No doubt there is a remarkable11 degree of art in its performances, for every individual has a number of notes peculiar12 to itself; they do not, all of them, have the same, but each, certain melodies of its own. They vie with one another, and the spirit with which they contend is evident to all. Often the one that is vanquished13, dies in the contest, preferring to yield its life rather than its song. The younger birds are listening, in the mean time, and receive the lesson in song from which they are to profit. The learner hearkens with the greatest attention, and repeats what it has heard, and then they are silent by turns; this is understood to be the correction of an error on the part of the scholar, and a sort of reproof14, as it were, on the part of the teacher. Nightingales bring as high a price as slaves, and sometimes more than used formerly15 to be paid for a man in a suit of armor.
I know that on one occasion six thousand sesterces ($250) was paid for a nightingale, a white one it is true, a thing that is hardly ever to be seen, for a present to Agrippina, the wife of the Emperor Claudius. A nightingale has been often seen that will sing at command, and take alternate parts with the music that accompanies it; men, too, have been found who could imitate its note with such exactness, that it would be 208 impossible to tell the difference, by merely putting water in a reed held crosswise, and then blowing into it, a languette being first inserted, for the purpose of breaking the sound and rendering16 it more shrill17. But these modulations, so clever and so artistic19, begin gradually to cease at the end of the fifteen days; not that you can say, however, that the bird is either fatigued20 or tired of singing; but, as the heat increases, its voice becomes altogether changed, and possesses no longer either modulation18 or variety of note. Its color, too, becomes changed, and at last, throughout the winter, it totally disappears. The tongue of the nightingale is not pointed21 at the tip, as in other birds. It lays at the beginning of the spring, six eggs at the most.

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收听单词发音

1
foliage
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n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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2
admiration
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n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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3
modulated
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已调整[制]的,被调的 | |
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4
forth
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adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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5
tenor
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n.男高音(歌手),次中音(乐器),要旨,大意 | |
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6
bass
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n.男低音(歌手);低音乐器;低音大提琴 | |
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7
ingenuity
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n.别出心裁;善于发明创造 | |
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8
exquisite
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adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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9
flute
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n.长笛;v.吹笛 | |
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10
presage
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n.预感,不祥感;v.预示 | |
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11
remarkable
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adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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12
peculiar
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adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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13
vanquished
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v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 );战胜;克服;抑制 | |
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14
reproof
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n.斥责,责备 | |
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15
formerly
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adv.从前,以前 | |
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16
rendering
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n.表现,描写 | |
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17
shrill
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adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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18
modulation
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n.调制 | |
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19
artistic
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adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的 | |
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20
fatigued
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adj. 疲乏的 | |
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21
pointed
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adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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