But the fowls of the neighborhood were all awake，and，to tell the truth，they had paid a visit to the duckyard，simply and solely to find food for themselves.The Chinese were the first to leave，and the other fowls soon followed them.The witty little duck said of the Portuguese，that the old lady was getting quite a“doting ducky”。All the other ducks laughed at this.“Doting ducky”。they whispered.“Oh，thats too‘witty！’”And then they repeated the former joke about“Portulak”，and declared it was most amusing.Then they all lay down to have a nap.
邻家来的母鸡都醒着。老实讲，她们来拜访完全是为了找点东西吃。那两只中国鸡先离开，其余的也跟着走了。那只风趣的小鸭谈到葡萄牙鸭子的时候说，这个老太婆快要过她的“第二度童年”了。别的鸭子都笑起来：“第二度童年！他的话说得真妙！”于是大家又提起头一次关于“葡萄拉”的玩笑。这真是非常滑稽！于是大家都躺下来小憩一下。
They had been lying asleep for some time，when suddenly something was thrown into the yard for them to eat.It came down with such a bang，that the whole company started up and clapped(clap v.鼓掌，轻拍n.拍手声，霹雳声)their wings.The Portuguese awoke too，and rushed over to the other side，in so doing she trod upon the little singingbird.
他们躺了一会儿以后，忽然有人抛了一点吃的东西到场子里来。这东西“砰”的一声落到地上，弄得大家从睡梦中惊醒过来，拍起翅膀。葡萄牙鸭子也醒了，她翻了一个身，把那只小歌鸟压得透不过气来。
“Tweet，”he cried，“you trod very hard upon me，madam.”
“吱！”他叫起来，“太太，您压得太重了！”
“Well，then，why do you lie in my way？”she retorted，“you must not be so touchy.I have nerves of my own，but I do not cry‘tweet’。”
“谁叫你躺在我面前呢？”她说，“你太神经过敏了！我也有神经呀，但是我从来不说一声‘吱’！”
“Dont be angry，”said the little bird；“the‘tweet’slipped out of my beak unawares.”
“请您不要生气吧！”小鸟说。“这个‘吱’是无意识地从我的嘴里滑出来的。”
The Portuguese did not listen to him，but began eating as fast as she could，and made a good meal.When she had finished，she lay down again，and the little bird，who wished to be amiable(amiable adj.亲切的，和蔼可亲的)，began to sing，—
“Chirp and twitter，The dewdrops glitter，In the hours of sunny spring.”
葡萄牙鸭子不理他，但是尽快地抢那食物吃，而且吃得很痛快。她吃完了以后又躺下来。小鸟走过来，想用歌声引起她的好感：“滴——哩，滴——哩！在明媚的春光下，露珠闪闪发光。”
“Now I want rest after my dinner，”said the Portuguese，“you must conform to the rules of the house while you are here.I want to sleep now.”
“吃完饭以后我得休息一下，”她说，“你住在这里，必须遵守这里的规矩！我现在要睡了。”
The little bird was quite taken a back，for he meant it kindly.When madam awoke afterwards，there he stood before her with a little corn he had found，and laid it at her feet.But as she had not slept well，she was naturally in a bad temper.“Give that to a chicken，”she said，“and dont be always standing in my way.”
小歌鸟大吃一惊，因为他本来的用意是很好的。太太睡醒了以后，他衔着他所寻到的一颗麦粒站在她面前。他把麦粒放在她的脚下。但是她没有睡好，因此她的心情自然不佳。“把这送给小鸡吃吧，”她说，“不要老待在我旁边呀！”
“Why are you angry with me？”replied the little singingbird，“What have I done？”
“但是您为什么要生我的气呢？”他问，“我做了什么对不起您的事情呢？”
“Done！”repeated the Portuguese duck，“Your mode of expressing yourself is not very polite.I must call your attention to that fact.”
“做了什么对不起我的事情！”葡萄牙鸭子说，“你用的字眼不太文雅！这一点我请你注意。”
“It was sunshine here yesterday，”said the little bird，“but today it is cloudy and the air is close.”
