花園盛宴

By+Elizabeth+C.Leon

W hen we moved to a guest ranch in the High Rockies，1 I was thrilled to live among the wildlife. Every day was a mountain safari： Great horned owls（大雕鸮）swooped across the yard.2 A spotted bobcat（短尾貓）perched3 in a tree. Jack rabbits（長耳大野兔）froze mid-dash to curl up into balls， immediately camouflaged as large， gray stones.4 Elk（麋鹿）thundered past5 the window at night. A bald eagle（禿鷹）coasted6 in the clouds. It was all just heavenly！

Until I planted a garden.

The tulips（郁金香）never stood a chance.7 I began searching for signs of them in April. I waited impatiently until the last blizzard8 finished in May—late May. Still no tulips. Curious， I decided to dig them up. Had they frozen？ Were they duds9？ No. They were gone. In their place was a network of tunnels10. Apparently， the bulbs11 had provided a fancy rodent（嚙齒動物）dinner.

That afternoon， I saw deer leaning heavily against my garden fence， forcing the metal mesh12 closer to the greens. They jammed their muzzles through the fence holes， noosed the stalks with their tongues， and vacuumed up each and every sprout in the garden.13 Goodbye， baby sunflowers.

I decided to get serious. I consulted experts at the local garden center. My fence grew taller and sturdier14. I dug down 12 inches to seat the mesh underground， blocking burrowing interlopers.15 My children decorated it with shiny， colorful pinwheels16 to discourage birds. I congratulated everyone on a job well done.

But we were not prepared for the chipmunks（花栗鼠）.

The chipmunks darted17 in and out of the tiny holes in the fencing. They scampered up and over my fortified barricade.18 Those striped bandits carried off their edible loot and stashed it in their colony in our rock wall.19 The daisies（雛菊）were beheaded， the gaillardia（天人菊）decimated.20 The black-eyed Susans（金光菊）never recovered. Its a good thing chipmunks are so adorable. I spotted one drinking from a recently watered leaf. Awww！

I grew more determined. I sprayed fox urine at the advice of one friend， laid out piles of chicken feathers at the behest of another.21 I even spread out clumps22 of fur from our Great Pyrenees（大白熊犬）after her summer shave. The chipmunks didnt care.

I surveyed the damage. The oriental poppies（罌粟花）were still viable—they had large， ferocious spikes on their leaves， and they would be beautiful.23 But something was missing： every single bud24. What are poppies without blooms？endprint

“Nice thistles（薊）， Mommy，” my daughter giggled.

In a fit of desperation， I dipped every new flower bud in cayenne pepper.25 Later that day， I found a large bud lying on the ground， abandoned after only two bites. Aha！ Could this be the answer？ A late-night thunderstorm washed away my rising hopes， along with the pepper.

I returned to the garden center and commiserated26 with the saleslady. “The wildlife！” I complained.

“I know，” she agreed. “Theyre relentless27. At my house， the deer even eat the yucca（絲蘭）plants.”

I was dumbfounded28. “The yuccas？” How in the world could they conquer that plant？

“They chew up and down the spikes like corn on the cob29，” she said. “It completely destroys them.”

I had to admit， that was pretty impressive. What could you do if even yuccas werent safe？

I wallowed in the anguish of defeat.30

I was hauling31 laundry past our sliding glass doors when I saw it： a mommy chipmunk nursing her baby. I froze， perfectly shielded by the curtain. I saw the little animal balance on one front paw and use the other to cradle32 the baby. All my mothering instincts kicked in. “OK，” I told her. “You can have whatever you want. I know youre eating for five.”

The fence came down. The garden became an open banquet in honor of the wildlife we loved. Each new plant was an experiment. Forget the “experts”—the neighborhood wildlife indicated their own gustatory33 preferences. At the end of summer， we carefully tallied the results： My purple Russian sage（鼠尾草）had been nibbled， but was otherwise thriving—declined by chipmunks.34 Nobody bothered the white yarrow（蓍草）， either， although other colors were evidently delicacies. The columbine（耬斗菜）was abundant—no wonder its Colorados state flower！

In the spirit of trial and error35， we planted daffodil（水仙花）bulbs， carefully marking each location with a tag. My four-year-old surveyed his work： “Mommy， do you know what those little signs are for？ They tell the animals not to eat these plants！”

I had to smile. Someone had been paying attention， but the game had changed.

“Actually， honey， they advertise the newest entrées36 offered at our family garden buffet.”

Well have to wait until spring to receive the reviews.

1. ranch： 牧場；High Rockies： 美國西部科羅拉多州的一個地區(qū)，多為落基山脈（Rocky Mountains）較為崎嶇的山區(qū)景觀。

2. safari： （獵獸）旅行，游獵；swoop： （鳥類或飛機）向下猛沖。endprint

3. perch： 棲息，就位。

4. dash： 猛沖，飛奔，這里mid-dash是指在跑的過程中；camouflage： // 偽裝，掩飾。

5. thunder past： 轟隆隆地從……旁邊經(jīng)過。

6. coast： v. 滑行。

7. 郁金香從來沒有活下來過。stand a chance： 有機會，有希望。

8. blizzard： 暴風雪。

9. dud： 無用的東西。

10. tunnel：（動物挖的）洞穴，通道。

11. bulb：（植物的）球莖，鱗莖。

12. mesh：（用線或金屬絲編織的）網(wǎng)狀物。

13. 它們將口鼻擠進圍欄的空隙中，伸出舌頭將植物的莖卷入口中，將花園里的新芽一掃而光。muzzle：（動物的）口鼻部；noose： 用套索捕捉，使落入圈套；stalk：（植物的）莖，稈；vacuum：用吸塵器吸；sprout： 新芽。

14. sturdy： 結實的。

15. burrow： 挖掘，挖洞；interloper： 闖入者。

16. pinwheel： 紙風車。

17. dart： 猛沖。

18. scamper： 蹦蹦跳跳；fortified： 加固的，增強的；barricade： 路障。

19. 這些身上長著斑紋的小土匪將能吃的“贓物”運走，并藏在我家石墻中它們的洞穴里。bandit： 強盜，土匪；edible： 可食用的；loot： 贓物，戰(zhàn)利品；stash： 藏匿；colony： （同類人的）聚居地。

20. behead： 斬首；decimate： 糟蹋，大量毀滅。

21. spray： 噴灑；urine： 尿；behest： 命令，吩咐。

22. clump： 堆，團。

23. 東方罌粟花仍然是可以存活的——它們的葉子上有大而鋒利的尖狀突起。這種花將長得格外美麗。viable： 能存活的，能生長發(fā)育的；ferocious： // 危險的，可怕的；spike： 尖狀物。

24. bud： 花蕾。

25. a fit of： 突然一陣；cayenne pepper：辣椒粉。

26. commiserate： 憐憫，同情。

27. relentless： 不間斷的，無休止的。

28. dumbfounded： 驚呆的，目瞪口呆的。

29. cob： 玉米棒子。

30. wallow： 沉湎于（絕望、失敗、自憐等）；anguish： 悲痛。

31. haul： （費力地）拖運。

32. cradle： 輕抱。

33. gustatory： // 品嘗的，味覺的。

34. 夏末時分，我們仔細地記錄著結果：我的紫色俄羅斯鼠尾草被啃掉了些許，卻生長得分外茁壯，可見金花鼠漸漸對它失去興趣了。tally： 計算，記錄；nibble： 啃，一點一點地咬。

35. trial and error： （為求完善的）反復試驗，試錯法。

36. entrée： 正餐前的開胃菜。endprint