“Wow！ Ouch！” he yelled. He hurriedly placed the trap where the ravens would have easy access to it and swung down to the porch. From the porch he dashed into the kitchen.

“哇！哎呦！”查理喊道。查理匆匆忙忙把捕鸟器放到渡鸦容易接近的地方，自己顺着柱子摆荡到门廊上，然后从门廊冲到厨房里。

“What’s the matter？” Singing Bird asked. “A raven bite you？”

“怎么了？”歌唱鸟问，“有渡鸦咬了你一口吗？”

“No， I got hit in the head with a pinecone.”

“不是，我的头被一只松果击中了。”

“Write that down，” said Granddad. “And add that the ‘parents’ of Blue Sky have attacked.” His eyes twinkled.

“把这个记下来，”爷爷说，“再加上：蓝天的‘父母’攻击了我。”爷爷的眼睛里闪闪发光。

“How do you know they’re their parents？” Charlie asked.

“您怎么知道是他们的父母？”查理问。

“They are throwing pinecones at you. They recognize you as the person who took their nestling.”

“因为他们朝着你扔松果。他们认出你了，知道你就是掏走幼鸟的人。”

“They recognize me？” Charlie asked. “I sure don’t recognize them as Blue Sky’s parents.”

“他们认识我？”查理问，“我可是一点都认不出他们是蓝天的父母。”

“Just because you don’t doesn’t mean they are as limited as you are. I banded a male and female robin and their nestlings one spring when I was young. Every year after that when I passed near the robin nest， the male， yelled， dove， and wing-clipped on me. He didn’t dive at the postman or anyone else—just me. That bird never forgot me.

“不能因为你不认识他们，就意味着他们跟你一样记不住。我年轻的时候，有一年春天给一只雄性和一只雌性知更鸟做过脚环，还有他们的幼鸟。此后每一年，只要我经过他们的鸟巢附近，那只雄鸟就会尖叫、俯冲，用翅膀拍打我。他并不俯冲攻击邮递员或者其他任何人，仅仅针对我。那只鸟永远忘不了我。

“You robbed the raven nest，” he went on. “They know you well， and they have it in for you.” Charlie rubbed his head and grinned.

“你掏了渡鸦窝。”爷爷继续道，“他们认得你，肯定记恨你。”查理挠挠头咧嘴笑了。

“Then why don’t they give the alarm cry when they see me？”

“那么他们看见我为什么没有发出预警的叫声？”

Granddad’s eyes had that faraway look that dimmed then when he was searching for answers beyond the human mind.

爷爷的目光看向远方，变得有些暗淡，那是他在思索超出人类认知的答案。