第8章 THE HUMMING-BIRD (II) 蜂鸟（二）

The humming-bird! the humming-bird!

So fairy-like and bright;

It lives amongst the sunny flowers,

A creature of delight!

In the radiant islands of the East,

Where fragrant spices grow,

A thousand thousand humming-birds

Go glancing to and fro.

Like living fires they flit about,

Scarce larger than a bee,

Amongst the broad palmetto leaves,

And through the fan-palm tree.

There builds her nest the humming-bird,

Within the ancient wood,

Her nest of silky cotton-down,

And rears her tiny brood.

She hangs it to a slender twig,

Where it waves light and free,

As the campanero tolls his song

While rocks the mighty tree.

All crimson is her shining breast,

Like to the red, red rose;

Her wing is the changeful green and blue

That the neck of the peacock shows.

Thou happy, happy humming-bird,

No winter round thee lowers;

Thou never saw'st a leafless tree,

Nor Land without sweet flowers:

A reign of summer joyfulness

To thee for life is given;

Thy food the honey from the flower,

Thy drink the dew from heaven!

—MARY HOWITT

Pronunciation

fai'-ry-like thou'-sand change'-ful sum'-mer spic'-es

sun'-ny crim'-son pea'-cock joy'-ful-ness liv'-ing i

sl'-ands shin'-ing leaf'-less hon'-ey hap'-py

Write

radiant ancient summer

fragrant slender joyfulness

glancing leafless flower

蜂鸟！蜂鸟！

聪明像个小精灵；

它住在太阳花间，

是个快乐的小东西！

东方岛屿上，

阳光灿烂，

香料芬芳，成千上万的蜂鸟，

来来回回地掠过。

它们像跳动的火焰轻快地飞来飞去，

仅仅比蜜蜂大一点儿，

它们在宽大的美洲蒲葵叶间飞舞，

穿过风扇叶棕榈树的树干。

蜂鸟将巢

筑在古老的树林里，

她的巢如丝绵一般，

里面养育着她的幼鸟。

她把巢挂在一个细长的嫩枝上，

巢在嫩枝上轻轻地自由摇摆，

就像蜂鸟在一边歌唱，

一边摇晃着大树。

她的胸脯是深红色的，

就像一支红红的玫瑰；

她的翅膀是富于变化的绿色和蓝色，

就像孔雀脖子的颜色。

你这个快乐、快乐的蜂鸟啊，

你的身边没有冬天。

你永远不会看到落尽叶子的秃树，

也不会看到没有芳香花朵的土地。

你生活在

夏日的欢乐之中，

你吸着鲜花的花蜜，

你饮着天堂的露珠！

——玛丽·豪伊特