nd fighting with the flock around the 12)piers and fishing boats, diving on 13)scraps of fish and bread. but he couldn't make it work.

it's all so 14)pointless, he thought, 15)deliberately dropping a hard-won 16)anchovy to a hungry old gull chasing him. i could be spending all this time learning to fly. there's so much to learn!

it wasn't long before jonathan gull was off by himself again, far out at sea, hungry, happy, learning.

he felt better for his decision to be just another one of the flock. he climbed two thousand feet above the black sea, and without a moment for thought of failure and death, he brought his 17)forewings tightly in to his body, left only the narrow swept daggers of his 18)wingtips extended into the wind, and fell into a 19)vertical dive.

the wind was a monster roar at his head. seventy miles per hour, ninety, a hundred and twenty and faster still. the wing-strain now at a hundred and forty miles per hour wasn't nearly as hard as it had been before at seventy, and with the faintest twist of his wingtips he eased out of the dive and shot above the waves, a gray 20)cannonball under the moon.

by sunup, jonathan gull was practicing again. from five thousand feet the fishing boats were 21)specks in the flat blue water, breakfast flock was a faint cloud of dust 22)motes, circling.

his thought was triumph. 23)terminal velocity! a seagull at two hundred fourteen miles per hour! it was a breakthrough, the greatest single moment in the history of the flock, and in that moment a new age opened for jonathan gull.

he spared no time that day for talk with other gulls, but flew on past sunset. he discovered the 24)loop, the slow roll, the point roll, the 25)inverted spin, the gull 26)bunt, the 27)pinwheel.

when jonathan seagull joined the flock on the beach, it was full night. he was dizzy and terribly tired. yet in delight he flew a loop to landing, with a 28)snap roll just before 29)touchdown. when they hear of it, he thought, of the breakthrough, they'll be wild with joy. how much more there is now to living! we can be free! we can learn to fly!

the years ahead hummed and glowed with promise.

(to be continued)

致我们当中真正的海鸥乔纳森--

海鸥乔纳森·利文斯顿 （上）

早晨，初升的太阳在波澜不惊的海面上洒下金光。离岸一里，有艘渔船往水里洒了饵，上千只觅早食的海鸥赶过来扑腾着争夺口粮。新的一天就这样忙碌地开始了。

但在离岸与船很远的地方，海鸥乔纳森·利文斯顿正在独自练习飞行。在一百英尺高的空中他放低了蹼爪，抬起喙，忍痛扭紧双翼成弧形。弧形意味着他可以做缓慢飞行，现在他就放慢了速度，慢到风吹在脸上像轻声细语，慢到底下的海洋都静止了。他眯起眼睛，集中起全副精神，屏住呼吸，用力向后--弯--多--一--寸，羽毛直竖起来，他顿住，摔了下来。

谁都知道，海鸥在空中绝不会踉跄摇晃，绝不会停顿不飞。在空中停顿会让他们觉得丢脸而蒙羞。

可是海鸥乔纳森·利文斯顿并不以此为耻，他再一次伸开双翼，颤抖地弯曲着--慢一些，慢一些，再来一次停顿--这只海鸥不甘平凡。

许多海鸥只要学会最简单的飞行本领就行了--怎样从岸上飞出去觅食，再飞回来。对多数海鸥来说，重要的不是飞，而是吃。可是，对于这只海鸥来说，重要的是飞，而不是吃。海鸥乔纳森·利文斯顿喜爱飞行胜于别的一切。

他发现，这种思想是不会使自己受到同类欢迎的。他整天独自练习飞行，作几百次低飞滑翔，连他的父母都为此感到沮丧。

“你瞧，乔纳森，”他父亲严厉地说，“快到冬天了，船只要减少了，海面上的鱼也要游到深处去了。如果你一定要学，那就学学怎么觅食吧。飞行这种事是好，可你不能拿滑翔当饭吃吧。别忘了，你飞行的目的就是为了觅食。”

