011 制作蜡烛和黄油

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One day while Fritz and I were out exploring, I noticed some interesting bushes

有一天，我和弗里茨外出探索时，我注意到了一些有趣的灌木丛。

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They were loaded with small, white berries that were waxy in appearance

上面结满了小小的、看起来像蜡一样的白色浆果。

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" You know, Fritz, we might be able to use these berries to make candles," I said

“你知道吗，弗里茨，我们也许能用这些浆果来做蜡烛。”我说。

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" Oh, that would make Mother happy

“哦，那肯定会让你妈妈高兴的。

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She doesn't like having to set aside her work and go to bed as soon as the sun sets."

她不喜欢太阳一落山，就得放下手里的活儿去睡觉。”

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The wax would be more brittle than beeswax, but it would burn well and with a pleasant scent

这种蜡会比蜂蜡更脆，但它会烧得很好，而且会散发出怡人的香气。

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Having the donkey with us, we quickly gathered enough berries to fill one of the large canvas sacks he carried

有驴子跟着我们，很快我们就采集了足够的浆果，装满了它驮着的一个大帆布袋。

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We then continued on our way

然后我们继续赶路。

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Very soon we came upon a tree with a whole colony of birds

很快，我们来到了一棵树前，树上栖息着一大群鸟。

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Their nests were built in a mass around the tree trunk and branches

它们的巢成群地筑在树干和树枝周围。

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A roof-like covering of straw and grass protected the colony from the rain and hot sun

一层用稻草和草铺成的屋顶状覆盖物，保护着聚居地免受雨水和烈日侵袭。

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" The nests are like rooms in a house!" said Fritz

“这些鸟巢就像房子里的房间一样！”弗里茨说。

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We watched as the birds swarmed in and out by the thousands

我们看着成千上万的鸟儿成群结队地飞进飞出。

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Most of them were plain brown birds, but there were also a few beautiful, bright parakeets

它们大多是普通的棕色鸟儿，但也有几只漂亮、鲜艳的长尾小鹦鹉。

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Fritz was curious about the nests so he climbed the tree

弗里茨对鸟巢很好奇，于是他爬上了树。

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He put his hands into several nests, hoping to capture a young bird

他把手伸进好几个鸟巢里，希望能抓到一只幼鸟。

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" Ow!" he cried." Something pecked my finger."

“哎哟！”他喊道。“有东西啄了我的手指。”

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He reached back in and pulled out a small bird

他又把手伸进去，掏出了一只小鸟。

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Fritz's prize was not one of the brown birds, but a pretty green parakeet

弗里茨的“战利品”不是那些棕色鸟儿中的一只，而是一只漂亮的绿色长尾小鹦鹉。

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For the moment he put it in his pocket and we walked on

他暂时把它放进口袋里，然后我们继续往前走。

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Our next discovery was a strange tree with bark that oozed a gummy resin

我们的下一个新发现是一棵奇怪的树，树皮会渗出黏黏的树脂。

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Fritz scraped some off

弗里茨刮了一些下来。

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" Look at this, Father. When I stretch this gum, it springs right back

“您看这个，父亲。我一拉这树胶，它马上就弹回去了。

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Do you think it could be rubber?"

您觉得这会是橡胶吗？”

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" If it is, that's a most valuable discovery."

“如果是的话，那可真是一个非常有价值的发现。”

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" Why is it valuable? I've only seen rubber used for erasing pencil marks

“它为什么有价值呢？我只见过橡胶用来擦铅笔字。

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How else can you use it?"

它还能有什么别的用处呢？”

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" I would try to make waterproof boots and shoes!"

“我会试着用它来做防水的靴子和鞋子！”

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Pleased with our discoveries, we headed back to Falconhurst

我们对这些发现很满意，便动身返回猎鹰巢。

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The next morning the boys wanted to make candles as soon as breakfast was over

第二天早上，吃完早饭，孩子们就迫不及待地想去做蜡烛了。

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We put the berries in a large, shallow iron pot on the fire

我们把浆果放到火上的一口又大又浅的铁锅里。

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The sweet-scented wax melted rapidly

散发着甜香的蜡很快就融化了。

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We skimmed it from the surface of the berry juice, and put it in another pot

我们将蜡从浆果汁表面撇去，然后放进另一口锅里。

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I then took the wicks my wife had prepared and dipped them in the wax

然后，我拿起妻子准备好的烛芯，把它们浸到蜡里。

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" These are very skinny candles," said Ernest as the boys hung them on a bush to dry

“这些蜡烛好细啊，”厄内斯特说，这时男孩们正把蜡烛挂在一棵灌木上晾干。

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" They're not done yet," I said." We're going to dip them several times."

