06 We Know All the Birds

We Know All the Birds Don Mini walked easily, straight down the side of the great tree-trunk. Little Billy climbed carefully after him, from one branch to the next. Soon, below them, they began to smell the revolting hot stench of the Gruncher's breath, and the orange-red smoke was now billowing up into the lower branches in thick clouds. 'What does he look like?' Little Billy whispered. 'Nobody knows,' Don Mini answered. 'He makes so much steam and smoke you can never see him. If you are behind him you can sometimes

唐·米尼轻松地走着，径直沿着大树干的一侧走下去。 小比利小心翼翼地跟着他，从一根树枝爬到另一根树枝上。 很快，他们开始闻到格伦彻呼出的令人作呕的热气味，橘红色的烟雾像厚厚的云层一样，翻滚着升到下面的树枝上。 “他长什么样?”小比利低声说。 “没人知道，”唐·米尼回答。 “他制造的蒸汽和烟太多了，你根本看不到他。 如果你在他身后，有时你可以

catch a glimpse of little bits of him because all the smoke is being blown out in the front. Some Minpins say they have seen his back legs, huge and black and very hairy, shaped like lions' legs but ten times as big. And it is rumoured that his head is like an enormous crocodile's head, with rows and rows and rows of sharp pointed teeth. But nobody really knows. Mind you, he must have gigantic nose-holes to be able to blow out all that smoke.' They stayed still, listening, and they could hear the Gruncher pawing the ground at the base of the tree with his giant hooves and snorting with greed. 'He smells you,' Don Mini said. 'He knows you aren't far away. He'll wait forever to get you now. He adores humans and he doesn't catch them very often. Humans are like strawberries and cream to him. You see, for months he's been living on a diet of Minpins, and a thousand Minpins is not even a snack for him. The brute is ravenous.' Little Billy and Don Mini climbed back up the tree to where all the other Minpins were gathered. They seemed glad to see Little Billy come safely back. 'Stay up here with us,' they said to him. 'We'll look after you.'

瞥见他的点点滴滴，因为所有的烟雾都在前面被吹走了。 一些民平说他们见过他的后腿，又大又黑，毛茸茸的，形状像狮子的腿，但比狮子大十倍。 据说他的头就像一个巨大的鳄鱼头，长着一排排又一排排的尖利的牙齿。 但没有人真正知道。请注意，他一定有很大的鼻子洞，才能把那么多烟吹出去。”他们静静地站着，倾听着。他们可以听到格伦彻用他那巨大的蹄子在树底下刨地，贪婪地哼着鼻息。 “他闻到了你的味道，”唐·米尼说。 “他知道你就在不远处。 他会一直等着抓你的。 他喜欢人类，他不经常抓人。 人类对他来说就像草莓和奶油。 你看，几个月来他一直以吃民品为生，一千个民品对他来说连点心都算不上。 这畜生饿坏了。”小比利和唐·米尼又爬上了树，来到了所有其他米平都聚集的地方。 看到小比利安全回来，他们似乎很高兴。 他们对他说，你就在我们这里住下吧。 “我们会照顾你的。”

Just then, a lovely blue swallow alighted on a branch not far away, and Little Billy saw a mother Minpin and her two children climb quite casually on to the swallow's back. Then the swallow took off and flew away with its passengers seated comfortably between its wings. 'Good Heavens!' cried Little Billy. 'Is that a special tame bird?' 'Not at all,' Don Mini said. 'We know all the birds. The birds are our friends. We use them all the time for going places. That lady is taking her children to see their grandmother who lives in another forest about fifty miles away. They'll be there in less than an hour.'

就在这时，一只可爱的蓝色燕子落在不远处的一根树枝上，小比利看见妈妈敏品和她的两个孩子很随意地爬到燕子的背上。 然后，燕子带着舒适地坐在它两翼之间的乘客起飞了。 “天啊!小比利叫道。 “那是一只特别驯养的鸟吗?”“一点也不，”唐·米尼说。 “我们认识所有的鸟。鸟儿是我们的朋友。 我们到处都用它。 那位女士正带着她的孩子们去看他们的祖母，她住在大约50英里外的另一片森林里。 他们不到一小时就到。”

'Can you talk to them?' Little Billy asked. 'To the birds, I mean?' 'Of course we can talk to them,' Don Mini said. 'We can summon them any time we want if we have to go somewhere. How else would we get our supplies of food up here? The Red-Hot Gruncher makes it impossible for us to walk anywhere in the wood.' 'Do the birds like doing this for you?' Little Billy asked. 'They'll do anything for us,' Don Mini said. 'They love us and we love them. We store food for them inside the trees so they don't starve when the icy-cold winter comes along.'

“你能和他们谈谈吗?”小比利问。 “我是说对鸟儿说吗?”“我们当然可以和他们谈谈，”唐·米尼说。 “如果我们要去什么地方，我们可以随时召唤他们。 不然我们怎么弄到食物呢? 炙热的Gruncher让我们无法在树林里行走。“鸟儿喜欢为你这样做吗?”小比利问。 “他们愿意为我们做任何事，”唐·米尼说。 “他们爱我们，我们也爱他们。 我们把食物储存在树里，这样当寒冷的冬天来临时，它们就不会饿死。”

Suddenly all sorts of birds were alighting on the branches of the tree around where Little Billy was sitting, and the Minpins were climbing on to their backs in droves. Most of the Minpins had small sacks slung over their shoulders. 'At this time of day they go off to collect food,' Don Mini said. 'All the grown-ups have to help in getting food for the community. The population of

突然，各种各样的鸟落在小比利坐的地方周围的树枝上，民平们成群结队地爬到他们的背上。 大多数敏平家的人肩上都挎着小麻袋。 唐·米尼说:“每天这个时候，它们都会出去捡食物。” “所有的成年人都必须帮助社区获取食物。 的人口

each tree looks after itself. Our large trees are like your cities and towns, and the small trees are like your villages.' It was an astonishing sight. Every kind of wonderful bird was flying in and perching on the branches of the great tree, and as soon as one landed a Minpin would climb on to its back and off they would go.

每棵树都照顾自己。 我们的大树像你们的城镇，小树像你们的村庄。这是一幅令人吃惊的景象。 各种各样的奇鸟飞来，栖息在这棵大树的树枝上，只要有一只落下来，一只民品就会爬到它的背上，他们就会飞走。