前言介绍
Title: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens（译名《蝲蛄吟唱的地方》)
1.crawdad:
Crawdad is an American slang word for crayfish: these crustaceans cannot sing, but when Kya's mother encouraged her to explore the marsh, she would often say: "Go as far as you can -– way out yonder where the crawdads sing." (from Wikipedia)
crayfish: any of numerous freshwater decapod(有十脚的)crustaceans（甲壳纲动物） resembling the lobster but usually much smaller.（from Merriam Webster）yonder: at or in that indicated more or less distant place usually within sight. (from Merriam Webster）蝲蛄别称大头虾、鳌虾等，是一种水生甲壳动物，属于河虾科蝲蛄属节肢动物。体形略似龙虾而小，前3对步足都有鳌，第一对似蟹鳌。我国东北产有三种，栖息于山溪或河川中。是肺吸虫的中间宿主，不可生食，熟食味佳。(from Baidu）
| 小龙虾
| 蝲蛄（là gǔ） |
名称
| lobster
| crawdad\crayfish |
外形 | 十足 |
八足
|
习性
| 水域环境要求不高
| 水域环境要求高 |
Delia Owens (born c. 1949) is an American author, zoologist, and conservationist(环保主义者). Owens was born and raised in Southern Georgia(见下图), where she spent most of her life in or near true wilderness. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from the University of Georgia, and a PhD in animal behavior from the University of California, Davis. Owens met Mark Owens in a protozoology(原生动物学) class at the University of Georgia when they were both graduate students studying biology. They married in 1973, and in 1974 moved to southern Africa to study animals in the Kalahari Desert(喀拉哈里沙漠) and Zambia(见下图). She wrote about Africa in her memoirs Cry of the Kalahari, The Eye of the Elephant, and Secrets of the Savanna(热带的稀树大草原). The couple were expelled from Botswana(博茨瓦纳) and are wanted for questioning in Zambia in relation to a murder investigation. They are no longer married. Since returning to the United States, Delia Owens has been involved in bear conservation.
Aspects of Kya's(the heroine's) life and the novel's narrative choices, including its attitude towards its Black characters, are said to be reminiscent of Owens' time in Zambia, where she, her then husband, and his son are still wanted for questioning in the killing of a poacher(偷猎者) captured on film in a 1996 report by ABC News. Owens is not a suspect(嫌疑犯), but is considered a potential witness.(from Wikipedia)wilderness: an area essentially undisturbed by human activity together with its naturally developed life community.(from Wikipedia)
be wanted for sth: (og. want sb for sth)to hunt or seek someone as a criminal suspect.(from the Free Dictionary)
questioning: judicial interrogation (from Merriam Webster）
to be continued...