我和火鸡的田园牧歌，一把吉他，几曲民谣小调，它们就是我最忠实的听众……

人生百科：鸡语者

译者：邵海灵&邹世昌

校对：王津雨

编辑：赵萌萌

I’ve performed in front of hundreds of turkeys. I sing Welsh folk songs and ones my dad would have loved to hear, like the Animals’ House Of The Rising Sun.

我曾在数百只火鸡面前登台献艺。我唱过威尔士民谣，也唱过一些父亲肯定喜欢听的歌，比如动物乐队的“日升之屋”。

本文选自The Guardian | 取经号原创翻译

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I got my first guitar when I was 12, and it's been a slow process of self-tuition since then. I also play piano and violin, but I only play the guitar to the turkeys on the Rhug Estate farm in Corwen, north Wales, where I work.

12岁那年，我得到了人生的第一把吉他，进度缓慢的自学过程也从此开始了。我也会钢琴和小提琴，但在Rhug Estate农场里，我只对火鸡们弹吉他。这座农场位于北威尔士的科文，是我工作的地方。

It began as an experiment. Rhug is an organic farm, and the main principle is to create as little stress as possible for the animals. But the farm is on the side of a main road, so some get spooked by loud noises: the traffic, machinery or sounds from the car park. We started playing the radio to them overnight. We'd put on Classic FM when we were shutting up at 7pm and leave it on until we returned in the morning.

这起初是一个实验。Rhug是一座有机农场，尽量减少动物的压力是我们秉承的主要原则。但农场旁边就是一条主干道，交通噪音、机械轰鸣和停车场传来的声响，会让部分动物受到惊吓。我们开始通宵播放电台音乐给它们听。晚上七点收工后，我们就打开古典音乐调频，让它一直放，等第二天早上回来才关掉。

spook [spuːk] v. frighten or scare, and often provoke into a violent action 惊吓；鬼怪般地出没；受惊

The turkeys in particular responded really well. So we started playing the radio all day, every day. Then my boss, Lord Newborough, thought, "What if the music was much more up close and personal?" He knew I played guitar and suggested I had a go. I think my facial expression may have shown I was a bit flabbergasted by the request. I thought he was joking.

这一做法在火鸡当中收效甚佳，于是我们开始全天候播放音乐，天天如此。然后，纽伯勒大人--我的老板--转念一想：“要是换成近距离的现场互动式演奏，不知效果会怎样？”他知道我会弹吉他，便提议我去试一试。现在想来，从我当时的面部表情他也八成猜到，这个要求可把我给惊呆了。我以为他在开玩笑。

flabbergasted ['flæbɚɡæstɪd] adj. as if struck dumb with astonishment and surprise目瞪口呆的；大吃一惊的

But we tried it. And from the moment I started strumming, the turkeys crowded round. I got the impression they enjoyed listening to me play. They started pecking on the guitar and plucking the strings. That's the result of organic farming: you get inquisitive animals, rather than ones that are scared.

但我们真的尝试了。我才刚开始拨弄起琴弦，火鸡们就簇拥而至，在我身边围成一圈。看来它们还挺享受我的演奏呢。然后它们开始啄我的吉他板、拉扯吉他弦。这就是有机放牧的成果：这里的动物对一切事物充满好奇心，而不是害怕恐惧。

I don't know how to describe the noise they make. People often say "gobble". They did a lot of that - they were almost like a choir, gobbling away in response to my music. After seeing how much they enjoyed it, we did it again - and kept on going.

我不知道该如何形容它们发出的叫声。人们常说火鸡叫是“咯咯咯”。它们咯得可以说是非常起劲了--那阵势简直像一场大合唱，用它们的咯咯咯来回应我的吉他声。看到它们如此陶醉，我们又弹了一次--就这样一直到现在。

I've now performed in front of hundreds of turkeys. If you put hundreds of humans in front of me, I'd never be able to perform (my guitar abilities are fairly limited). I sing Welsh folk songs and ones my dad would have loved to hear, like the Animals' House Of The Rising Sun - that's the one I like playing most. I play pop songs, too, like Kylie Minogue, but with a folk twist.

