麻雀窩里抓條蛇

Catch a snake in a sparrow's nest

原創(chuàng)：斧子

中譯英：斧子的二當(dāng)家

審校团南、朗誦：Michael

少年時代恼蓬，我在老家住的房子，還是土磚茅草屋。每過一兩年厢汹，茅草屋上都要添加新的稻草。很多麻雀的窩收夸，就在稻草堆里坑匠。

In my youth, the house I lived in was still a mud brick thatched cottage. Every year or two a new straw would be added to the thatched house. A lot of sparrows' nests were just a pile of straw.

有一年冬天，我抓到一只小麻雀卧惜。用小紙箱及墊布做了個麻雀窩厘灼。剛開始小麻雀不知道吃東西夹纫、喝水，都是霸蠻设凹。喂的時候用整個手掌托住舰讹，大拇指和食指卡主頭，不讓其亂動闪朱， 硬塞進(jìn)嘴里月匣。等稍大一點它就會主動進(jìn)食了，只需放到它嘴前奋姿，就會啄進(jìn)去锄开。喝水的話，是用手指沾點水称诗，淋到它嘴里萍悴。養(yǎng)小麻雀就是前幾天最難養(yǎng)，一天要喂好多次寓免。稍過幾天 癣诱，它餓了就會不停的叫了，嘰嘰喳喳的袜香，而且盯著食物的表情很讓人憐惜撕予。

One winter, I caught a little sparrow and made a nest for it out of small cartons and clothes. At first, the little sparrow didn't know how to eat or drink water, so I had to feed it in a stupid way. I held it in my palm and used my thumb and forefinger to keep it from moving and push the food into its mouth. When it became a little bigger, it would take the initiative to eat by itself. Just put the food in front of its mouth, and it would peck it in. If it wanted to drink water, I would dip my finger in it and pour the water into its mouth. When raising small sparrows, the first few days are the most difficult ones, it must be fed many times per day. A few days later, when it became hungry, it would begin screaming, twittering, and staring at the food with a pathetic expression.

我當(dāng)時喂養(yǎng)的東西，有雞蛋黃蜈首，用水泡軟的米粒实抡，菜葉，菜青蟲疾就，螞蚱澜术，蚯蚓等等昆蟲。泡過的米粒覺得大了猬腰，就分一半或者再小鸟废。

At that time, the things I used to feed it with were egg yolk, soft rice grains with water, cabbage leaves, worms, grasshoppers, earthworms and other insects. If I found the soaked rice grains are too big, I would divide them onto two halfs or even make them smaller.

后來小麻雀會飛翔了，記得當(dāng)時還栓了根繩子玩了一段時間姑荷，最后還是放生了盒延。

Later, the little sparrow was able to fly. I remember that I also tied a rope on it to play for some time, and finally released it.

麻雀不進(jìn)行遷徙，是常見的留鳥鼠冕。麻雀形不驚人添寺、貌不壓人、聲不迷人懈费，加上和我們太熟悉了计露，反而使大家對它們了解得并不多。麻雀一般上體呈棕、黑色的斑雜狀票罐，初級飛羽9 枚叉趣，外側(cè)飛羽的淡色羽緣（第一枚除外）在羽基和近端處，形稍擴大该押，互相駢綴疗杉，略成兩道橫斑狀，在飛翔時尤見明顯蚕礼。嘴短粗而強壯烟具，呈圓錐狀，嘴峰稍曲奠蹬。

Sparrows do not migrate. They are common resident birds. Sparrows don’t have any surprising shape, their appearance is not outstanding in any way, their voice is not charming, and they are very familiar with us. But we do not really know much about them. Sparrows generally have brown and black upper body with nine primary flying feathers. The outer flight feathers are light-colored (except the first one) and enlarge their shape near the end. They are parallel to each other and form two horizontal bars, which can be seen when the sparrow is flying. The mouth is short, thick and strong, with a slightly curved, conical shaped beak.

麻雀是與人類伴生的鳥類朝聋，多活動在有人類居住的地方，性極活潑罩润，膽大易近人玖翅，但警惕性卻非常高翼馆，好奇心較強割以。棲息于居民點和田野附近。多營巢于人類的房屋處应媚，如屋檐严沥、 墻洞，有時會占領(lǐng)家燕的窩巢中姜，在野外消玄，多筑巢于樹洞中。有時可以發(fā)現(xiàn)它們在個別的樹上筑巢丢胚，然而麻雀在一年的四個季節(jié)中都是成群的翩瓜，具有很多洞的老樹群，通常是它們最 喜愛的筑巢地點携龟。它們的巢比較簡陋兔跌，筑巢材料的種類很多，多用草莖峡蟋、枯枝等搭建》匚Γ現(xiàn)在的衡陽城里，有些麻雀甚至將巢筑在空調(diào)室外機中蕊蝗、煙囪中仅乓、熱水器排氣管中，這常常 給人們的生活帶來不同程度的麻煩蓬戚。

Sparrows are birds associated with human beings. They are mostly active in the areas inhabitated by humans. They are extremely lively, audacious and approachable, but also highly vigilant and curious. A sparrow likes to inhabit residential areas and nearby fields. Many nests are found in human houses, such as eaves, wall holes, sometimes also in the nests after other domestic birds. In the wilderness, their nests are built in tree holes. Sometimes they can be found to nest in individual trees, but sparrows are mostly in groups for all the seasons in a year. The old trees with many holes in them are often their favorite nesting sites. Their nests are relatively simple and there are many kinds of nesting materials. They are usually built with grass stems and dead branches. Now, in Hengyang city, some sparrows even build their nests in the outdoor air-conditioning machines, chimneys, and exhaust pipes of water heaters, which often causes various troubles to people's lives.

