The first cygnet looked at Sam and said, " Beep." The second cygnet looked at Sam and said, " Beep."

“哔。”二只天鹅望着萨姆说：“哔。”

The third cygnet greeted Sam the same way. So did the fourth.

三只天鹅用同样的方式对萨姆打招。只也是。

The fifth cygnet was different. He opened his mouth but didn't say a thing.

五只天鹅则完全不同。他张开了嘴，可什么都没说出来。

She walked over to where her sleeping cygnets were and settled down next to them.

她走到她的天鹅们睡觉的地方，挨着他们蹲坐下来。

There are five cygnets. They are sort of a dirty brownish-gray color, but very cute.

有了五只天鹅。他们都是棕灰色的，看起来有点儿脏，不过很可爱。

" One, two, three, four, five. Five cygnets, just as sure as I'm alive! "

“一、二、三、、五。五只天鹅，这就像我还活着一样可以肯定！”

Soon another cygnet appeared. Then another. Then the first one worked his way down into his mother's feathers again, for warmth.

不久，另一只天鹅也出来了。然后是另一只。这时那一只为了取暖又跑回到妈妈的羽毛里面去了。

Anyway, it's a cygnet, and it's alive and healthy.

不管怎么说，它都是一只天鹅，而且活得很健康。

Actually, I think you are perhaps the brightest, smartest, most intelligent of all my cygnets.

实际上，我认为你可能是我所有的孩子中最聪明的，最机灵的，最有才能的。

The cygnets gazed for a second at the water, then tottered forward, gave a jump, and were afloat.

天鹅们对水看了一眼，然后摇晃着走上前去，跳进水里浮了起来。

" Ko-hoh! " cried the cygnet. He rushed to his father and mother. " Look! Look! Look! "

“吭—嗬！”这只天鹅叫起来。他跑到了他的父母旁边。“看！看！看！”

They quickly followed her out of the pond and burrowed down under her feathers to get warm. In a moment there wasn't a cygnet in sight.

他们很快地跟着她离开池塘，钻到妈妈的羽毛下取暖。片刻之间，一只天鹅也看不见了。

Then he set off very slowly, with the cygnets following along in single file. Their mother brought up the rear.

然后他慢慢地出发了，身后跟着排成一行的天鹅。他们的妈妈跟在最后面。

The cob stared at it. The mother swan stared at it. The cygnets stared at it. They just stared and stared.

雄天鹅看见了。雌天鹅看见了。天鹅们也看见了。他们光是看了又看而已。

In time, the eggs were laid and the cygnets were hatched--four of them.

到时候，蛋终于被下了出来，天鹅们也孵出了壳——共有只。

" What does " exalted" mean? " asked the cygnet.

“‘志得意满’是什么意思？”这只天鹅问。

Louis would donate one of his cygnets, just as he had promised.

路易斯就会捐出他的一只天鹅来，就像他曾经答应过的那样。

And his family had increased during the months he had spent with Sam Beaver at school. There were now six new cygnets.

在他和萨姆比弗一起上学的这几个月里，他的家庭成员增加了。现在这里多了六只新生的天鹅。

He liked to compete with other cygnets to see who could swim underwater the greatest distance and stay down the longest.

他喜欢和其他的天鹅们比赛，看谁能在水下游得最远，潜得最久。

" Ready! " cried all the cygnets except Louis.

“准备好了！”除路易斯外的所有天鹅都这么大叫。