Every year, in the Antarctic, an incredible love story occurs between thousands of small, cuddly(a person or animal that is cuddly makes you want to cuddle them) penguins. Adeli Penguins(埃德里企鹅) fall hopelessly in love and their feelings are so strong that they stay with their partners for the rest of their lives.
Watching the starry-eyed(bright like a star or shaped like a star) birds paddle(to swim with short, quick movements) together in the surf, there can be no doubt that this is one of the most beautiful love matches in the animal kingdom.
At the beginning of every summer in Antarctica, male Adelis go in search of the perfect female—but merely singling her out isn’t enough. To show his love, he selects a pebble(a small smooth stone found especially on a beach or on the bottom of a river) from the beach and presents it to her.
If she accepts, the two live together forever. The penguins go through an elaborate display to show their feelings are more than friendship. The first thing they do is an ecstatic(feeling extremely happy and excited) display, where they move their heads from side to side. Then they do head bows and give each other little sideways glances.
Finally, when they’re getting really excited, they make the feathers on their back of their head stand up, which makes them look like they’re got triangular heads. It’s very cute.
Occasionally, a female will have more than one admirer and, should she be presented with two pebbles, she has to choose which one will be her mate. She would choose one because of his vocal patterns.
The Adeli Penguins’ mating ritual is so romantic that Warner Brothers（华纳兄弟影片公司） have made a movie about it, aptly called The Pebble and The Penguin. The star of the film is Hubie, a shy Adeli with a penchant for red hats and yellow scarves. The love of his life is Marina: she is very stylish.
Of course, there’s an evil penguin who’s battling for the affections of Marina, Hubie tries to find the perfect pebble to win Marina’s heart but sadly all the pebbles have disappeared until that is, a dream pebble drops from the sky.
It is, according to Hubie, a perfect pebble but the real Adelis don’t actually search for that one special stone, they will settle on just about anything. But the pebbles, as well as being a gift of love, also have a practical use - they’re the important materials used for building nests.
There are around 18 species of penguin in the world, but none of the others offer a pebble as a token of their love. But, unless, you’ll travel to freezing climes, it’s highly unlikely you will have seen
their pebble ritual. The penguins we usually see in zoos in this country are the more common species.
在南极洲，每年都有成千上万只小巧可爱的企鹅，演绎着一个个令人难以置信的爱情故事。埃德里企鹅会不顾一切地陷入的爱情旋涡之中，忠贞不渝的感情，使得他们能够享受白头偕老的甜蜜生活。
看到这些乐观的鸟儿在浪花里嬉戏，没有人会怀疑，这是动物王国里最动人的爱情结合。
每年，在南极洲夏季来临的时候，雄性埃德里企鹅开始寻觅最完美的雌性伙伴----但仅仅找到她是不够的。他从海滩拣起一块鹅卵石送给心上人，以表达他的爱情。
倘若她接受，他们俩就会从此永远生活在一起。企鹅通过这种精心设计的表达方式来表明他们的关系已经超越了友谊。他们做的第一件事是把头摇来摇去，以表达他们欣喜若狂的心情。然后他们把头低下，互相斜视对方。
最后，当他们真正激动起来，就会把头部后面的羽毛竖起来，这样使头部看起来象三角形。可爱极了。
有时候，一只雌企鹅会有好几个崇拜者，即使她得到两块鹅卵石，也只能从中选择一位伴侣。她可能会因为喜欢其中一个的声音而选择他做丈夫。
埃德里企鹅的浪漫的结婚仪式使得华纳兄弟影片公司特地为它们拍了一部电影，名子很贴切地叫做“鹅卵石和企鹅”。影片的明星是“哈比”，一只害羞的埃德里企鹅，喜欢戴红帽子和黄领带。他生命中最爱的是“玛利娜”：她很时髦。
当然，有一只邪恶的企鹅也企图获得玛利娜的芳心。哈比试图找到最完美的鹅卵石来赢得玛利娜的芳心，但悲哀地发现所有的石头都不见了，直到有一天，一块梦想中的鹅卵石从天而降。
哈比认为这是一块世上最完美石块，但实际上，现实中的埃德里企鹅并不会刻意寻找一块特殊的石头，他们会随便拣一块。但是这块圆石，不仅是爱的礼物，也还有其实际用途――它们是建造家园的重要材料。
世界上大有18种企鹅，但除了埃德里企鹅，其它企鹅都不会用鹅卵石来表白爱情。但是，除非你有机会到这个天寒地冻的地带来，否则不大可能看到他们的赠送石块的仪式。通常我们在动物园看到的只能是比较普通的企鹅。
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