After crossing a pretty lush prairie, we arrived on the outskirts of a small wood, enlivened by the singing and soaring of a large number of birds.

穿过了一片相当广大的草原，我们来到一座小树林的边缘，林中有许多禽鸟飞舞歌唱，显得生气洋溢。

Still, they're merely birds, Conseil said.

这还不过是一些禽鸟呢。康塞尔说。

But some are edible, the harpooner replied.

但里面也有可吃的呢!鱼叉手回答。

Wrong, Ned my friend, Conseil answered, because I see only ordinary parrots here.

没有，尼德好朋友，康塞尔回答，因为我看见那里仅有一些鹦鹅。

Conseil my friend, Ned replied in all seriousness, parrots are like pheasant to people with nothing else on their plates.

康塞尔好朋友，尼德·兰严肃地回答，对没有别的东西吃的人来说，鹦鹉就等于山鸡。

And I might add, I said, that when these birds are properly cooked, they're at least worth a stab of the fork.

再说，我说，这种鸟烹调得好，也很值得动刀叉。

Indeed, under the dense foliage of this wood, a whole host of parrots fluttered from branch to branch, needing only the proper upbringing to speak human dialects. At present they were cackling in chorus with parakeets of every color, with solemn cockatoos that seemed to be pondering some philosophical problem, while bright red lories passed by like pieces of bunting borne on the breeze, in the midst of kalao parrots raucously on the wing, Papuan lories painted the subtlest shades of azure, and a whole variety of delightful winged creatures, none terribly edible.

正是这样，在树林的浓密树叶底下，一大群鹦鹉在树枝间飞来飞去，只要细心地教育它们，便可以说人类的语言了。目前它们只是陪着所有各种颜色的雌鹦鹅，叽叽喳喳说个不休：有神气严肃的五彩鹦鹉，好像在思考些哲学问题；有大红色的赤鹦鹉，在飞时作响声的加罗西鹦鹅电间，好像一块随凤飘荡的红纱；有染上最美的天蓝色的巴布亚樱鹅，以及各种各样的美丽可爱的飞禽，但一般来看，都是属于不可食用的一类。

However, one bird unique to these shores, which never passes beyond the boundaries of the Aru and Papuan Islands, was missing from this collection. But I was given a chance to marvel at it soon enough.

但是，这地方特产的一种鸟，它从不走过阿卢群岛和巴布亚群岛的边界，现在在这一群禽鸟中我并没有看到。命运暂时把这鸟保留起来，但不久我就能欣赏它了。

After crossing through a moderately dense thicket, we again found some plains obstructed by bushes. There I saw some magnificent birds soaring aloft, the arrangement of their long feathers causing them to head into the wind. Their undulating flight, the grace of their aerial curves, and the play of their colors allured and delighted the eye. I had no trouble identifying them.

穿过了一座不很浓密的丛林，我们又到了一片有许多树丛堆垛着的平原。我看到了好些华丽的鸟飞在空中，它们身上很长的羽毛使它们一定要逆凤才能飞行。它们的波状起伏的飞行，它们在空中的优美曲线，它们鲜艳夺目的色泽，吸引了和迷惑了人们的眼睛。我一点不困难就认出是它们来了。