瓦尔登湖:Winter Animals2

　　Usually the red squirrel （Sciurus Hudsonius） waked me in the dawn， coursing over the roof and up and down the sides of the house，as if sent out of the woods for this purpose.  In the course of the winter I threw out half a bushel of ears of sweet corn， which had not got ripe， on to the snow-crust by my door， and was amused by watching the motions of the various animals which were baited by it. In the twilight and the night the rabbits came regularly and made a hearty meal.  All day long the red squirrels came and went， and afforded me much entertainment by their manoeuvres.  One would approach at first warily through the shrub oaks， running over the snow-crust by fits and starts like a leaf blown by the wind， now a few paces this way， with wonderful speed and waste of energy， making inconceivable haste with his "trotters，" as if it were for a wager，and now as many paces that way， but never getting on more than half a rod at a time； and then suddenly pausing with a ludicrous expression and a gratuitous somerset， as if all the eyes in the universe were eyed on him ―― for all the motions of a squirrel， even in the most solitary recesses of the forest， imply spectators as much as those of a dancing girl ―― wasting more time in delay and circumspection than would have sufficed to walk the whole distance―― I never saw one walk ―― and then suddenly， before you could say Jack Robinson， he would be in the top of a young pitch pine， winding up his clock and chiding all imaginary spectators， soliloquizing and talking to all the universe at the same time ―― for no reason that I could ever detect， or he himself was aware of， I suspect.  At length he would reach the corn， and selecting a suitable ear， frisk about in the same uncertain trigonometrical way to the topmost stick of my wood-pile， before my window， where he looked me in the face， and there sit for hours， supplying himself with a new ear from time to time， nibbling at first voraciously and throwing the half-naked cobs about； till at length he grew more dainty still and played with his food， tasting only the inside of the kernel， and the ear， which was held balanced over the stick by one paw， slipped from his careless grasp and fell to the ground， when he would look over at it with a ludicrous expression of uncertainty， as if suspecting that it had life， with a mind not made up whether to get it again， or a new one，or be off； now thinking of corn， then listening to hear what was in the wind.  So the little impudent fellow would waste many an ear in a forenoon； till at last， seizing some longer and plumper one，considerably bigger than himself， and skilfully balancing it， he would set out with it to the woods， like a tiger with a buffalo， by the same zig-zag course and frequent pauses， scratching along with it as if it were too heavy for him and falling all the while， making its fall a diagonal between a perpendicular and horizontal， being determined to put it through at any rate； ―― a singularly frivolous and whimsical fellow； ―― and so he would get off with it to where he lived， perhaps carry it to the top of a pine tree forty or fifty rods distant， and I would afterwards find the cobs strewn about the woods in various directions.

　　At length the jays arrive， whose discordant screams were heard long before， as they were warily making their approach an eighth of a mile off， and in a stealthy and sneaking manner they flit from tree to tree， nearer and nearer， and pick up the kernels which the squirrels have dropped.  Then， sitting on a pitch pine bough， they attempt to swallow in their haste a kernel which is too big for their throats and chokes them； and after great labor they disgorge it， and spend an hour in the endeavor to crack it by repeated blows with their bills.  They were manifestly thieves， and I had not much respect for them； but the squirrels， though at first shy， went to work as if they were taking what was their own.

