夏日的鄉村
Summer has come, with its warm sunny days, making us think of all sorts of nice things, such as holidays in the country, picnics and haymaking①parties.
夏天來了，與它溫暖的晴天壹道，帶給我們無限美好的遐思，像鄉野的假日啊，野餐啊，還有制備幹草的聚會啊。
When Spring came, she found the earth cold and bare, but she soon changed all that, and by the time Summer arrives, the world is a very different place. It is a green world now, green leaves on the trees, green grass in the fields, green plants crowding in the hedges②, and flowers opening everywhere.
當春天來臨時，她發現大地寒冷而蕭條，但她很快改變了這壹切。當夏日到達時，世界已經煥然壹新。現在已然是綠色的世界了，綠葉懸掛於枝頭，青草萌發在田野，翠嫩的植物在樹籬上繁茂地生長著，四處都綻放著鮮花。
The days are long and the nights are short, for the sun gets up early and goes to bed late in sunny June. It is one of the best and brightest months in the year. Birds sing from sunrise till long after sunset.
白天漫長，黑夜短促，因為在晴好的六月，太陽公公起得早而睡得晚。這是壹年中最美好，最燦爛的月份。鳥兒們的歌喉從日出壹直唱到日落。
As night falls, one after another the birds stop their singing, and after a few last sleepy sounds, put their heads under their wings to rest for an hour or two before beginning again. They do not all sleep, however. When other birds are silent, comes a soft cry, then, after a few moments, another, louder this time; and soon the nightingale③ pouring out his wonderful song.
隨著黑夜降臨，鳥兒們壹個接壹個地停止歌唱，在幾聲睡意朦朧的輕吟之後，將它們的頭埋在羽翼之下，小憩壹兩個小時，準備著下壹次登臺。但是，並不是所有的鳥兒都會睡覺。當其它的鳥兒慢慢安靜下來時，壹聲軟軟的鳴叫出現了，然後，過了壹會兒，另壹聲又來了，這次更洪亮；然後很快，夜鶯便開始表演他那精彩絕倫的曲目。
Not only at night does the nightingale sing. On almost every warm day in early June, the little brown bird sings away in the roads and woods, but, as all the other birds are also singing at the same time, we do not notice his voice so much. It is at night, when he has the field all to himself, that we hear the nightingale at his best.
夜鶯並不單單在晚上歌唱。六月剛開始的那幾天，每當溫暖時，這種棕色的小鳥就會在道路間，森林中放聲高歌。只是，因為所有其它的小鳥也在這時壹起歌唱，我們很難分辨出他的聲音。只有在晚上，當整片原野都屬於他時，我們才能聽見他最美妙的歌聲。