“还没做完呢，”我说，“我们得多浸几次。”

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We soon had sturdy candles, which we left in a cool spot to harden

我们很快就有了结实的蜡烛，把它们拿到一个阴凉的地方去硬化。

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And that night Falconhurst was brilliantly illuminated for the first time

那天晚上，猎鹰巢第一次被照得灯火通明。

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" You are very clever indeed," my wife said to me

“你真是太聪明了，”妻子对我说。

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" I just wish you could figure out a way to make butter

“我只是希望你能想个办法做出黄油来。

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Day after day I'm annoyed about the large amount of good cream that goes bad before I can use it."

日复一日，那么多好奶油在我用之前就变质了，真让我心烦。

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" Let me think about that

“让我想想办法。

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I hoped we would find a churn on the wreck, but we didn't."

我本希望能在沉船上找到个搅乳器，可惜没找到。”

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By the next morning, I had come up with a plan

到第二天早上，我想出了一个办法。

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" Bring me one of our gourd bottles," I said to Jack

“把我们的葫芦瓶拿一个来，”我对杰克说。

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He quickly fetched a gourd that we had hollowed out

他很快拿来了一个我们挖空了的葫芦。

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We had also added a small hole at one end

我们还在它一端开了个小孔。

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I partially filled the gourd with cream and then tightly plugged the hole with a piece of cork

我往葫芦里装了些奶油，然后用一块软木塞紧紧塞住了孔。

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" Here, boys," I said

“来，孩子们，”我说。

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" You can continue the job while I become a carpenter and build a cart."

“你们接着干这个活儿，我要当木匠去做辆板车。”

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I gave them some directions and set about my own work

我给了他们一些指点，便开始干我自己的活。

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The boys pounded four stakes into the ground

男孩们把四根木桩敲进了地里。

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Then they fastened a square of sailcloth to the stakes with cord

然后用绳子把一块方形的帆布绑在木桩上。

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After that they placed the gourd full of cream on this cloth cradle

之后，他们把装满奶油的葫芦放在了这个布吊床上。

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Each taking a side of the cloth, they rolled the gourd back and forth without stopping

他们一人抓住布的一边，不停地来回滚动着葫芦。

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" This is hard work," complained Ernest

“这活儿真累，”欧内斯特抱怨道。

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" No it isn't," said Jack." This is fun."

“才不累呢，”杰克说，“这很好玩嘛。”

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" Keep at it, boys," I said as I looked up from my work

“继续干，孩子们，”我停下手中的活，抬起头说。

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" This is going to take awhile."

“这得花些时间呢。”

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I expected little Franz to complain too

我本以为小弗朗茨也会抱怨。

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But he was just happy to be helping his older brothers with some real and useful work

但他能帮哥哥们做点真正有用的工作，光是这点就很开心了。

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After half an hour I told the boys to stop and look inside the gourd

半小时后，我让孩子们停下来，看看葫芦里面。

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" What's happened to the cream?" asked little Franz, shaking the gourd

“奶油怎么了？”小弗朗茨摇着葫芦问道。

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" We've turned it into butter!" said Jack

“我们把奶油变成黄油啦！”杰克说。

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" Now take the contents to your mother with my compliments," I said

“现在，把里面的东西带去给你们妈妈，并转达我的问候，”我说。

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My wife was delighted with the results from my gourd " churn."

妻子对我用葫芦“搅乳器”做出的成果感到非常高兴。

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That night at supper we had plenty of butter to go with our meal

那晚吃晚饭时，我们有了足够的黄油来佐餐。

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" You've more than made up for scaring me with that sailboat!" she said

“你那次驾帆船可把我吓坏了，这次你完全弥补回来了！”她说。