No other young swan had disappeared from the lakes—only Louis.
disappear from - 从...消失（离开）
到底要不要去找Louis呢？
“The question now arises,” said the cob to his wife, “whether or not I should go and look for our son. I am disinclined to leave these attractive lakes now, in the fall of the year, with winter coming on. I have, in fact, been looking forward to this time of serenity and peace and the society of other waterfowl. I like the life here.
the question now arises - 那么问题来啦！！！！
whether or not - 是不是，要不要...（一个很常见的用法）
be disinclined to- 不情愿做...(有一个词叫做 reluctant 也有类似的意思和用法：be reluctant to do）
have been looking forward to... - 期盼已久
serenity 和 peace 在这里是近义词
the society - 这里这个society的意思并不是“社会”，但是大家可以从这个意思来做延伸...the society of other waterfowl - 其实就是表示：有其他鸟类作伴（这里society理解成一个社群）
There’s another little matter to consider besides your personal comfort,” said his wife. “Has it occurred to you that we have no idea which direction Louis went when he
left? You don’t know where he went any more than I do. If you were to start out looking for him, which way would you fly?
little matter - 小问题
personal comfort - 个人享受；天鹅妈妈说：别只顾着你的个人享受，我们还有个小问题要考虑一下！
has it occurred to you - 你有没有想过.../这个问题有没有在你脑海里出现过？
You don’t know where he went any more than I do. 字面意思是：关于他去哪里这件事你知道的并不比我多！其实就是：你也不知道他去哪里了吧！！
“Well,” replied the cob, “in the last analysis, I believe I would go south.”
last analysis- 最后的分析结果
关于方向的描述：
And why do you pick south as the way to go looking for Louis? There are other directions. There’s north, and east, and west. There’s northeast, southeast, southwest, northwest.
这些是最常见的表示方向的词啦：south, north, west, east, northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest...
下文中出现的其他的，请看图理解：N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
I feel sure Louis will return in the fullness of time.
in the fullness of time - 时间成熟的时候（他就会回来的）
Still no sign of Louis.
no sign of something or someone - 没有音讯
Then one morning when Louis’s grown-up brothers were playing a game of water polo, one of them looked up and saw a swan approaching in the sky.
grown-up - 当我们说长大了的，或者成年人的时候，都用grown-up
a swan approaching in the sky - 有只天鹅正在向他们飞来
接着看下一句子中的approaching:
All the waterfowl on the lake turned and gazed up at the approaching swan. The swan circled in the sky.
the appraoching swan - 向他们飞来的那只天鹅
在这第一个句子中，approaching 做动词，而在第二个句子中approaching放在swan前面，可以理解为一个形容词。这种表达很多的，比如 swimming pool 游泳池（游泳的池子）, 比如 walking stick 拐杖（走路的棍子）
“It’s Louis!” said the cob. “But what is that peculiar little object hanging around his neck by a string? What is that?”
peculiar little object- 奇怪的小东西
注意下面句子里的动词：
Louis looked down from the sky and spotted what looked like his family. When he was sure, he glided down and skidded to a stop. His mother rushed up and embraced him. His father arched his neck gracefully and raised his wings in greeting. Everyone shouted “Ko-hoh!” and “Welcome back, Louis!”
look down from the sky
spot what looked like his family
glide down
skid to a stop
rush up and embrace
arch neck gracefully
raise wings
以上动作，请自行脑补！
关于年的时间表达：
He had been gone for a year and a half—almost eighteen months.
a year and a half - 一年半/ one and a half years
two years and a half - 两年半 / two and a half years
Louis’s attempt to greet his family was a failure.
attempt - 可以作动词，也可以做名词，都是表示 “尝试”，在本句中是做名词
“Louis, my son,” he began in his deep, resonant voice, “this is the day we have long awaited—the day of your return to our sanctuary in the Red Rock Lakes.
in his deep, resonant voice 用他深沉洪亮嗓音...
sanctuary - 圣经里也有这个词，是指：圣所，耶路撒冷的圣殿，但是和另一个是近义词-refugue 还记得吗？指的就是 Red Rock Lakes Wildlife Refugue
No one can imagine the extent of our joy or the depth of our emotion at seeing you again, you who have been absent from our midst for so long, in lands we know not of, in
pursuits we can only guess at.
the extent of our joy or the depth of our emotion -我们喜乐的心情和深深的情感（没人能懂）
在这个句子中 extent 和depth的意思类似
How good it is to see your countenance again!
看到你真的是太好啦！！！countenance - 表情，面容
“You’ve said that once already,” said his wife. “You’re repeating yourself. Louis must be tired after his trip, no matter where he’s been or what he’s been up to.”
no matter where he’s been or what he’s been up to- 不管他去了哪，做了什么
be up to - 去做某事，比如：What are you up? 你要（去）干嘛？
Louis学会了读书认字，想着用这种方式跟家人交流，可是呢？
“But I must prolong my welcoming remarks a bit longer, for my curiosity is aroused by that odd little object Louis is wearing around his neck and by the strange symbols he has placed upon it by rubbing that white thing up and down and leaving those strange white tracings.”
在家人的眼中：
that odd little object- Louis脖子上那个奇怪的小玩意儿
the strange symbols he has placed upon it - 他在那玩意儿上画的奇怪的符号
those strange white tracings - 那上面奇怪的痕迹（连字迹都不算，因为天鹅不懂呀）
小天鹅尝试跟家人用文字沟通失败，怎么办呢？别急，书上慢慢会讲到的，哈哈。
So we’ll just have to forget our curiosity for the moment and let Louis take a bath and have dinner.
for the moment - 暂时
When he was through, he dipped the end of one wing in the water and sorrowfully rubbed out the words “Hi, there!”
when he was through - 还记得吗？之前提过的哈！！！不记得去翻一下！
“Say!” said the man. “You’re quite a bird! Where did you learn to write?”
