们安然过冬。

What better could she do with them than trust them to good old Mother Earth,who broods over the tiniest seeds that are left in her care?And Lucy's eggs were something like wee seeds.She planted them in the earth with the long slender back part of her body,that looked like a tail but was really a tool to put eggs into the ground with.

除了把他们交代给慈祥的大地老妈妈之外，她还有什么更好的办法呢？哪怕是最小最小的种子，只要交给大地老妈妈照顾，她都会呵护备至。露西的卵就有点像小小的种子。她身体的后半部分又细又长，像个尾巴。实际上，那是一个工具，露西正是用这个工具，把她的卵一个个地种到了土里。

So while Lucy tended her eggs like a good little mother,Gryl finished his dug-out,making it deeper and deeper,until the days grew very cold and he fell asleep in his bedroom in the same earth that sheltered Lucy's eggs.

当小露西像一个好妈妈那样悉心照料着她的卵的时候，唧唧的“防空壕”也完工了。他越挖越深，天气也越来越冷，最后，实在是太冷了，他就睡着了。他的卧室也在大地的怀抱中，就是那个为露西的卵遮风挡寒的大地。

One day,a long time after that,the trees,which had dropped their red and yellow leaves on the riverbank,unfolded some very fresh green ones.A bird with a blue back,who had flown far,far to the south,and north again,was hopping in and out of the hole in the old tree near by and whispering"Tru-i-lee,tru-i-lee"sweetly to his mate.

很久以后的一天，曾经将红树叶和黄树叶洒满河岸的那些树又吐出了新绿。附近那棵老树的树洞里，一只背上长着蓝色羽毛的鸟在进进出出，温柔甜蜜地低声呼唤着他的另一半：“快进来，快进来”。他越过千山万水，飞到了遥远的南方，现在又飞回了北方。

It was spring,and time for Gryl to waken from his long nap and begin fiddling again.For there are always some crickets to welcome the spring—their songs do not belong just to the summer and fall.

这是春暖花开的季节，是唧唧从长长的睡梦中醒来，又一次拨弄琴弦的季节。春姑娘来了，总会有一些蟋蟀出来表示欢迎——他们的歌可不只是献给夏哥哥和秋大叔的。

As Gryl sat and fiddled before his open door,his little sons and daughters hatched in their egg-shells and climbed up out of the ground.

当唧唧坐在敞开的家门前拨弄着琴弦的时候，他那些小巧可爱的儿女们也孵化好了，纷纷挤破卵壳，爬出了地面。

They were wee midgets who looked much like old Daddy Gryl,with their bald black heads and hopping hind-legs.For a cricket is a cricket all the days of his life except while he is an egg.He isn't one thing first and then another afterward,like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.

他们很小很小，简直就是老爸唧唧的袖珍版。一个个黑乎乎的脑袋秃秃的，后腿也能跳。除了卵阶段之外，蟋蟀一辈子都是蟋蟀。他绝不会像毛毛虫变蝴蝶那样，一会儿是这副模样，一会儿又是那副模样。

All a small cricket has to change to is a larger cricket.So there was not a great deal of difference between Gryl and one of his little sons except size and wings.For a baby cricket is like all other baby insects,who must eat and grow up before they can have any wings.

小蟋蟀发生的唯一变化就是变成一只大蟋蟀。比如，唧唧的一个儿子，除了比唧唧小、没有长翅膀之外，看上去和唧唧没什么大的差别。蟋蟀宝宝和其他所有的昆虫宝宝一样，都必须先吃东西长大，然后才能长翅膀。

While he is growing,he must throw off his little black skin when it gets too tight,and from time to time his wing-pads will get bigger.Then,when he changes his skin the last time,there will be wings on his back instead of pads—not wings to fly with,but to fiddle with.

发育过程中，他必须时不时地扔掉小得不能再穿的黑色小外壳。每换一次外壳，他的翅芽就变大一些。后来，当他最后一次换掉外壳的时候，背上的翅芽就不见了，变成了翅膀。不过，这翅膀可不是用来飞的，而是用来拉琴的。

So,long before the bluebird will come to say good-bye to his nest next October,Daddy Gryl's sons will be fiddling near their open doors,merrily,oh merrily,as crickets should.

金秋十月，蓝色的知更鸟又要来说再见了。可是，还没到那个时候，老爸唧唧的儿子们就早早地坐在敞开的家门口，欢欢喜喜、快快乐乐地拨弄起了他们的琴弦。这是蟋蟀的本分。