Our neighbour, the river
我们的邻居，河流
Why had the neighbours left their farm?
为什么邻居们离开了他们的农场？
The river which forms the eastern boundary of our farm has always played an important part in our lives.
构成我们农场东部边界的河流一直在我们的生活中发挥着重要作用。
Without it we could not make a living.
没有它，我们就无法谋生。
There is only enough spring water to supply the needs of the house so we have to pump from the river for farm use.
只有足够的泉水来满足房子的需要，所以我们必须从河里抽水供农场使用。
We tell the river all our secrets.
我们把所有的秘密都告诉河里。
We know instinctively, just as beekeepers with their bees,
我们本能地知道，就像养蜂人和他们的蜜蜂一样,
that misfortune might overtake us if the important events of our lives were not related to it.
如果我们生活中的重要事件与此无关，那么这种不幸可能会压倒我们。
We have special river birthday parties in the summer.
夏天我们有特别的河生日派对.
Sometimes we go upstream to a favourite backwater,
有时我们会上游到最喜欢的死水处,
sometimes we have our party at the boathouse,
有时我们在船坞开派对,
which a predecessor of ours at the farm built in the meadow hard by the deepest pool for swimming and diving.
这是我们农场的前身，建在草地上，最深的游泳池边，可以游泳和潜水。
In a heat wave we choose a midnight birthday party and that is the most exciting of all.
在热浪中，我们选择了一个午夜生日派对，这是最令人兴奋的。
We welcome the seasons by the riverside,
我们欢迎河边的季节,
crowning the youngest girl with flowers in the spring,
春天用鲜花为最年轻的女孩加冕,
holding a summer festival on Midsummer Eve,
在仲夏夜举行夏季节,
giving thanks for the harvest in the autumn,
感谢秋天的丰收,
and throwing a holly wreath into the current in the winter.
在冬天把冬青花圈扔进洋流里。
After a long period of rain the river may overflow its banks.
经过长时间的降雨后，河流可能会溢出河岸。
This is a rare occurrence as our climate seldom goes to extremes.
这是一种罕见的现象，因为我们的气候很少走向极端。
We are lucky in that only the lower fields,
我们很幸运，只有较低的领域,
which make up a very small proportion of our farm, are affected by flooding,
它们占我们农场的很小一部分，受到洪水的影响,
but other farms are less favourably sited, and flooding can sometimes spell disaster for their owners.
但其他农场的选址不太有利，洪水有时会给它们的主人带来灾难。
One bad winter we watched the river creep up the lower meadows.
在一个糟糕的冬天,我们看着河流从下部的草地上爬来爬去.
All the cattle had been moved into stalls and we stood to lose little.
所有的牛都被搬进了摊位,我们站在那里损失很少.
We were, however, worried about our nearest neighbours,
然而，我们担心我们最近的邻居,
whose farm was low lying and who were newcomers to the district.
他的农场地势低洼,是这个地区的新来者.
As the floods had put the telephone out of order,
洪水把电话弄得乱七八糟,
we could not find out how they were managing.
我们无法知道他们是如何管理的。
From an attic window we could get a sweeping view of the river where their land joined ours,
从阁楼的窗户，我们可以看到他们的土地加入我们的河流的全景,
and at the most critical juncture we took turns in watching that point.
在最关键的时刻，我们轮流关注这一点。
The first sign of disaster was a dead sheep floating down.
灾难的第一个迹象是一只死羊飘下来.
Next came a horse, swimming bravely,
接下来是一匹马，勇敢地游泳,
but we were afraid that the strength of the current would prevent its landing anywhere before it became exhausted.
但我们担心水流的力量会阻止它在耗尽之前降落到任何地方。
Suddenly a raft appeared, looking rather like Noah's ark,
突然，一只木筏出现了，看起来很像诺亚方舟,
carrying the whole family, a few hens, the dogs, a cat, and a bird in a cage.
带着全家人，几只母鸡，狗，一只猫和一只鸟在笼子里。
We realized that they must have become unduly frightened by the rising flood,
我们意识到，他们一定是被上升的洪水过度地吓坏了,
for their house, which had sound foundations,
为他们的房子，它有健全的基础,
would have stood stoutly even if it had been almost submerged.
即使它几乎被淹没了，它也会坚定地站在那里。
The men of our family waded down through our flooded meadows with boat hooks,
我们家的人用船钩在我们被洪水淹没的草地上涉水而下,
in the hope of being able to grapple a corner of the raft and pull it out of the current towrds our bank.
希望能够抓住木筏的一个角落，把它从我们的银行的当前拖中拉出来。
We still think it a miracle that they were able to do so.
我们仍然认为他们能够这样做是一个奇迹。
