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Sometimes there were beds of rushes about an acre in extent. Clouds of birds were constantly alighting in them and rising from them again—duck, snipe, bitterns, herons.
有的灯芯草甸的面积可达一英亩。各种鸟类在碧草间飞飞落落，其中有鸭子、鹬、麻鸦和苍鹭。
Many wigwams like that in which they had passed the night could be seen dotted about, but all at a good distance from one another; for Marsh-wiggles are people who like privacy.
放眼望去，周围有很多类似的用于过夜的小棚子，但它们之间都隔着些距离，并不挨着，因为沼泽人比较注重个人隐私。
Except for the fringe of the forest several miles to the south and west of them, there was not a tree in sight.
除了几英里外的南面和西面紧邻森林，有点绿化外，其余的地方一棵树都没有。
Eastward the flat marsh stretched to low sand-hills on the horizon, and you could tell by the salt tang in the wind which blew from that direction that the sea lay over there.
平坦的沼泽地一直向东延伸到地平线上的低矮沙岗，风里夹杂着咸味，你一闻就知道这风是从海上吹来的。
To the North there were low pale-coloured hills, in places bastioned with rock. The rest was all flat marsh. It would have been a depressing place on a wet evening.
北方是颜色较为暗淡的群山，那个地带怪石嶙峋，余下的全是平坦的沼泽。在潮湿的傍晚，这里尤显空寂。
Seen under a morning sun, with a fresh wind blowing, and the air filled with the crying of birds, there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness.
但在阳光明媚的清晨，凉爽的风幽幽吹过，空气中弥漫着清脆的鸟鸣，这片孤寂的大地才能略显生机，一切都那么干净、清明。
The children felt their spirits rise. "Where has the thingummy got to, I wonder?" said Jill.
两个孩子也感到神清气爽。“那个东西去哪了？”吉尔说。
"The Marsh-wiggle," said Scrubb, as if he were rather proud of knowing the word. "I expect—hullo, that must be him."
“他叫沼泽人。”斯库波说，好像为自己知道这个词而感到骄傲，“我想……嘿，那一定是他。”
And then they both saw him, sitting with his back to them, fishing, about fifty yards away.
他们都看见了，50码开外，他正背对着他俩坐在河边钓鱼。
He had been hard to see at first because he was nearly the same colour as the marsh and because he sat so still. "I suppose we'd better go and speak to him," said Jill. Scrubb nodded.
要想一眼看见沼泽人还真不大容易，因为他们的肤色和沼泽差不多，而且，那家伙还坐着一动不动。“我们还是去和他聊两句吧。”吉尔说。斯库波点点头。
They both felt a little nervous. As they drew nearer, the figure turned its head and showed them a long thin face with rather sunken cheeks, a tightly shut mouth, a sharp nose, and no beard.
他俩都有些紧张。他们靠近时，沼泽人回过头来看了看他们。只见他长着一张又瘦又长的脸，两颊深陷下去，嘴紧闭着，鼻子尖尖的，没留胡子。
He was wearing a high, pointed hat like a steeple, with an enormously wide flat brim.
他戴了顶又高又尖的帽子，简直和尖塔差不多，帽子周围还有宽宽的边。
The hair, if it could be called hair, which hung over his large ears was greeny-grey, and each lock was flat rather than round, so that they were like tiny reeds.
他的头发（如果还能被称作头发的话）呈绿灰色，搭在大大的耳朵上，每根都是扁平的而非圆形，看起来和小芦苇差不多。
His expression was solemn, his complexion muddy, and you could see at once that he took a serious view of life.
他表情严肃，脸色和泥巴的颜色一样，只看一眼你就能确定他对生命抱有一种严肃的态度。
"Good morning, Guests," he said. "Though when I say good I don't mean it won't probably turn to rain or it might he snow, or fog, or thunder. You didn't get any sleep, I dare say."
“早上好，客人们。”他说，“但我说‘早上好’并不意味着早晨不会下雨、下雪、下雾或打雷。我敢说你们并没睡好。”
"Yes we did, though," said Jill. "We had a lovely night."
“不，我们睡得很好。”吉尔说，“昨天晚上过得不错。”
"Ah," said the Marsh-wiggle, shaking his head. "I see you're making the best of a bad job. That's right. You've been well brought up, you have. You've learned to put a good face on things."
“啊？”沼泽人边说边摇了摇头，“你们确实能随遇而安，苦中作乐。这很好。你们受过良好的教育，知道积极地看待生活。”
"Please, we don't know your name," said Scrubb. "Puddleglum's my name. But it doesn't matter if you forget it. I can always tell you again." The children sat down on each side of him.
“请问，我们还不知道你的名字呢。”斯库波说。“我叫帕德格莱姆。你们记不住也没关系，我会再告诉你们的。”两个孩子分别坐在帕德格莱姆的两侧。
They now saw that he had very long legs and arms, so that although his body was not much bigger than a dwarf's, he would be taller than most men when he stood up.
离近了才发现他的四肢很长，这样一来，虽然他的身子比矮人高不到哪去，但站起来却要比普通人高。
The fingers of his hands were webbed like a frog's, and so were his bare feet which dangled in the muddy water. He was dressed in earthcoloured clothes that hung loose about him.
他的双手像青蛙似的呈蹼状，垂到泥水里的双脚也是如此。身上穿着一件宽松的土黄色的衣服。
"I'm trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner," said Puddleglum. "Though I shouldn't wonder if I didn't get any. And you won't like them much if I do."
“我正在抓鳗鱼，准备晚上炖鳗鱼吃。”帕德格莱姆说，“如果抓不到我也不感到奇怪。况且就算我抓到了你们也不喜欢吃。”
"Why not?" asked Scrubb. "Why, it's not in reason that you should like our sort of victuals, though I've no doubt you'll put a bold face on it.
“为什么不喜欢呢？”斯库波问。“为什么，人类喜欢我们的食物是不合情理的，但我丝毫不怀疑你们会硬着头皮把它吃下去。
All the same, while I am a catching of them, if you two could try to light the fire—no harm trying—! The wood's behind the wigwam. It may be wet.
无所谓，我抓鱼时，你们来生火吧，试试没坏处！柴火在棚子后面。现在可能湿了。
You could light it inside the wigwam, and then we'd get all the smoke in our eyes. Or you could light it outside, and then the rain would come and put it out. Here's my tinder-box. You wouldn't know how to use it, I expect." But Scrubb had learned that sort of thing on his last adventure.
你们可以在棚子里生火，那样的话，烟就会跑到我们眼睛里。或者你们也可以在外面，但一下雨就会把火浇灭。这是火种，我看你们可能不会用吧？”然而斯库波在上次历险时就学会这些事了。
The children ran back together to the wigwam, found the wood (which was perfectly dry) and succeeded in lighting a fire with rather less than the usual difficulty.
他和吉尔跑到棚子后面拿来柴火（还是干燥的）并成功将其点燃，根本没费多大劲儿。
Then Scrubb sat and took care of it while Jill went and had some sort of wash—not a very nice one—in the nearest channel. After that she saw to the fire and he had a wash.
然后斯库波坐下来照看火，吉尔去最近的河边洗脸，接着他俩的工作再倒过来。
Both felt a good deal fresher, but very hungry. Presently the Marsh-wiggle joined them.
洗过之后，他们备感清爽，但肚子饿得咕咕直叫。不久，沼泽人来了。
