麻雀窝里抓条蛇
Catch a snake in a sparrow's nest
原创：斧子
中译英：斧子的二当家
审校、朗诵：Michael
少年时代，我在老家住的房子，还是土砖茅草屋。每过一两年，茅草屋上都要添加新的稻草。很多麻雀的窝，就在稻草堆里。
In my youth, the house I lived in was still a mud brick thatched cottage. Every year or two a new straw would be added to the thatched house. A lot of sparrows' nests were just a pile of straw.
有一年冬天，我抓到一只小麻雀。用小纸箱及垫布做了个麻雀窝。刚开始小麻雀不知道吃东西、喝水，都是霸蛮。喂的时候用整个手掌托住，大拇指和食指卡主头，不让其乱动， 硬塞进嘴里。等稍大一点它就会主动进食了，只需放到它嘴前，就会啄进去。喝水的话，是用手指沾点水，淋到它嘴里。养小麻雀就是前几天最难养，一天要喂好多次。稍过几天 ，它饿了就会不停的叫了，叽叽喳喳的，而且盯着食物的表情很让人怜惜。
One winter, I caught a little sparrow and made a nest for it out of small cartons and clothes. At first, the little sparrow didn't know how to eat or drink water, so I had to feed it in a stupid way. I held it in my palm and used my thumb and forefinger to keep it from moving and push the food into its mouth. When it became a little bigger, it would take the initiative to eat by itself. Just put the food in front of its mouth, and it would peck it in. If it wanted to drink water, I would dip my finger in it and pour the water into its mouth. When raising small sparrows, the first few days are the most difficult ones, it must be fed many times per day. A few days later, when it became hungry, it would begin screaming, twittering, and staring at the food with a pathetic expression.
我当时喂养的东西，有鸡蛋黄，用水泡软的米粒，菜叶，菜青虫，蚂蚱，蚯蚓等等昆虫。泡过的米粒觉得大了，就分一半或者再小。
At that time, the things I used to feed it with were egg yolk, soft rice grains with water, cabbage leaves, worms, grasshoppers, earthworms and other insects. If I found the soaked rice grains are too big, I would divide them onto two halfs or even make them smaller.
后来小麻雀会飞翔了，记得当时还栓了根绳子玩了一段时间，最后还是放生了。
Later, the little sparrow was able to fly. I remember that I also tied a rope on it to play for some time, and finally released it.
麻雀不进行迁徙，是常见的留鸟。麻雀形不惊人、貌不压人、声不迷人，加上和我们太熟悉了，反而使大家对它们了解得并不多。麻雀一般上体呈棕、黑色的斑杂状，初级飞羽9 枚，外侧飞羽的淡色羽缘（第一枚除外）在羽基和近端处，形稍扩大，互相骈缀，略成两道横斑状，在飞翔时尤见明显。嘴短粗而强壮，呈圆锥状，嘴峰稍曲。
Sparrows do not migrate. They are common resident birds. Sparrows don’t have any surprising shape, their appearance is not outstanding in any way, their voice is not charming, and they are very familiar with us. But we do not really know much about them. Sparrows generally have brown and black upper body with nine primary flying feathers. The outer flight feathers are light-colored (except the first one) and enlarge their shape near the end. They are parallel to each other and form two horizontal bars, which can be seen when the sparrow is flying. The mouth is short, thick and strong, with a slightly curved, conical shaped beak.
麻雀是与人类伴生的鸟类，多活动在有人类居住的地方，性极活泼，胆大易近人，但警惕性却非常高，好奇心较强。栖息于居民点和田野附近。多营巢于人类的房屋处，如屋檐、 墙洞，有时会占领家燕的窝巢，在野外，多筑巢于树洞中。有时可以发现它们在个别的树上筑巢，然而麻雀在一年的四个季节中都是成群的，具有很多洞的老树群，通常是它们最 喜爱的筑巢地点。它们的巢比较简陋，筑巢材料的种类很多，多用草茎、枯枝等搭建。现在的衡阳城里，有些麻雀甚至将巢筑在空调室外机中、烟囱中、热水器排气管中，这常常 给人们的生活带来不同程度的麻烦。
Sparrows are birds associated with human beings. They are mostly active in the areas inhabitated by humans. They are extremely lively, audacious and approachable, but also highly vigilant and curious. A sparrow likes to inhabit residential areas and nearby fields. Many nests are found in human houses, such as eaves, wall holes, sometimes also in the nests after other domestic birds. In the wilderness, their nests are built in tree holes. Sometimes they can be found to nest in individual trees, but sparrows are mostly in groups for all the seasons in a year. The old trees with many holes in them are often their favorite nesting sites. Their nests are relatively simple and there are many kinds of nesting materials. They are usually built with grass stems and dead branches. Now, in Hengyang city, some sparrows even build their nests in the outdoor air-conditioning machines, chimneys, and exhaust pipes of water heaters, which often causes various troubles to people's lives.
