我从前常喜欢到动物园走动走动，其中两 个地方对我有诱惑。
Some people like to amuse themselves by watching the playfulness of clever monkeys which, though slightly manlike, are after all simple- minded animals.
一个是一家茶馆，有高屋建瓴之势，凭窗远眺， 一片油绿的田畴，小川蜿蜒其间，颇可使人目旷神怡。
That's why people cannot help feeling a sense of superiority and throwing them handfuls of peanuts.
另一值得看的 便是那一双骆驼了。
Some people enjoy seeing lions jumping through a fiery hoop, dogs doing easy sums, or tigers turning a somersault.
有人喜欢看猴子，看那些乖巧伶俐的动物，略具人形，而生活 究竟简陋，于是令人不由的生出优越之感，掏一把花生米掷进去。
But it was with a different state of mind for me to watch the camels playing a tragic role.
有 人喜欢看狮子跳火圈，狗作算术，老虎翻筋斗，觉得有趣。
They had few onlookers and were separated by a fir log across the entrance instead of a fence.
我之看 骆驼则是另外一种心情，骆驼扮演的是悲剧的角色。
Lying On the muddy ground, they resembled huge pieces of ginger when looked at from afar.
它的槛外是冷清 清的，没有游人围绕，所谓槛也只是一根杉木横着拦在门口。
And it gave me a quite a shock to take a closer look.
地上是 烂糟糟的泥。
Their hair was falling off in patches, faintly revealing blood-stains on the skin.
它卧在那里，老远一看，真像是大块的毛姜。
They were gasping for breath, with mouth wide open, chin drooping and watery big eyes seemingly brimming with tears of longing for their beloved oncs.
逼近一看， 可真吓人！
They were so skinny that their ribs showed through distinctly, their necks thin and long, and their tails like a worn-out broom.
一块块的毛都在脱落，斑驳的皮肤上隐隐的露着血迹。
Nothing remained of their humps but the dried up skin resting On their backs like a gunnysack. appearance of the "ships of the desert?
嘴 张着，下巴垂着，有上气无下气的在喘。
That, however, is not what a camel looks like in my mind's eye.
水汪汪的两只大眼睛好像是 眼泪扑簌的盼望着能见亲族一面似的。
In my childhood, the jingling of big bronze camel bells in my home town would always send me rushing outdoors to see a caravan arriving with a load of coal. The camels, sometimes numbering about ten, would stand roped up in a line, one after another, by the road.
腰间的肋骨历历可数，颈子又 细又长，尾巴像是一条破扫帚。
At the loud call of the coal trader, whose face was smeared all over with coal dust, the camels would submissively kneel down, ready to be unloaded.
驼峰只剩下了干皮，像是一只麻袋搭 在背上。
Foaming at the mouth, they kept chewing the cud.
骆驼为什么落到这悲惨地步呢？
Sometimes, close at their heels was a calf trying ever so hard to catch up at a quickened pace.
难道"沙漠之舟"的雄姿即 不过如是么？
These heavily- built, docile pack animals were just amazing and adorable.
我心目中的骆驼不是这样的。
Camels do not adapt to the climate of subtropical zones.
儿时在家乡，一听见大铜铃玎玎珰 珰就知道送煤的骆驼队来了，往往夺门出视。
Northern African countries are known for their brave military camel corps in the deserts, but the camels involved are one-humped dromedaries, not the two- humped Bactrian camels as we are familiar with.
一根细绳穿系着好几只 骆驼，有时是十只八只的，一顺的立在路边。
The two camels soon disappeared from the zoo, and the specimen room did not have room enough to exhibit them.
满脸煤污的煤商一声吆 喝，骆驼便乖乖的跪下来给人卸货，嘴角往往流着白沫，口里不住地 嚼反刍@。
So, from then on, I seldom visited the zoo.
有时还跟着一只小骆驼，几乎用跑步在后面追随着。
I understand "failed acclimatization" is a face-saving excuse commonly used in officialese to refer to someone's removal from a position.
面 对着这样庞大而温驯的驮兽，我们不能不惊异的欣赏。
Now the dismal fadeaway of the two camels must be for some similar reasons.
是亚热带的气候不适于骆驼居住。
How could the two big animals born and brought up in the vast northern plains of China long survive confinement in a small place like the zoo?