One evening the sun was just setting in wintry splendor when a flock of beautiful large birds appeared out of the bushes.

一天晚上，当夕阳的余晖正从天际慢慢消退时，一群漂亮的大鸟从灌木林里飞了出来，

The duckling had never seen anything so beautiful.

丑小鸭从来没有看到过这样美丽的东西。

They were dazzlingly white with long waving necks; they were swans;

他们的羽毛白得发亮，颈项又长又柔软。他们就是天鹅。

and, uttering a peculiar cry, they spread out their magnificent broad wings, and flew away from the cold regions to warmer lands and open seas.

他们发出一种奇异的叫声，展开美丽的长翅膀，从寒冷的地带飞向温暖的国度，飞向不结冰的湖上去。

They mounted so high, so very high, and the ugly little duckling became strangely uneasy;

他们飞得很高——那么高，丑小鸭不禁感到一种说不出的兴奋。

he circled round and round in the water like a wheel, craning his neck up into the air after them.

他在水上像一个车轮似地不停地旋转着，同时，把自己的颈项高高地向他们伸着，

Then he uttered a shriek so piercing and so strange that he was quite frightened by it himself.

他忍不住发出一种响亮的怪叫声，就连他自己也害怕起来。

Oh, he could not forget those beautiful birds, those happy birds!

啊！他再也忘记不了这些美丽的鸟儿，这些幸福的鸟儿。

And as soon as they were out of sight he ducked right down to the bottom, and when he came up again he was quite beside himself.

当这群美丽的鸟儿飞离了他的视线，他就深深的沉入水底；但是当他再冒到水面上来的时候，却感到非常空虚。

He did not know what the birds were or whither they flew,

他不知道这些鸟儿的名字，也不知道他们要向什么地方飞去。

but all the same he was more drawn towards them than he had ever been by any creatures before.

不过他爱他们，好像他从未这般爱过哪样东西。

He did not even envy them in the least.

他并不嫉妒他们。

How could it occur to him even to wish to be such a marvel of beauty;

他怎能妄想拥有他们那样的美丽呢？

he would have been thankful if only the ducks would have tolerated him among them--the poor ugly creature!

只要别的鸭儿准许他跟他们生活在一起，他就已经很满意了——可怜的丑东西。