第78章 對此毋庸置疑 There Is No Doubt About It(第3/5 頁)

t tell our neighbour owl about it; she is such an estimable owl to talk to.” And with that she flew away.

“嘟嗚！嘟嗚！” 她們倆對著鄰居家的鴿舍裡的鴿子叫著。“你們聽說了嗎？你們聽說了嗎？嘟嗚！有一隻母雞為了公雞把自己所有的羽毛都拔光了；要是她還沒被凍死的話，也會被凍死的。嘟嗚！”

“too-whoo! too-whoo!” they both hooted into the neighbour’s dove-cot to the doves inside. “have you heard? have you heard? too-whoo! there is a hen who has plucked out all her feathers for the sake of the cock; she will freeze to death, if she is not frozen already. too-whoo!”

“在哪兒？在哪兒？” 鴿子們咕咕地叫著。

“where? where?” cooed the doves.

“在鄰居家的院子裡。我都差不多親眼看見了。講這個故事好像不太合適，但這事兒千真萬確。”

“In the neighbour’s yard. I have as good as seen it myself. It is almost unbeing to tell the story, but there is no doubt about it.”

“我們跟你們說的每一個字都要相信。” 鴿子們說道，然後朝著它們的家禽院咕咕地叫著傳下去。“有一隻母雞 —— 不，有人說有兩隻 —— 把自己所有的羽毛都拔光了，為的是不和其他雞一樣，好吸引公雞的注意。”

“believe every word of what we tell you,” said the doves, and cooed down into their poultry-yard. “there is a hen — nay, some say that there are two — who have plucked out all their feathers, in order not to look like the others, and to attract the attention of the cock.

這可是個危險的遊戲，因為很容易就會著涼，然後發燒死掉，而且這兩隻（母雞）都已經死了。

It is a dangerous game, for one can easily catch cold and die from fever, and both of these are dead already.”

“醒醒！醒醒！” 公雞打鳴著，飛到了它棲息的木板上。它眼裡還帶著睡意，但還是叫著：“三隻母雞因為對一隻公雞不幸的愛戀而死了。它們把自己所有的羽毛都拔光了。這是個可怕的故事：我可不會就這麼自己悶著，得把它傳出去。”

“wake up! wake up!” crowed the cock, and flew upon his board. Sleep was still