《瓦尔登湖·第十二章·禽兽为邻·Brute Neighbors》第9节
In the fall the loon (Colymbus glacialis) came, as usual, to moult and bathe in the pond, making the woods ring with his wild laughter before I had risen. At rumor of his arrival all the Mill-dam sportsmen are on the alert, in gigs and on foot, two by two and three by three, with patent rifles and conical balls and spy-glasses. They come rustling through the woods like autumn leaves, at least ten men to one loon. Some station themselves on this side of the pond, some on that, for the poor bird cannot be omnipresent; if he dive here he must come up there. But now the kind October wind rises, rustling the leaves and rippling the surface of the water, so that no loon can be heard or seen, though his foes sweep the pond with spy-glasses, and make the woods resound with their discharges. The waves generously rise and dash angrily, taking sides with all water-fowl, and our sportsmen must beat a retreat to town and shop and unfinished jobs. But they were too often successful. When I went to get a pail of water early in the morning I frequently saw this stately bird sailing out of my cove within a few rods. If I endeavored to overtake him in a boat, in order to see how he would manœuvre, he would dive and be completely lost, so that I did not discover him again, sometimes, till the latter part of the day. But I was more than a match for him on the surface. He commonly went off in a rain.
注释摘要
梭罗在这段里写了秋天到瓦尔登湖换羽的潜鸟。他用的学名是 Colymbus glacialis，旧分类里指普通潜鸟，如今常见的对应是 common loon。鸟还没起床，梭罗就在屋里听见树林里回荡着它那种被他反复称为“狂野的笑声”的鸣叫。他把这种声音当成一个信号，一个消息，很快水坝那边的猎人就都出动了。他写猎人集结时用了一个有意夸大的比喻：他们穿过树林像秋天…