Back in Billings, the news spread rapidly.
回头再说比林斯，这个消息在比林斯迅速传开了。
This was the first time a swan had broken into amusic store and made off with a trumpet.
一只天鹅闯入一家乐器店偷走一把小号的事可说是前所未有。
A lot of people refused to believe it had happened.
许多人都不信会有这种事情发生。
The editor of the newspaper sent a reporter to thestore to look around.
报纸的编辑派了一个记者到店里来调查。
The reporter interviewed the owner and wrote anarticle about the event for the paper.
记者采访了那个店主，然后就此事在晚报上写了篇文章。
The article was headed: LARGE BIRD BREAKS INTO MUSIC STORE
文章的标题是这样的：大鸟闯入乐器店
White Swan Crashes Through Window and Makes Off With Valuable Trumpet
白天鹅破窗而入，窃走贵重的小号
Everybody in Billings bought a copy of the paper and read all about the extraordinary event.
住在比林斯的每个人都买了一份这种报纸，细读了关于这个特别事件的报道。
It was talked about all over town.
全城到处都在议论这件事。
Some people believed it; others said it never could have happened.
有些人相信;其他的人说这事绝不可能发生。
They said the store owner had just invented it to get some publicity for his store.
他们说那个店主不过是杜撰了这个消息想以此来给他的店做广告而已。
But the clerks in the store agreed that it had really happened.
可是店里的店员们却说这事的确发生过。
They pointed to the drops of blood on the floor.
他们都指着地板上的血滴发誓。
The police came to look over the damage, which was estimated at nine hundred dollars.
警察来看了店里的损坏情况，估计损失大概要值九百美元。
The police promised they would try to find the thief and arrest him,
警察答应将设法找到那个贼并逮捕他，
but the police were sorry to hear that the thief was a bird.
可当警察听说这个贼只是一只鸟时却感到很为难。
"Birds are a special problem," they said.
“鸟类犯罪可是个很特别的问题，”他们说，
"Birds are hard to deal with."
“鸟类是相当难对付的。”
Back at the Red Rock Lakes, Louis's mother waited anxiously for her husband to return.
再说红石湖那边，路易斯的妈妈正在焦虑地等着她的丈夫回来。
When he showed up in the night sky, she saw that he had a trumpet with him.
他刚一在夜空中出现，她就看到他带来了一把小号。
It was slung around his neck by its cord.
它是由一根绳子挂在他脖子上的。
"Well," she said, as he glided to a stop in the water, "I see you made it."
“很好，”当他滑到水面停住的时候，她说，“我看你把事情办成了。”
"I did, my dear," said the cob. "I traveled fast and far, sacrificed my honor, and I have returned.
“是的，我亲爱的，”雄天鹅说，“这一次我飞得又快又远，还牺牲了我的荣誉，可我总算回来了。
Where is Louis? I want to give him his trumpet right away."
路易斯在哪儿?我现在就想把小号给他。”
"He's over there sitting on a muskrat house, dreaming about that empty-headed young femalehe's so crazy about."
“他正在麝鼠窝那边坐着，发疯似的梦想着那位毫无鉴赏力的年轻雌天鹅呢。”