014 雨季来临

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The wild animal was silent

那只野生动物安静了下来。

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My family looked down anxiously from our nest in the treetop

我的家人在树顶的巢穴里，焦急地向下张望。

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" Come, Fritz," I whispered

“来，弗里茨，”我低声说。

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" We must go down and find out what was making that awful noise."

“我们必须下去，弄清楚是什么发出那种可怕的声音。”

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We picked up our guns, and he followed me down the steps

我们拿起枪，他跟着我走下了台阶。

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Outside we glided carefully from tree to tree

在外面，我们小心翼翼地一棵树一棵树地滑行。

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Suddenly we heard that awful sound again, and it was quite nearby!

突然，我们又听到了那种可怕的声音，而且就在附近！

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Fritz raised his gun, but quickly lowered it

弗里茨举起了枪，但很快又放了下来。

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" It's only Grizzle." He laughed as our missing donkey appeared before us

“原来是格里兹尔。”他笑了起来，那头失踪的驴子出现在我们面前。

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Our friend was not alone

我们的朋友并不孤单。

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Behind him trotted another animal resembling a donkey, but slim and graceful as a horse

在它身后，小跑着另一头动物，长得像驴，但身材纤细、姿态优美，宛如一匹马。

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" That's a wild donkey, Fritz," I whispered

“那是一头野驴，弗里茨。”我低声说道。

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" Creep back to Falconhurst and bring me two pieces of rope."

“悄悄溜回鹰巢，给我拿两段绳子来。”

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He soon returned with the rope and some oats

他很快就拿着绳子和一些燕麦回来了。

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The wild donkey followed Grizzle's lead and nibbled some oats

那头野驴跟着格瑞兹的样子，也小口吃起了燕麦。

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I quickly threw the rope around her neck while Fritz captured Grizzle

趁着弗里茨抓住格瑞兹，我迅速把绳子套在了野驴的脖子上。

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Despite the wild donkey's kicking and struggling, I managed to lead her back to Falconhurst

尽管野驴又踢又挣扎，我还是设法把它牵回了鹰巢。

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We tied both animals under the roots of our tree for the night

当晚，我们把两头牲口都拴在了我们那棵树的根部下面。

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The next morning I realized that we needed to provide better shelter for our animals and ourselves before the rainy season arrived

第二天早上，我意识到必须在雨季来临之前，为我们的牲口和我们自己搭一个更好的住所。

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In addition to our new donkey — which we named Lightfoot — three broods of chickens had recently hatched

除了我们新得的驴子——我们叫它“光脚”——最近还有三窝小鸡孵了出来。

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We began by constructing walls and a roof over the roots of our tree

我们从在树根上方搭建墙壁和屋顶开始。

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After fastening bamboo canes tightly together, we filled any holes with clay and moss

把竹竿紧紧绑在一起后，我们用黏土和苔藓填满所有的缝隙。

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Then we coated the roof and walls with tar to make everything waterproof

然后我们在屋顶和墙壁上涂上焦油，让一切都防水。

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I divided the space into rooms

我把空间划分成几个房间。

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Stables, henhouse, kitchen, and dining room were soon all under one roof

马厩、鸡舍、厨房和餐厅很快都归到了同一个屋檐下。

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Every day we loaded our cart with provisions for our winter quarters: cassava, potatoes, coconuts, and other foods

我们每天往推车上装载冬季住所的补给品：木薯、马铃薯、椰子和其他食物。

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One day when we were out gathering nuts, Ernest found a nest made from long, broad grass

有一天我们外出采集坚果时，厄尼斯特发现了一个用又长又宽的草做的窝。

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" I'll take some of this grass home for Franz," said Ernest, waving a piece around

“我要带些这种草回家给弗朗茨，”厄尼斯特说着，手里挥动着一根草。

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" He can pretend it's a sword."

“他可以把它假想成一把剑。”

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When we arrived home, Franz was delighted with his new toy

我们回到家时，弗朗茨看到他的新玩具开心极了。

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But Mother was even happier

但妈妈更开心。

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" That's not grass," she said

“那不是草，”她说。

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" That's flax. Once it's properly prepared, I can make linen for clothing."