现在，我已经在几百只火鸡面前举行过演出。要是你把几百个人放在我面前，我永远也弹不出调子来（我的吉他水平十分有限）。我唱过威尔士民谣，也唱过一些父亲肯定喜欢听的歌，比如动物乐队的“日升之屋”--那是我最爱弹的一首歌。流行歌曲我也弹，比如凯莉·米洛的，但总是被我弹成民谣风。

I've been described as a turkey whisperer. It's like a horse whisperer, but not as glamorous. I don't have a magic touch - anyone who played to them would get the same reaction, to be honest.

有人说我是“鸡语者”--对火鸡轻声耳语的人。就像马语者一样，但论魅力我要逊色许多。我没有什么“弹指神功”--老实说，换了谁给它们弹吉他，火鸡的反应都是一样的。

The turkeys arrive here as day-old chicks at the beginning of June; more than 1,000 of them are delivered. They're kept in a controlled environment for the first couple of weeks, but as they develop into larger birds, we slowly introduce them to a free-range way of life. From the first light of day to nightfall, they're out grazing in the fields. We're a 6,500-acre farm, so they've more land than they need.

六月初这些火鸡刚来时，还是几天大的小雏鸡，其中有1000多只是在农场出生的。头几周它们被放在受控环境中，但长大后，我们慢慢改成了自由放养。从晨光初现到夜幕降临，它们都田野里自由自在地吃草。我们的农场有6500英亩（约2630公顷），如此大面积的土地对火鸡们来说绰绰有余了。

They're not chicks for long. You'll go home on a Friday evening and come back on a Monday, and you'll think, "Bleeding heck, where did these come from?" All of a sudden, they're huge. We've got Norfolk Bronze and Hockenhull Blacks. Are turkeys ugly? I wouldn't want to say. They're not exactly cute and probably won't win any beauty contests.

雏鸡阶段不会太长。周五晚上你下班回家，周一回来就会惊讶：“见鬼，这些家伙是哪儿来的？”它们一夜之间就长成了庞然大物。我们有像诺福克青铜和霍肯胡尔黑人这样的品种火鸡。火鸡丑吗？我不想这么说。它们不能用通常意义的可爱形容，可能也赢不了什么选美比赛。

Turkeys are the noisiest of the bunch on the farm, but they're also intelligent and curious. We hang up CDs for them, or put pumpkins in the fields at Halloween, which they love - anything new, they'll check it out.

在农场里，火鸡是声音最吵的，但它们也很聪明，而且富有好奇心。我们为火鸡挂上CD做装饰，或者在万圣节把南瓜放在田野里，它们喜欢得不得了 -- 不管有什么新玩意，它们都要去瞄一眼。

I'm an animal lover and it's important to me that the turkeys are happy. But I'm not a vegetarian. Getting so close to the birds doesn't make me think I have to give up meat. Farming is a mega industry, but here the focus is on quality of life. Having worked with them, it's impossible to imagine turkeys in cages.

我是动物爱好者，火鸡的快乐对于我而言很重要。但我并不是一名素食主义者。与这些火鸡近距离相处并没有促使我放弃吃肉。农牧业是一个巨大的产业，但我们的重点是关注动物的生活质量。在工作中与火鸡的相伴，使我无法想象它们被关在笼子里会是怎样的景象。

I will be eating turkey at Christmas, and it will be a Rhug Estate one. Millions of turkeys end up on the Christmas table all across the UK, but at least I'll know where mine came from and that it had a good life.

我会在圣诞节吃火鸡，而且还是Rhug Estate的火鸡。尽管数百万只火鸡会被端上英国各地的圣诞餐桌，但至少我知道我吃的火鸡从哪里来，也知道它曾拥有过一段美好的生活。

In January, when all the turkeys are gone, I won't be sad. It's a short wait till June when the new chicks arrive. It'll be quieter when they're not here, but on such a big farm, there's always something to fill the silence.

一月，当所有的火鸡不在了，我也不会悲伤。到了六月，新一批雏鸡就会来，等候的时间不会太长。火鸡不在的时候，农场会安静一些，但在这么大的农场上，总能找到其他事情来填补这份安静。

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<原文链接:https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/22/i-am-a-turkey-whisperer-experience>