除繁殖夸楣、育雛階段外，麻雀是非常喜歡群居的鳥類。秋季時易形成數(shù)百只乃至數(shù)千只的大群豫喧，稱為雀泛洞慎，而在冬季它們則多結(jié)成十幾只或幾十只一起活動的小群。這種小生靈非常 聰明機警嘿棘，有較強的記憶力劲腿，如得到人救助的麻雀會對救助過它的人表現(xiàn)出一種親近，而且會持續(xù)很長的時間鸟妙。

Apart from the breeding and brooding stages, sparrows are very social birds. It is easy for them to form hundreds or even thousands of groups in autumn, known as Sparrow Flooding. In the winter they form more than dozens of small groups that work together. This small creature is very clever, cautious and has a strong memory. For example, a sparrow that was rescued by others will show a kind of closeness to the people who rescued it and it will last for a long time.

冬季和早春焦人，麻雀以雜草種子和野生禾本科植物的種子為食，也吃人類扔棄的各種食物重父。白天四處覓食花椭，在樹枝或灌叢間飛來飛去或飛上飛下，活動范圍在2.5至3千米以內(nèi)房午。在地面活動時雙腳跳躍前進(jìn)矿辽。翅短圓，不耐遠(yuǎn)飛郭厌，鳴聲喧噪袋倔。

In winter and early spring, sparrows feed with the weed seeds and wild grasses, also with the food thrown away by humans. During the day they look for food everywhere, flying up and down around branches or bushes within a range up to 3 km. When moving on the ground they use both feet to jump forward. Their wings are short and round so they can't fly far and they make a noisy sound around them.

麻雀在育雛時往往會表現(xiàn)得非常勇敢，俄國作家屠格涅夫曾在他的短篇小說《麻雀》中折柠，記載過一只親鳥為保護(hù)不慎墜地的幼鳥宾娜，以其弱小的身體面對一只大狗而不退縮的感人場面。

Sparrows tend to be very brave when they raise their young. In a short story called "The Sparrow" written by a Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, there is a parent bird described who tried to protect a young bird that had carelessly fallen to the ground. A touching scene of a weak bird facing a large dog without being able to retreat.

俗話說：“麻雀雖小扇售，五臟俱全前塔。”比喻事物體積或規(guī)模雖小承冰，具備的內(nèi)容卻很齊全华弓。家鄉(xiāng)有句老話：“三雞四鴿，當(dāng)不得麻雀一甲腳”困乒，說麻雀非常補寂屏。

As the saying goes: "A sparrow may be small but it has all the vital organs." It means that although things may have a small size, their content is complete. There is also an old saying in my hometown: "Even three chickens and four doves cannot be compared to a foot of a sparrow." It means that sparrows are very nourishing.

最嚇人的一次，是我去掏麻雀窩顶燕，手伸進(jìn)去凑保，卻抓了一條蛇出來，嚇的我半死涌攻。萬幸的是欧引，抓出來的是條無毒蛇，我安然無恙恳谎。從那以后芝此，我再也沒有去掏過麻雀窩憋肖。

The scariest time was when I went to dig in a sparrow's nest. When I reached in there I caught a snake. It nearly scared me to the death. Fortunately, it was a harmless snake and I was safe. Since then, I have never used to dig in a sparrows nest again.

作者簡介

斧子，出版著作有：散文詩集《等你歸來》婚苹，湖南文藝出版社岸更；散文詩集《欠債校長》，香港商務(wù)印書館膊升；中短篇小說集《月下天鵝與祝塘的絕版愛情》怎炊，團(tuán)結(jié)出版社；中短篇小說集《隱身保鏢》廓译，團(tuán)結(jié)出版社评肆；中短篇小說集《財哥的第一次婚姻》，中國文聯(lián)出版社......

Introduction of the author:

Axe,? published:?Prose poetry collection "Waiting for you" , Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House;?Prose poetry collection "Principal in debt",? The Hong Kong commercial press (HKPC);?A short and medium story collection, "The extinct edition of love between Swan under the Moon and Zhu Tang", United publishing house;?A short and medium story collection, "Invisible bodyguard", United publishing house;?A short and medium story collection, "The first marriage of brother Qian," and published by the China Federation of Literary Unions ...

Hi there! I’m Michael. Big fan of China, its culture and cuisine. Made a choice in 2017 to pack my things and come here from Europe. I love traveling, jogging and listening to music.?