在这个句子中，say 也是表示惊讶的感叹词！
This made him feel a whole lot better.
feel a whole lot better - 感觉好多啦！！！
Louis decided he would always carry them with him, no matter where he went in the world.
no matter where he went in the world - 无论到世界的哪个角落
I will be with you no matter where you go in the world. 无论你到世界的哪个角落，我都陪着你！
春天看样子，不管是对于人还是对于天鹅，都是个充满恋爱气息的季节呀：
For birds, spring is the time to find a mate.
spring is the time to find a mate - 春天来了，是时候找个伴侣啦
The warm sweet airs of spring stir strange feelings in young swans.
空气中弥漫着的甜蜜气息，搅动着天鹅的内心。
The males begin to notice the females. They show off in front of them.
小天鹅开始各种表现，追求雌天鹅。show off - 展示，炫耀
The females begin to notice the males, too, but they pretend they are not noticing anything at all. They act very coy.
可是雌天鹅呢？虽然看到了雄天鹅，但是假装没看见：pretend they are not noticing anything at all ... 而且还表现的非常”矜持“，”腼腆“ coy
来，我们来看看恋爱综合症的表现：
Louis felt so queer one day, he knew he must be in love.
心里总是有种"怪怪的"感觉，感觉是爱上了...
And he knew which bird he was in love with. Whenever he swam past her, he could feel his heart beat faster, and his mind was full of thoughts of love and desire.
每次他喜欢的那只天鹅经过他身边的时候，他就心跳加速，小鹿乱撞呀！满脑子都是她！
his mind was full of thoughts of love and desire - 字面意思翻译出来就俗啦，大家这么高雅，自己理解理解！！
He thought he had never seen such a beautiful young female swan. She was a trifle smaller than the others, and she seemed to have a more graceful neck and more attractive ways than any of his other friends on the lake.
这一点也是恋爱里面非常典型的现象：情人眼里出西施呀！虽然Serena跟其他天鹅比起来，身形可能有点小，但是没关系呀！在Louis眼中，她就是美呀！
你们谁有在种感觉的话，估计也是恋爱了！
虽然Louis使出浑身解数，但是Serena呢？
But the little female paid no attention to Louis’s antics. She pretended he didn’t exist.
paid no attention to - 根本没注意，不在意
pretended he didn't exist - 假装他不存在
天下父母都一样，哈哈，都希望自己的子女赶紧的：
When Louis’s mother found out that Louis was courting a young female, she hid behind some bulrushes and watched what was going on.
court 这个词，我们说过的哈，还有另一个词- woo，记得吗？不记得，戳大腿！
Once, in desperation, Louis swam up to Serena, his beloved, and made a bow.
in desperation - 绝望中；我们看过很多类似的用法哈：in amazement, in disappointment, in happiness, with great attention等 这一类的介词+表示情感的名词相当于一个副词的用法。比如：in desperation = desperately, in happiness = happily
That snippety little female he’s chasing after gives me a pain in the neck, the way she acts.
snippety 在这里其实是snippy的非正式用法，表示傲慢
a pain in the neck - 一种很不爽感觉！
老妈看到Serena对待Louis的态度，很不爽呀！！
Why, this is terrible news,” said the cob, “news of the most serious import.
import - 这里其实是指：importantance - 就是说这个事儿非常重要，非常紧急！
给大家推荐一个在线字典：http://www.thefreedictionary.com
很多不知道的单词和短语，文老师也只在这里查的！大家一定要学会利用互联网主动获取自己想要的信息！主动！主动！主动！
看看老爸用来形容爱情的形容词：
I know what it is like to be in love. Well do I remember how painful love can be, how
exciting, and, in the event of unsuccess, how disappointing and doleful the days and nights.
painful, exciting, disappointing, doleful...
But I am Louis’s father, and I’m not going to take this situation lying down.
I’m not going to take this situation lying down- 我绝对不会做事不管的！
take something lying down - 是一个固定的表达，表示：甘心容忍，坐视不管，逆来顺受等
看看老爸用来描述Louis的形容词：
He is gay, cheerful, strong, powerful, lusty, good, brave, handsome, reliable, trustworthy, a great flier, a tremendous swimmer, fearless, patient, loyal, true, ambitious, desirous—
这些形容词都是可以用来形容人的，大家可以学学
“I’m leading up to that in my own graceful way,” replied the cob.
我正在用我自己的高雅方式，一步步的阐述呀...
这里其实让我想到一件事：在与人相处的过程中，我们经常会迫不及待地打断对方，或者用自己的逻辑去猜测别人的逻辑，可是结果...往往是我们错了，要不然就是我们伤害了对方的自尊心和积极性...在夫妻相处的时候也是一样。
I shall begin a search for such a device, and if I have to go to the ends of the earth to find a trumpet for our young son, I shall find it at last and bring it home to Louis.
begin a search for - 开始寻找
the ends of the earth - 世界的尽头（地极）
看下表示“没时间耽搁了”的表达：
And now, without further ado, I go.
without further ado - 是一个固定的俚语，表示：闲话少说，言归正传
There is no time to lose.
没时间浪费啦
Springtime doesn’t last forever.
春光易逝
Love is fleeting.
爱情太善变 （fleet表示飞驰，略过等）
Every minute counts.
每一分钟都很紧急！