除繁殖、育雏阶段外，麻雀是非常喜欢群居的鸟类。秋季时易形成数百只乃至数千只的大群，称为雀泛，而在冬季它们则多结成十几只或几十只一起活动的小群。这种小生灵非常 聪明机警，有较强的记忆力，如得到人救助的麻雀会对救助过它的人表现出一种亲近，而且会持续很长的时间。
Apart from the breeding and brooding stages, sparrows are very social birds. It is easy for them to form hundreds or even thousands of groups in autumn, known as Sparrow Flooding. In the winter they form more than dozens of small groups that work together. This small creature is very clever, cautious and has a strong memory. For example, a sparrow that was rescued by others will show a kind of closeness to the people who rescued it and it will last for a long time.
冬季和早春，麻雀以杂草种子和野生禾本科植物的种子为食，也吃人类扔弃的各种食物。白天四处觅食，在树枝或灌丛间飞来飞去或飞上飞下，活动范围在2.5至3千米以内。在地面活动时双脚跳跃前进。翅短圆，不耐远飞，鸣声喧噪。
In winter and early spring, sparrows feed with the weed seeds and wild grasses, also with the food thrown away by humans. During the day they look for food everywhere, flying up and down around branches or bushes within a range up to 3 km. When moving on the ground they use both feet to jump forward. Their wings are short and round so they can't fly far and they make a noisy sound around them.
麻雀在育雏时往往会表现得非常勇敢，俄国作家屠格涅夫曾在他的短篇小说《麻雀》中，记载过一只亲鸟为保护不慎坠地的幼鸟，以其弱小的身体面对一只大狗而不退缩的感人场面。
Sparrows tend to be very brave when they raise their young. In a short story called "The Sparrow" written by a Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, there is a parent bird described who tried to protect a young bird that had carelessly fallen to the ground. A touching scene of a weak bird facing a large dog without being able to retreat.
俗话说：“麻雀虽小，五脏俱全。”比喻事物体积或规模虽小，具备的内容却很齐全。家乡有句老话：“三鸡四鸽，当不得麻雀一甲脚”，说麻雀非常补。
As the saying goes: "A sparrow may be small but it has all the vital organs." It means that although things may have a small size, their content is complete. There is also an old saying in my hometown: "Even three chickens and four doves cannot be compared to a foot of a sparrow." It means that sparrows are very nourishing.
最吓人的一次，是我去掏麻雀窝，手伸进去，却抓了一条蛇出来，吓的我半死。万幸的是，抓出来的是条无毒蛇，我安然无恙。从那以后，我再也没有去掏过麻雀窝。
The scariest time was when I went to dig in a sparrow's nest. When I reached in there I caught a snake. It nearly scared me to the death. Fortunately, it was a harmless snake and I was safe. Since then, I have never used to dig in a sparrows nest again.
作者简介
斧子，出版著作有：散文诗集《等你归来》，湖南文艺出版社；散文诗集《欠债校长》，香港商务印书馆；中短篇小说集《月下天鹅与祝塘的绝版爱情》，团结出版社；中短篇小说集《隐身保镖》，团结出版社；中短篇小说集《财哥的第一次婚姻》，中国文联出版社......
Introduction of the author:
Axe, published: Prose poetry collection "Waiting for you" , Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House; Prose poetry collection "Principal in debt", The Hong Kong commercial press (HKPC); A short and medium story collection, "The extinct edition of love between Swan under the Moon and Zhu Tang", United publishing house; A short and medium story collection, "Invisible bodyguard", United publishing house; A short and medium story collection, "The first marriage of brother Qian," and published by the China Federation of Literary Unions ...
Hi there! I’m Michael. Big fan of China, its culture and cuisine. Made a choice in 2017 to pack my things and come here from Europe. I love traveling, jogging and listening to music.