　　通常总是赤松鼠（学名Sciurus Hudsonius）在黎明中把我叫醒的，它在屋脊上奔窜，又在屋子的四侧攀上爬下，好像它们出森林来，就为了这个目的。冬天里，我抛出了大约有半蒲式耳的都是没有熟的玉米穗，抛在门口的积雪之上，然后观察那些给勾引来的各种动物的姿态，这使我发生极大兴趣。黄昏与黑夜中，兔干经常跑来，饱餐一顿。整天里，赤松鼠来来去去，它们的灵活尤其娱悦了我。有一只赤松鼠开始谨慎地穿过矮橡树丛，跑跑停停地在雪地奔驰，像一张叶子给风的溜溜地吹了过来；一忽儿它向这个方向跑了几步，速度惊人，精力也消耗得过了份，它用“跑步”的姿态急跑，快得不可想象，似乎它是来作孤注一掷的，一忽儿它向那个方向也跑那么几步，但每一次总不超出半杆之遥；于是突然间做了一个滑稽的表情停了步，无缘无故地翻一个斗，仿佛全宇宙的眼睛都在看着它，――因为一只松鼠的行动，即使在森林最深最寂寞的地方，也好像舞女一样，似乎总是有观众在场的，――它在拖宕，兜圈子中，浪费了更多的时间，如果直线进行，早毕全程，――我却从没有看见过一只松鼠能泰然步行过，――然后，突然，刹那之间，它已经在一个小苍松的顶上，开足了它的发条，责骂一切假想中的观众，又像是在独白，同时又像是在向全宇宙说话，一我丝毫猜不出这是什么理由，我想，它自己也未必说得出理由来。最后，它终于到了玉米旁，拣定一个玉米穗，还是用那不规则三角形的路线跳来跳去，跳到了我窗前堆起的那一堆木料的最高峰上，在那里它从正面看着我，而且一坐就是几个小时，时不时地找来新的玉米穗，起先它贪食着，把半裸的穗轴抛掉；后来它变得更加精灵了，拿了它的食物来玩耍，只吃一粒粒的玉米，而它用一只前掌擎起的玉米穗忽然不小心掉到地上了，它便做出一副不肯定的滑稽的表情来，低头看着玉米穗，好像在怀疑那玉米穗是否是活的，决不定要去拣起来呢，还是该另外去拿一个过来，或者干脆走开；它一忽儿想看玉米穗，一忽儿又听听风里有什么声音。就是这样，这个唐突的家伙一个上午就糟蹋了好些玉米穗；直到最后，它攫起了最长最大的一支，比它自己还大得多，很灵巧地背了就走，回森林去，好像一只老虎背了一只水牛，却还是弯弯曲曲地走，走走又停停，辛辛苦苦前进，好像那玉米穗太重，老是掉落，它让王米穗处在介乎垂直线与地平线之间的对角线状态，决心要把它拿到目的地去；――一个少见的这样轻桃而三心二意的家伙；――这样它把玉米穗带到它住的地方，也许是四五十杆之外的一棵松树的顶上去了，事后我总可以看见，那穗轴被乱掷在森林各处。

　　最后鸟来了，它们的不协和的声音早就听见过，当时它们在八分之一英里以外谨慎地飞近，偷偷摸摸地从一棵树飞到另一棵树，越来越近，沿途拣起了些松鼠掉下来的玉米粒。然后，它们坐在一棵苍松的枝头，想很快吞下那粒玉米，可是玉米太大，梗在喉头，呼吸都给塞住了；费尽力气又把它吐了出来，用它们的嘴嚎啄个不休，企图啄破它，显然这是一群窃贼，我不很尊敬它们；倒是那些松鼠，开头虽有点羞答答，过后就像拿自己的东西一样老实不客气地干起来了。

　　同时飞来了成群的山雀，拣起了松鼠掉下来的屑粒，飞到最近的桠枝上，用爪子按住屑粒，就用小嘴喙啄，好像这些是树皮中的一只只小虫子，一直啄到屑粒小得可以让它们的细喉咙咽下去。一小群这种山雀每天都到我的一堆木料中来大吃一顿，或者吃我门前那些屑粒，发出微弱迅疾的咬舌儿的叫声，就像草丛间冰柱的声音，要不然，生气勃勃地“代，代，代”地呼号了，尤其难得的是在春天似的日子里，它们从林侧发出了颇有夏意的“菲-比”的琴弦似的声音。它们跟我混得熟了，最后有一只山雀飞到我臂下挟着进屋去的木柴上，毫不恐惧地啄着细枝。有一次，我在村中园子里锄地，一只麻雀飞来停落到我肩上，待了一忽儿，当时我觉得，佩戴任何的肩章，都比不上我这一次光荣。后来松鼠也跟我很熟了，偶然抄近路时，也从我的脚背上踩过去。

　　在大地还没有全部给雪花覆盖的时候，以及在冬天快要过去，朝南的山坡和我的柴堆上的积雪开始溶化的时候，无论早晨或黄昏，鹧鸪都要从林中飞来觅食。无论你在林中走哪一边，总有鹧鸪急拍翅膀飞去，震落了枯叶和桠枝上的雪花；雪花在阳光下飘落的时候，像金光闪闪的灰尘；原来这一种勇敢的鸟不怕冬天。它们常常给积雪遮蔽了起来，据说，“有时它们振翅飞入柔软的雪中，能躲藏到一两天之久。”当它们在黄昏中飞出了林子，到野苹果树上来吃蓓蕾的时候，我常常在旷野里惊动它们。每天黄昏，它们总是飞到它们经常停落的树上，而狡猾的猎者正在那儿守候它们，那时远处紧靠林子的那些果园里就要有不小的骚动了。无论如何，我很高兴的是鹧鸪总能找到食物。它们依赖着蓓蕾和饮水为生，它们是大自然自己的鸟。

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