乔纳森顺从地点点头。以后几天，他尽量学别的海鸥的样子；他真的这么做了，他同鸥群一起，绕着码头和渔船，尖声叫着争食，扎到海里，抢点碎鱼和面包渣。可这对他行不通。

他想，这太没意思了，就存心把好不容易才弄到的一条鱼扔给了一只追逐他的饥饿的老海鸥。我可以把这样的时间用来学飞行。要学的东西太多了！

不一会儿，乔纳森再一次独自飞开了，他飞到海中间，虽然饥饿但很快乐地学习着飞行。

他下定决心要成为鸥群中不同凡响的一只海鸥之后，心里觉得好受多了。他从漆黑的海面往上飞了两千英尺，一刻也没有想过失败和死亡。他把前翼贴紧身体，只把羽翼末梢上狭窄的、后掠的翼尖展开，迎风飞翔，随即垂直俯冲。

风在他头顶犹如巨兽怒吼。时速为70英里、90英里、120英里，而且还要更快。时速达140英里时，翅膀反而没有70英里时那样僵硬了。他稍微弯了一下翼梢，便自如地改变了俯冲的姿势，在月光下犹如一颗灰色的流弹，掠过海浪。

日出时分，海鸥乔纳森又在练习飞行了。从五千英尺的高空俯瞰海面，只见风平浪静的蓝色大海上，散布着星星点点的渔船。正在觅早食的海鸥群，看上去模糊不清，像一团尘埃，转来转去。

他满脑子想的都是自己的胜利。极限速度！一只海鸥的飞行时速竟达214英里！这是一个惊人的突破，是海鸥群的历史上独一无二最伟大的时刻，这一刻为海鸥乔纳森开辟了一个新的时期。

那天，他无暇同其他海鸥攀谈，只是不断地飞行，直到日落之后。他知道了怎么翻筋斗、慢速翻滚、定点翻滚、倒立旋转、海鸥冲刺、定点旋转等等。

海鸥乔纳森回到海滩上的海鸥群中时，已是夜间了。他头晕目眩，疲惫不堪。但他很高兴，翻了一个筋斗向下飞，着陆前又来了一个快速翻滚。他想，他们听到他打破记录后，一定会欣喜若狂的。现在的生活多么充实啊！我们可以自由了！我们可以学会飞翔了！

未来的岁月充满生机，闪烁着希望的光辉。（待续）

注释：

1) sparkle v. 闪耀

2) ripple n. 涟漪，细浪

3) chum v. 撒饵

4) dodge v. 躲闪

5) webbed a. 有蹼的

6) strain v. 拉紧，尽力

7) ruffle v. 竖起

8) stall v. 停止

9) falter v. 蹒跚

10) dismayed a. 沮丧

11) screech v. 尖锐地叫

12) pier n. 码头

13) scrap n. 小片

14) pointless a. 无意义的

15) deliberately adv. 有意地

16) anchovy n. 凤尾鱼

17) forewing n. 前翅

18) wingtip n. 翼尖

19) vertical a. 垂直的

20) cannonball n. 炮弹

21) speck n. 微粒，小点

22) mote n. 尘埃

23) terminal velocity 终速，自由沉降速度

24) loop n. 翻筋斗

25) inverted spin 反螺旋

26) bunt n. 抵，撞

27) pinwheel n. 风车转

28) snap roll （一种特技飞行）快滚

29) touchdown n. 着地

★★《2003年01月号-第38期-disc02-05》★★

leslie norris helps the police with their enquiries

norris: (calling out) lorraine, 1)get'n a bit busy down 2)'ere my love! hah! evening james. what can i get 3)ya? a half-pint short?

james: aanhh! come about the fights!

norris: come right! yeah! last night, eh, that eubank. coor, he's got a punch in him, hasn't he? oh, no. i don't mean eubank, do i? no, no. the other 4)fella, the one with the 5)lisp. what's his name? eubank!

james: bites an ear, tonight!

norris: ah, right. i remember now. yes, right. yes, of course, uh, right. so eh, you gave me a 6)tenor?

james: no. no. just get me the 7)lad, will you? leslie