When the young are hatched, there is indeed no play-work;

当雏燕破壳而出时，确实就没有玩耍这回事了；

for they have tremendous appetites, and from early dawn till dark the old birds are on the wing to supply their wants.

因为它们有着巨大的胃口，从早上到晚上，父母们一直在飞着给它们寻找需要的食物。

It is pleasant to wake up in the early summer mornings and hear the low, pleasing twitter of the swallow-brood in the chimney,

在初夏的清晨醒来，听着烟囱上一窝小燕子低吟是愉悦的，

as they wonder in their narrow nursery what the great world is like.

它们想知道在它们狭窄的窝外面，那宽广的世界是什么样子。

Other nestlings can peep out and see something of it; but the young swallows know nothing till at last,

其他雏鸟可以探出头来看到一些东西，但是雏燕却对外界却一无所知；

some happy morning, their father and mother contrive to get them up into the air and place them in a row upon the house-top.

直到最后，在某个愉快的早晨，爸爸妈妈设法将它们弄到天上去，并且在屋顶上把它们排成一排。

You may often see them there, in the middle of summer, and the parents feeding them.

你可能经常会在仲夏时看到它们，它们的父母在给它们喂食。

 

By degrees they learn to fly, but they still require to be fed.

渐渐地，它们学会了飞翔，但是仍然需要父母的喂食。

At a given signal, the young one flies to meet the old one, uttering a little complacent squeak, which I suppose means "Thank you."

在给出一个信号后，小燕子飞出去见年老的燕子，故意殷勤地小声发出吱吱声，好像在说“谢谢”。

They meet for a moment, and part again; but in that moment the young bird has eaten his dinner

它们碰一会面之后，就重新分开；但就在那时，这只小燕子会吃完它的晚餐

—consisting of several courses, too, for the parent supplies him with a whole mouthful of collected insects at once.

——晚餐也由几部分组成，因为父母会一下子把收集到的满口昆虫都给它。

At last they are able to shift for themselves: and now will the old birds be able to take breath after their labours, and enjoy themselves a little?

最后，它们终于可以自己飞翔了。现在，老鸟们在劳累之后能喘口气，享受一下了吗？

No such thing. They begin at once to think about a second family;

没有这种事。它们立刻开始考虑建筑第二个家庭，

for they rear two broods every season, and the summer is not long enough to allow of a rest between them.

因为它们每个季节都要养两窝子女，夏天很短，它们没时间休息。