10 There Are Eggs And Trouble

IN WHICH There Are Eggs And Trouble Two days later Frightful laid a second egg. Again she did not incubate it. Without her warmth, the embryos could not develop. Nevertheless they needed attention, and she turned them every three or four hours. The turning twisted the ropelike chalzas attached to each end of the yolk and to the shell. This twisting tightened the chalzas and kept the yolks suspended in the middle of the albumen so that they did not stick to the inner shell. Frightful pulled a feather from her breast and watched it blow off on a wind. Before she lay the first egg, both she and 426 had lost so many feathers on their breasts that these areas were naked and bare. These were brood patches. Both parents would brood the eggs. Warmer than feathers, the bare skin would raise the eggs to seventy degrees Fahrenheit. At that mystical temperature, life would start.

本章节说到：有了蛋，也来了麻烦 两天后，惊儿生下了第二颗蛋 她这一次依然没有孵它 没有她的体温，胚胎没法发育 不过它们还是需要照料，每隔三四个小时，惊儿就会翻一次蛋 翻蛋会扭转系在蛋黄两端、连在蛋壳上的绳状系带 扭转能让系带收紧，把蛋黄悬在蛋清中间，避免蛋黄粘在内壳上 惊儿从胸口拔下一根羽毛，看着它被风吹走 在她下第一颗蛋前，她和426的胸口都掉了很多羽毛，这块区域变得光秃秃的 这块区域就是抱卵斑 双亲都会轮流孵蛋 光秃秃的皮肤比羽毛更保暖，能把蛋的温度升到华氏七十度 在这个神奇的温度下，新生命就要开始孕育了

The day Frightful laid the second egg was cold. Nevertheless, she and 426 left the eggs and flew off to the courthouse cupola. 426 saw the pigeon ladies come out of their house and the pigeons flock to meet them. He dove. The pigeons scattered. Frightful watched from above the trees. She saw a bird fly away from the others in confusion, dove at it, and missed. Later that day they were successful in their cooperative hunting. Frightful caught a rat. That night was very cold. Frightful stood over the eggs, not sitting on them to start incubation, but protecting them from the freezing air. She let her long breast feathers and pantaloons make a tent around them as she stood. Her brood patch was swollen and soft with a jellylike fluid. Three days after the second egg was laid, Frightful laid a third. When she stood up to look at the rich colors and exciting shapes of her clutch, her knees bent. She sat down. Her brood patch fit gently around the eggs like a soft hot-water bottle. Long feathers that had developed around her brood patch dropped around the eggs like a down

惊儿下第二颗蛋那天，天气非常冷 尽管如此，她和426还是离开蛋，飞去了法院的穹顶 426看见养鸽的女士们走出屋子，鸽子成群飞出来迎接她们 他猛地俯冲下去 鸽子一下子四散飞开 惊儿在树梢上方观察着 她看见一只鸟慌慌张张离群飞走，立刻扑了过去，却没扑中 那天晚些时候，它们合作捕猎成功了 惊儿抓到了一只老鼠 那天晚上冷得要命 惊儿站在蛋上方，没有坐下开始孵蛋，只是护住蛋不让冻气伤到它们 她站着的时候，胸口的长毛和腿上的厚绒羽像帐篷一样把蛋围了起来 她的抱卵斑肿得软软的，充满了果冻一样的液体 第二颗蛋生下三天后，惊儿生下了第三颗蛋 当她站起来看着这窝颜色鲜亮、模样可爱的蛋时，膝盖弯了下来 她坐了下去 她的抱卵斑温柔地贴在蛋周围，就像一个软乎乎的热水袋 她抱卵斑周围长出的长羽毛松松围在蛋四周，就像羽绒

comforter. They kept the warmth in and the cold out. Around noon the peregrine eggs reached seventy degrees. Miraculously, inside each egg one cell became two, two became four, then eight. Life was exploding in its various and complicated ways. Frightful sat tight. That afternoon 426 became provider and helper. He flew off alone and came back with food. He fed her, then she stood up. He sat down and brooded the eggs. Frightful flew up and down the river, then winged over the one hemlock, calling to Sam. When she was well exercised, she returned to the scrape. 426 got up. Frightful sat down on the precious eggs. Around six o'clock the next morning 426, who was sleeping near the top of the bridge against a vertical web, awoke. He checked Frightful and flew off to hunt. Sam saw him go. He walked onto the bridge and whistled. Frightful did not answer. "I know you're there," he said. "I've been watching you from Federal Hill."

被 它们把热气锁在里面，把寒气挡在外面 临近中午，游隼蛋的温度升到了七十度 神奇的是，每颗蛋里，一个细胞分成两个，两个分成四个，接着变成了八个 生命正以多样复杂的方式蓬勃萌发 惊儿稳稳坐着不动 当天下午，426当起了猎手和帮手 他独自飞出去，带着食物飞了回来 他喂惊儿吃完，惊儿就站了起来 他坐下开始孵蛋 惊儿沿着河上下游飞了一圈，接着飞过那棵铁杉，呼唤山姆 她好好活动完身体，就回到了巢坑 426站了起来 惊儿坐到这些珍贵的蛋上 第二天早上将近六点，靠着桥顶竖梁睡觉的426醒了过来 他看了看惊儿，就飞去捕猎了 山姆看见他飞走了 他走到桥上，吹起了口哨 惊儿没有回应 "我知道你在那儿，"他说 "我一直从联邦山看着你呢。"

