The little German Gretchen became interested in the search for the titmouse's nest, and told me that a gray bird had built in an oak in front of her house. I rode right over to see it, but found the gray bird a female Mexican bluebird, whose brilliant ultramarine mate sat on the fence of the vegetable garden in plain sight. The children kept better watch of the nest after that, and a few days later, when in my attic12 study, I heard the tramp of a horse, and, looking out, found my little friend under the window, come to tell me that the eggs had hatched. When her older sister came for the washing I asked her if she had seen the old birds go to the nest, and she said, "Yes; one was blue and the other gray."
When I rode up again, the young had grown so that from the saddle I could look down the hole and see their big mouths and bristling13 pin-feathers. The mother bird was about the tree, and her soft dull coloring toned in well with the gray bark. The bluebirds had a double front door, and went in one side to come out the other. I saw both of them feed the young, the male flying into the hole straight from the fence post.
It seemed such hard work finding worms out in the hot sun that I wondered if birds' eyes ever ached from the intentness of their search, and if there were near-sighted birds. Perhaps the intervals[186] of feeding depend on the worm supply rather than the dietary principles of the parents.
Gretchen's mother was bending over her wash-tubs out under the oaks, and I called her attention to the pretty birds brooding in her door-yard, telling her that they were good friends of hers, eating up the worms that destroyed her flowers and vegetables. "So?" she asked, but seemed ready to let the subject drop there, and hurried back to her work. A poor widow with a large family of children and a ranch4 to look after can find little time, even in beautiful California, to enjoy what Nature places in her door-yard.
Three weeks later Gretchen came riding down to tell me that there were eggs in the tree again. The bluebird bid fair to be as hardworked as the widow, at that rate, I thought, when I went up to look at them. The children showed me the nest of a goldfinch, near the ground, in one of the little orange-trees in front of the house. They also pointed14 out linnets' nests in the vines by the door, and the oldest child said eagerly, "When we came home from school there was a hummingbird15 in the window, and we caught it," adding, "I think it must have been a father hummingbird." "Why?" I asked, "was it pretty?" "Yes, it just shined," she exclaimed enthusiastically.
When the family were at home, their puppy would bark at us furiously, and follow us about suspiciously, but when he had been left on the[187] ranch alone he was glad of our society. Then when I watched the bluebirds, he came and curled down by my side, becoming so friendly that he actually grew jealous of Billy, and turned to have me caress16 him each time that the little horse walked up to have the flies brushed off his nose, or having pulled up a bunch of grass by the roots, brought it for me to hold so that he could eat it without getting the dirt in his mouth.
Going home one day, Billy came upon a gopher snake. Now Canello had been brought up in a rattlesnake country, and was always on his guard, but Billy was 'raised' in the mountains, where snakes are scarce, and did not seem to know what they were. He had given me a good deal of anxiety by this indifference18—he had stepped over a big one once without seeing any need for haste—and I had been expecting that he would get bitten. Here, then, was my chance to give him a scare. The gopher snake was harmless; perhaps, if I could get him so close to it that he would see it wriggle19 away from under his feet, he might be less indifferent to rattlers.
The gopher snake was three or four feet long, and lay as straight as a stick across our path. As I urged Billy up beside it, he actually stepped on the tip of its tail. The poor snake writhed20 a little, but gave no other sign of pain; its r?le was to remain a stick. And Billy certainly acted as if it were. I threw the reins21 on his neck, thinking[188] that if he put his head down to graze he might make a discovery. Then a horrid22 thought came to me. The people said the rattlers sometimes lost their rattles17. In a general way, rattlers and gopher snakes look alike; what if this were a rattlesnake, and at my bidding my little horse should be struck! But no. There was no mistaking the long tapering23 body of the gopher, and it lacked the wide flat head of the rattler. But I might have spared myself my fears. Billy would not even put his head down, and when I tried to force him upon the snake he quietly turned aside. To make the snake move, I threw a stick at it, but it was as obstinate24 as Billy himself. Then I slipped to the ground, and picking up a long pole gave it a gingerly little poke25. Still motionless! I tried another plan, taking Billy away a few yards. Then at last the snake slowly pulled itself along. But the moment we came back it turned into a stick again, and Billy relapsed into indifference. It was no use. I could do nothing with either of them. I would see the snake go off, anyway, I thought, so withdrew and waited till it felt reassured26, when it started. Its silken skin shone as it wormed silently through the grass and disappeared down a hole without a sound, and I reflected that it might also come up without a sound, very likely beside me as I sat on the dead leaves!
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1
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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retarded
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| a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的 | |
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enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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elusive
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| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
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prospecting
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| n.探矿 | |
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attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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13
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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hummingbird
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| n.蜂鸟 | |
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caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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17
rattles
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| （使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧 | |
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18
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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19
wriggle
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| v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒 | |
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20
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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22
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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23
tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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24
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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25
poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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26
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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