Just at that moment, bang! bang! was heard up above, and both the wild geese fell dead among the reeds, and the water turned blood red.

“噼！啪！”天空中爆出一阵巨响。这两只公雁落到芦苇里，死了，把水染得鲜红。

Bang! bang! went the guns, and whole flocks of wild geese flew up from the rushes and the shot peppered among them again.

“噼！啪！”又是一阵枪响。雁群从芦苇里惊慌的飞起来，于是又是一阵响彻天际的枪声。

There was a grand shooting-party, and the sportsmen lay hidden round the marsh;

原来有人在大规模地打猎，猎人都埋伏在沼泽地的周围，

some even sat on the branches of the trees which overhung the water;

甚至有几个人蹲坐在伸到芦苇上空的树枝上。

the blue smoke rose like clouds among the dark trees and swept over the pool.

蓝色的烟雾像云似地笼罩着树林，慢慢地在水面上向远方飘去。

The water-dogs wandered about in the swamp--splash! splash!

这时，猎狗都扑通扑通地从泥泞里跑过来，

The rushes and reeds bent beneath their tread on all sides.

灯芯草和芦苇随着他们的脚步纷纷向两边倒去。

It was terribly alarming to the poor duckling.

这对于可怜的丑小鸭说来真是可怕的事情！

He twisted his head round to get it under his wing, and just at that moment a frightful big dog appeared close beside him;

他把脑袋紧紧埋在翅膀里。不过，此时一只骇人的大猎狗已经贴近了丑小鸭。

his tongue hung right out of his mouth and his eyes glared wickedly.

它伸出长长的舌头，眼睛露出凶光。

He opened his great chasm of a mouth close to the duckling, showed his sharp teeth, and--splash!--went on without touching him.

它的鼻子顶在小鸭的身上，露出了尖锐的牙齿，可是——扑通！扑通！——它跑开了，没有把他抓走。

"Oh, thank Heaven!" sighed the duckling, "I am so ugly that even the dog won't bite me!"

“啊，谢谢老天爷！”丑小鸭喘了一口气，“我丑得连猎狗也不要咬我了！”

Then he lay quite still while the shot whistled among the bushes, and bang after bang rent the air.

他安静地躺下来。枪声还在芦苇丛中回响着，子弹一发接着一发从猎人的枪口射出来。

It only became quiet late in the day, but even then the poor duckling did not dare to get up;

天快要暗的时候，四周才静下来。可是这只可怜的小鸭还不敢站起来。

he waited several hours more before he looked about, and then he hurried away from the marsh as fast as he could.

他等了好几个钟头，才敢向四周望一眼，于是他急忙跑出这块沼泽地，