Frightful was quiet. The longer she incubated, the more deeply she went into the trance of incubation. Only 426 could bring her out of it, and only to eat and fly briefly. Sam whistled again. Still no answer. He grinned. Frightful, he knew, was now incubating. "Good girl," he said aloud; then to himself, "At last I know for sure that she is not so deeply imprinted on me that she could not mate and raise eyases. I am so, so glad. I did not destroy her wildness after all." Whistling, Sam swung off the bridge and dropped to the water's edge, where he walked gracefully upriver, jumping stones and skirting marshes. He arrived at the path to Mrs. Strawberry's farm. Today was the day to plant her rye. The maple leaves were flowering. On May 8 a diesel truck, pulling a flatbed of lumber and roadblocks, crossed the Delhi Bridge and parked on the town side of the river. Workmen placed detour signs and orange cones on either end of the bridge, tied orange ribbons to webs, and conferred with their boss, Joe Cassini.

惊儿依旧安安静静 孵蛋的时间越久，她就越沉浸在孵蛋的沉静状态里 只有426能叫她出来，也只是出来吃点东西，稍微飞一会儿 山姆又吹了一次口哨 还是没有回应 山姆笑了 他知道，惊儿现在已经全心孵蛋了 "好姑娘，"他大声说，接着暗想："我终于确定，她没有对我印记太深，她依然可以交配养育小游隼 我真的太高兴了 我终究没有毁掉她的野性。" 山姆吹着口哨，走下桥来到岸边，蹦着石头绕过沼泽，轻快地往河上游走 他走到了通往草莓太太农场的小路上 今天就是帮她种黑麦的日子 枫花开了 五月八日这天，一辆柴油卡车拉着满平车的木材和路障，开过德里桥，停在河靠城镇的一侧 工人们在桥的两端放好绕行标志和橙色路锥，在桥梁上系好橙丝带，接着和老板乔·卡西尼商量工作

The cafe owner, Betty Christopher, drove up in her car and poked her head out the window. "What's all this about?" she asked Joe Cassini. "Bridge repair," he answered. "About time," she said. "The last couple of floods just about tore out the pilings. Gonna fix them, too?" "Yeah," Cassini answered. "The pilings are first." "I've been expecting them to go any day," said Betty Christopher, "and dump everyone on the bridge into the river. I'm glad you're here." "They're not that bad," laughed Joe Cassini. "But we're repairing this bridge and every other bridge in New York State. Even ones that hardly need it." "How am I going to get to work?" she asked. "I live on the mountain side of the bridge, not the town side." "We're setting up a detour. Turn around and cross on the lower bridge." "Gotcha," she said, and drove off. A week later the workmen finished the crib that would support the bridge while they replaced the pilings. No sooner was it up than a diesel truck

咖啡馆老板贝蒂·克里斯托弗开车过来，把头伸出车窗 "这都是在干什么呀？" 她问乔·卡西尼 "修桥，"他回答 "总算要修了，"她说 "前几次洪水差点把桥桩都冲垮了 桥桩也一起修吗？" "对，"卡西尼回答 "先修桥桩。" "我早就担心桥桩哪天会塌，"贝蒂·克里斯托弗说，"把桥上的人全都掀进河里 我真高兴你们来修了。" "还没那么糟啦，"乔·卡西尼笑着说 "不过我们不仅要修这座桥，还要修纽约州所有其他的桥 连那些几乎不用修的桥也要修。" "那我怎么去上班呀？" 她问道 "我住在桥靠山的那一边，不是城镇这一边。" "我们已经设好了绕行路 掉头走下游那座桥过桥就行。" "知道啦，"她说完就开车走了 一周后，工人们做好了换桥桩时支撑桥身的托架 托架刚搭好，一辆柴油卡车就

with air compressors pulled onto the bridge. Men with ear protectors picked up their jackhammers and tested them. Blasts shook the bridge. Frightful stood up. "There's a peregrine's nest on this bridge." It was Sam's voice below. She sat down. "So?" said Joe Cassini. "Well, peregrines are an endangered species," he said. "They are protected by law." "We ain't going to shoot them," Joe Cassini said. "But you'll scare them away," Sam replied. "Isn't there another bridge you could work on till the end of June?" "There are a lot of other bridges. But the Department of Transportation says we do this one —now." "Tell them peregrine falcons are nesting here. I'm sure when they hear that, they'll want to wait until the nesting season is over. These are very special birds." "You tell them," Joe Cassini said. "I don't know anything about that stuff." He gave orders to a

空气压缩机被拉上了大桥。 戴隔音耳罩的工人拿起风钻，试了试机器。 爆破震得大桥不住摇晃。 芙莱芙站了起来。 “这座桥上有游隼的巢。” 这是萨姆在桥下说话的声音。 她又坐了回去。 “那又怎样？”乔·卡西尼说。 “唉，游隼可是濒危物种。”他说。 “它们受法律保护。” “我们又没打算杀它们。”乔·卡西尼说。 “可你们会把它们吓跑的。”萨姆回答。 “你们就不能换座桥修，等到六月底再来吗？” “别的桥多的是。 但交通部要求我们——现在就得修这座。” “你告诉他们这里有游隼筑巢。 我肯定他们听到后，会等到繁殖季结束再动工。 这些鸟非常特别。” “你自己去跟他们说吧。”乔·卡西尼说。 “我对这些事儿一窍不通。” 他向一名