THERE were some children in the north looking at the swallows flying south. “Why are they going away?” the little one asked.
在北方有几个孩子正看着南飞的燕子。”他们为什么要走？”小家伙问。
“夏天结束了，”姐姐回答，“如果他们呆在这里，他们会饿死冻死的，所以，当夏天结束的时候，他们会飞向南方。”
“Our mother and sisters are in the south," the little one said, as they looked after the birds. “Dear little swallows, tell mother that we are watching for her!” But they were already flying over the sea. The chilly winds tried to follow, but the swallows flew so swiftly they were not overtaken; they went on, with the summer always before them. They were tired many a time. Once they stayed to rest upon the French coast, and once, in the Bay of Biscay, they clung to the rigging of a ship all through the night, but in the morning they went on again.
“我们的母亲和姐妹们在南方，”小女孩一边说，一边看着鸟儿说：“亲爱的小燕子，请告诉妈妈我们在等她！”但是小燕子们已经飞跃了海洋。
寒风试图跟上，但燕子飞得太快，没有被追上；他们继续前进，夏天总是在他们面前。
他们多次感到疲倦。
偶尔燕子们会在法国的海岸休息，偶尔在比斯开湾，他们整夜紧抓着一艘船的索具，但到了早上，他们又继续前进。
Far away in the south, two English children were looking from the turret window of an old castle.
在遥远的南方，两个英国孩子正从一座古堡的塔楼窗户向外张望。
“Here are the swallows," they said; "perhaps they have come from England. Dear swallows, have you brought us a message?" they asked.
“这些是燕子，”他们说：“也许他们来自英国。亲爱的燕子们，你们给我们带来消息了吗？”他们问。
"It was very cold, we had no time for messages; and we must not lose the track of summer," the swallows twittered, and they flew on till they reached the African shore.
“天气很冷，我们没有时间留言, 我们要追随夏天的痕迹，”燕子们叽叽喳喳地说，他们一直向前飞，直到抵达非洲海岸。
“Poor little swallows," said the English children, as they watched the ship come into port that was to take them back to their own land ; "they have to chase the summer and the sun, but we do not mind whether it is summer or winter, for if we only keep our hearts warm, the rest does not matter."
“可怜的小燕子，”英国孩子们说到，并看着船驶进港口，准备把他们带回自己的家乡时说：“他们必须追逐夏天和太阳，但我们不在乎是夏天还是冬天，我们只保持我们的心是温暖的，其余的都不重要。”
"It is very good of the swallows to come to us," the elder sister said, in the next spring, when she heard their first soft twitter beneath the eaves, "for the summer is in many places, and we are so far from the south."
第二年春天，当姐姐听到燕子在屋檐下第一次轻轻地鸣叫时，她说：“燕子来找我们真是太好了，因为夏天在很多地方，我们离南方太远了。”
“是的，他们能来真是太好了，”孩子们回答：“亲爱的小燕子，也许他们也爱我们！”
