39 THE FIRST FLIGHT

CHAPTER 39 THE FIRST FLIGHT Brightbill had spent his entire life by the pond, and he was becoming very curious about what lay beyond his neighborhood. So one day his mother said to him, "Let us go for a walk, and I will show you more water than you can possibly imagine." Roz placed the gosling on her flat shoulder, and the two of them set off across the island. They marched out of the forest, crossed the Great Meadow, and climbed uphill until they were at the top of the island's western ridge. Before them was a grassy slope that descended all the way to the dark, choppy waves that surrounded the island. "That is a lot of water," said the wide-eyed gosling. "I'm a good swimmer, but I'm not good enough to swim across that pond." "That is not a pond," said the robot. "That is an ocean. I doubt any bird could swim across an ocean." Waves rolled in from the horizon.

第三十九章第一次飞行布莱特比尔一生都住在池塘边，他对自己附近的世界越来越好奇。 所以有一天，他的妈妈对他说：“我们去散步吧，我会给你看比你想象的更多的水。” 罗兹把小鹅放在她平坦的肩膀上，他们俩就穿过小岛出发了。 他们走出森林，穿过大草原，向山上爬去，一直爬到岛西边山脊的顶端。 在他们面前是一个长满草的斜坡，一直延伸到环绕着小岛的黑暗、波涛汹涌的海浪。 “好多水啊，”大眼睛的小鹅说。 “我游泳游得很好，但游过那个池塘还不够好。” “那不是池塘，”机器人说。 “那是一片海洋。我怀疑没有鸟能游过海洋。” 波浪从地平线滚滚而来。

Seagulls circled above the shore. A steady breeze blew up the slope. Brightbill's yellow fluff had recently changed over to a coat of silky brown feathers, and he spread his feathery wings into the breeze. And then— "Mama, look!" For the briefest of moments, the wind lifted Brightbill off the ground. But he quickly tipped backward and thumped into the soft grass. "I was flying!" he squeaked. "That was not flying," said Roz, looking back at her upside-down son. "Well, I was almost flying. I'm gonna try again!" "I have observed many birds in flight," said Roz. "Sometimes they flap their wings quickly, and other times they fly without flapping at all. They spread their wings and soar on the wind." "So I was soaring?" said Brightbill. "Almost. There, look at that soaring seagull. It seems like she is not doing anything, but if you look closer, you will notice that she is making small adjustments with her wings and tail. I think you should try adjusting your wings in the wind, like her." Brightbill hopped onto a rock and opened his wings wide. "The wind is pushing me backward!"

海鸥在海岸上空盘旋。 一阵稳定的微风吹过斜坡。 亮比尔的黄色绒毛最近变成了一件丝绸般的棕色羽毛，他在微风中展开了他的羽毛翅膀。 然后——“妈妈，看！”有那么一瞬间，风把布莱特比尔吹离了地面。 但他很快向后倾斜，重重地撞在柔软的草地上。 “我在飞！”他尖声说。 “那不是飞行，”罗兹说，回头看了看她那颠倒的儿子。 “嗯，我差点飞起来了。 我要再试一次！”“我观察过许多飞行中的鸟，”罗兹说。 “有时它们快速拍打翅膀，有时它们根本不拍打翅膀。 他们展开翅膀，迎风飞翔。” “所以我是在飞？”布莱特比尔说。 “几乎。看那只翱翔的海鸥。 看起来她什么也没做，但如果你仔细观察，你会发现她正在用她的翅膀和尾巴做些小的调整。 我认为你应该试着在风中调整你的翅膀，就像她一样。” 布莱特比尔跳上一块岩石，张开翅膀。 “风把我向后推了！”

"Change the angle of your wings," said his mother. "Let us see what happens when they slice through the air." Brightbill slowly angled his wings downward. The more he turned them, the less the wind pushed him backward. And just as his wings leveled off— "Mama, look!" he squeaked as his feet left the ground. "I'm soaring! I'm soaring!" He hovered there for a second, rising a little higher than before, and then he sailed backward into the soft grass again. The gosling kept hopping onto the rock and kept riding the wind and kept tumbling into the grass, until he started to find his wings. With each attempt he floated a little higher and a little longer, and finally Brightbill really did soar. He lifted high into the air and hung there, floating. He turned his wings down and felt himself drop. He wiggled his tail feathers and felt himself veering back and forth. "I'm a natural!" he squeaked. "You are doing very well," said Roz. "But you

“改变你翅膀的角度，”他妈妈说。 “让我们看看它们在空中划过时会发生什么。” 布莱特比尔慢慢地把翅膀向下倾斜。 他越转动它们，风就越不会把他向后推。 就在他的翅膀平起来的时候——“妈妈，看！”他的脚离开了地面，尖声叫道。 “我飙升!我飙升!”他在那里盘旋了一秒钟，上升得比之前高一点，然后他又回到柔软的草地上。 小鹅不停地跳到岩石上，不停地乘风而上，不停地在草地上翻滚，直到他开始找到自己的翅膀。 每一次尝试，他都浮得更高一点、更久一点，最后布莱特比尔真的飞起来了。 他升到空中，悬在那里，漂浮着。 他把翅膀放下来，感觉自己在往下掉。 他扭动着尾羽，感觉自己在前后摇摆。 “我是天生的！”他尖声说。 “你做得很好，”罗兹说。 “但你

need to keep practicing." And so they spent the afternoon practicing up on the ridge. Once Brightbill was comfortable soaring, he tried flapping his wings. He flapped high into the air. He flapped in straight lines. He flapped around and around in circles. A big smile appeared on the gosling's face. Clearly, Brightbill was designed to fly. "I'm flying, Mama! I'm really flying!" "You are flying!" said the robot. "Very good!" Brightbill was now a real flier. But all that flying had worn him out. He lowered himself toward the ground and tumbled into the grass one last time. His landings still needed some work. Roz placed Brightbill on her shoulder and headed back to the Nest. "I can't believe I can fly now, Mama," said Brightbill in his sleepy voice. "I just wish… I just wish you could fly with me." And then the gosling's words were replaced by his quiet, steady breathing.

需要坚持练习。”所以他们整个下午都在山脊上练习。 当布莱特比尔适应了飞翔时，他试着拍打翅膀。 他拍着翅膀飞向空中。 他拍着翅膀直线飞行。 他不停地拍打翅膀。 小鹅的脸上露出了灿烂的笑容。 很明显，布莱特比尔是为飞行而设计的。 “我在飞，妈妈！”我真的飞起来了！”“你在飞！”机器人说。 “很好!”布莱特比尔现在是一名真正的飞行员。 但是飞行使他精疲力竭。 他蹲下身子，最后一次跌倒在草地上。 他的着陆还需要一些改进。 罗丝把布莱特比尔放在自己肩上，朝巢巢走去。 “我不敢相信我现在能飞了，妈妈，”布莱特比尔用他困倦的声音说。 “我只是希望……我只是希望你能和我一起飞。” 然后小鹅的话语被他平静、稳定的呼吸所取代。