“那是亚麻。一旦处理好，我就能织出亚麻布来做衣服了。”

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So we added soaking the flax in water to our tasks

于是，我们把浸泡亚麻也加到了任务清单里。

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Soon the rain began to fall, and we had to retreat to our shelter under the roots

不久，雨开始下起来，我们不得不退回到树根下的庇护所。

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We carried down any furniture or household items that might be damaged by the moisture

我们搬下了所有可能被湿气损坏的家具或家居用品。

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With our beds all around us, our dwelling was crowded indeed

床铺都围在我们身边，我们的住所确实很拥挤。

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We gradually rearranged our things so that we had more room

我们逐渐重新整理了东西，腾出了更多空间。

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During the day we sent our formerly wild animals outside

白天，我们把那些曾被驯养的野生动物赶到外面去。

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We figured that they were used to surviving the rainy season

我们觉得它们应该习惯了在雨季生存。

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Every night Fritz and I went outside to bring them back in

每晚，弗里茨和我都会出去把它们带回来。

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And every night we returned home soaked to the skin

而每晚我们回到家时都浑身湿透。

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" You need waterproof suits," said my wife." Let me make some for you."

“你们需要防水服，”我妻子说，“我来给你们做几件。”

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First she sewed a hood to a heavy shirt

她先把兜帽缝到一件厚衬衫上。

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Then she attached the shirt to some pants

然后她把衬衫连到一些裤子上。

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She coated the whole outfit with layers of rubber to produce a wonderful waterproof suit

她给整套衣服涂上一层又一层的橡胶，做成了一套完美的防水服。

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Time dragged despite our efforts to keep busy

尽管我们尽力保持忙碌，时间还是过得很慢。

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Our days were occupied with caring for our animals and doing chores

我们的日子就花在照料动物和做家务上。

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In the evenings I wrote in my journal while my wife sewed

晚上，我在日记里写作，妻子则缝缝补补。

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Ernest made sketches of the birds, animals, and flowers that he had encountered since our arrival

欧内斯特画下了我们抵达以来遇到的各种鸟、动物和花的素描。

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Fritz and Jack taught little Franz to read

弗里茨和杰克教小弗朗茨认字。

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At last the rainy season was over

雨季终于结束了。

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We climbed up to our nest and found it filled with broken branches

我们爬上树屋，发现里面填满了折断的树枝。

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" Is Falconhurst ruined?" cried Franz

“鹰巢毁了吗？”弗朗茨喊道。

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" No, no, my boy," I reassured him

“不，不，孩子，”我安慰他道。

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" There's nothing here that a few days of hard work can't fix."

“这里没有什么事是几天苦干不能修好的。”

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I was more worried about Tentholm

我更担心帐篷营地。

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And sure enough we found that the tent was blown down and the canvas torn to rags

果然，我们发现帐篷被吹倒了，帆布被撕成了碎片。

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Our provisions were soaked, and two kegs of gunpowder were ruined

我们的补给品浸湿了，两桶火药也毁了。

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The sailboat was safe, but the tub boat had been destroyed by the waves

帆船安然无恙，但木桶船被海浪摧毁了。

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" We need to find a better place to spend the rainy season," I said to Fritz

“我们需要找个更好的地方过雨季，”我对弗里茨说。

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He looked at the rocky cliffs surrounding Tentholm

他看了看帐篷营地周围的岩壁。

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" Maybe we could hollow out a cave in the rock."

“也许我们可以在岩石里挖出一个洞穴来。”

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A few days later we loaded up our cart with hammers, chisels, pickaxes, and crowbars

几天后，我们在板车上装上了锤子、凿子、镐和撬棍。

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The three older boys and I battered away at the rock without making much progress

我和三个大点的男孩不停地敲打岩石，但进展不大。

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But on the tenth day, Jack suddenly shouted," I lost my crowbar!

但到了第十天，杰克突然喊道：“我的撬棍掉了！

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It fell through a hole and I heard it crash down inside!"

它掉进一个洞里，我听到它哐当一声砸到里面了！”

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We rushed to his side." There must be a cavern in there," I said

我们冲到他身边。“里面一定有个洞穴，”我说。

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With a shout of joy, the boys attacked the rock

孩子们欢呼着，向岩石发起攻击。

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And soon the hole was large enough for us to enter the cave

很快，洞口大到我们可以进入洞穴了。