No sooner had Charlie gone off to his cabin to write notes than Granddad reappeared outside. He had small pieces of venison in his hand. He clicked his tongue to imitate the “knock trill” food call of the adult raven.

查理刚刚离开，去小木屋里记笔记，爷爷就又出现在室外。他手里拿着切成小块的鹿肉。爷爷用舌头发出咔哒声，来模仿成年渡鸦取食时的“敲击颤音”。

“Write it down！” said Blue Sky， and flew to his shoulder.

“写下来！”蓝天说，然后飞到爷爷的肩膀上。

“I will，” said Granddad， feeding him and expressing his affection by “kmmmm gurgling.” “You’re one cute bird，” he concluded in English. Charlie heard the man-to-bird talk and came outside.

“我会的。”爷爷说，一边给蓝天喂食一边发出“咕咕咯咯”的声音来表示自己的喜爱之情。“你是只精明的鸟儿。”爷爷用英语概括道。查理听到了这样的人鸟对话，就来到屋外。

“What are you doing here， Granddad？” he asked. “You should be resting.”

“爷爷，您在这儿干嘛呢？”查理问，“您应该休息才是。”

“I’ve just rewarded Blue Sky for his people talk. There is nothing like a reward to make even a raven remember his lesson.”

“我刚才奖励蓝天了，奖励他说人话。即便是渡鸦，也应该得到奖赏才是，这样他才能记得住学过啥。”

Charlie ushered Granddad back indoors to his chair and sat down on the stool beside him. Granddad was pale， raven or no raven. Charlie picked up a book and read aloud until the old naturalist fell asleep.

查理扶着爷爷进屋坐在椅子上，自己坐在旁边的凳子上。爷爷脸色苍白，有没有渡鸦都是如此。查理拿起一本书给爷爷朗读，直到这位博物学家睡着了。

And while he read， the clock hands swung to 4 P.M.

读着读着，时钟已经指向下午四点。

Pinecone sat on the roof， waiting for her parents to take her home. They did not. At 5 P.M.， when they still had not appeared， she drooped her head and wings.

松果坐在房顶上，等着渡鸦父母过来带她回家。他们却没有来。五点时，他们仍然没有来。这时松果垂下头，翅膀也耷拉下来。

After a long slump， Pinecone hopped to the rain gutters， flew to the foot of Charlie’s cabin steps， and feathers flattened to her body in fear， walked under a clump of flowering yampas. She pulled in her neck and made herself small. A white-crowned sparrow in the willow overhead fed her tiny nestlings. Pinecone opened her mouth to be fed. Nothing happened. She closed it.

松果从高处跳落，然后又跳到排水管上，再飞到查理小木屋台阶的下边。