“昨天这里有太阳光，”小鸟说，“今天这里却是阴暗的！这使我感到怪难过的。”
“You know very little about the weather，I fancy，”she retorted，“the day is not over yet.Dont stand there，looking so stupid.”
“你对于天气的知识是一窍不通！”葡萄牙鸭子说，“这一天还没有完呀。不要待在这儿像一个傻瓜吧！”
“But you are looking at me just as the wicked eyes looked when I fell into the yard yesterday.”
“您看人的这副凶样子，跟我落到这里时那些恶眼睛看我的凶样子差不多。”
“Impertinent creature！”exclaimed the Portuguese duck，“Would you compare me with the cat—that beast of prey？Theres not a drop of malicious(malicious adj.怀恶意的，恶毒的)blood in me.Ive taken your part，and now Ill teach you better manners.”So saying，she made a bite at the little singingbirds head，and he fell dead on the ground.“Now whatever is the meaning of this？”she said；“Could he not bear even such a little peck as I gave him？Then certainly he was not made for this world.Ive been like a mother to him，I know that，for Ive a good heart.”
“简直岂有此理！”葡萄牙鸭子说。“难道你把我跟那个强盗——那只猫相比吗？我身体里一滴坏血也没有。我得为你负责任，我要教你学些礼貌。”于是她就把这歌鸟的头咬掉了。他倒下死了。“这是什么意思？”她说，“难道他这一点都受不了？这样说来，他是不配活在这个世界上的了！我对他一直是像一个母亲；这一点我知道，因为我有一颗善心。”
Then the cock from the neighboring yard stuck his head in，and crowed with steamengine power.
邻家的公鸡把头伸进邻院子里来，像一个火车头似的大叫了一声。
“Youll kill me with your crowing，”she cried，“its all your fault.Hes lost his life，and Im very near losing mine.”
“你这一叫简直要把我吓死了，”她说，“这完全要怪你。他吓掉了他的头，我也几乎要吓掉我的头。”
“Theres not much of him lying there.”observed the cock.
“他这么点小的东西有什么值得一提。”公鸡说。
“Speak of him with respect，”said the Portuguese duck，“for he had manners and education，and he could sing.He was affectionate(affectionate adj.亲爱的，挚爱的)and gentle，and that is as rare a quality in animals as in those who call themselves human beings.”
“对他说话放客气些吧！”葡萄牙鸭子说。“他有声音，他会唱歌，他受过好的教育！他很体贴，也很温柔——无论在动物中，或在你所谓的人类中，这都是很好的。”
Then all the ducks came crowding round the little dead bird.Ducks have strong passionspassion n.激情，热情，whether they feel envy or pity.There was nothing to envy here，so they all showed a great deal of pity，even the two Chinese.“We shall never have another singingbird again amongst us；he was almost a Chinese.”they whispered，and then they wept with such a noisy，clucking sound，that all the other fowls clucked too，but the ducks went about with redder eyes afterwards.“We have hearts of our own，”they said，“nobody can deny that.”
所有的鸭子都挤到这只死去了的小歌鸟身边来。不管他们是感到嫉妒或怜悯，这些鸭子都表现得非常热情。但是现在这儿既然没有什么东西可嫉妒，他们自然感到怜悯。甚至那两只中国母鸡都是这样。“我们再也找不到这样的歌鸟了！他差不多算得是一只中国鸟。”于是母鸡都嘎嘎地哭起来，不过鸭子只是把眼睛弄得红了一点。“我们都是好心肠的人，”她们说。“这一点谁也不能否认。”
“Hearts！”repeated the Portuguese，“Indeed you have，almost as tender as the ducks in Portugal.”
“好心肠！”葡萄牙鸭子说，“是的，我们都有好心肠，差不多跟在葡萄牙的一样！”
“Let us think of getting something to satisfy our hunger，”said the drake，“thats the most important business.If one of our toys is broken，why we have plenty more.”
“我们现在还是找点东西塞进嗉子里去吧，”鸭公说，“这才是重要的事情呢！一个玩物打碎了算什么？我们有的是！”
