8 The Last One

Chapter 8 THE LAST ONE The smoky air was hot and steamy. Above Jack and Annie, the stream of liquid fire was steadily moving their way. "Separate and search the area!" said Cruz. Jack, Annie, Cruz, and Pinto headed in different directions to search for giant tortoises still stranded on the volcano. As Jack stepped around chunks of jagged black rock, his eyes and throat burned from the smoke. He moved between thickets of green prickly pear cactus and lava cactus. He bent down to look behind a lava plant. "Ouch!" he yelped. The lava cactus had needle-sharp spines. A clump of spines had poked through his shirt sleeve, pricking his skin. Jack yanked his arm loose, nearly falling over.

第八章最后一篇烟雾弥漫的空气又热又湿。 在杰克和安妮的头顶上，一股液体火焰正稳步地向他们移动。 克鲁兹说：“分头搜查这片区域！” 杰克、安妮、克鲁兹和平托前往不同的方向，寻找仍被困在火山上的巨龟。 杰克绕过一块块参差不齐的黑色岩石，他的眼睛和喉咙被烟熏得焦灼。 他在绿油油的仙人掌丛和熔岩仙人掌丛之间穿行。 他弯下腰向一株熔岩植物后面望去。 “哎哟！”熔岩仙人掌有针尖的刺。 一堆刺刺穿了他的衬衫袖子，刺痛了他的皮肤。 杰克猛地松开胳膊，差点摔倒。

"All clear!" Cruz shouted. "Annie?" "Clear, sir!" shouted Annie. "Jack?" shouted Cruz. "Clear!" Jack yelled hoarsely. But suddenly nothing seemed clear. He could hardly see through the smoke. His thoughts were muddled. His arm hurt. He didn't know what he was doing. "We have to move quick! The lava will be here soon!" Cruz yelled. "Meet you at the chopper." Jack stumbled away from the cactus plants. He looked up and saw the river of lava oozing down the slope. He felt terrified. "Let's go, Jack!" Annie called. Jack didn't answer. "Jack, are you okay?" Annie called, running to him. "No! Yes!" said Jack, breathing hard. "I don't know!" "Hey! Where's your badge?" cried Annie. Jack looked down at his shirt. "Oh, no! It's gone!" he said. "It must have come unclipped from my pocket!" He looked around wildly.

“清楚!”克鲁兹喊道。 “安妮?”“安全，先生！”安妮喊道。 “杰克？”克鲁兹喊道。“清楚!”杰克嘶哑地喊道。 但突然间，一切似乎都不明朗了。 他在烟雾中几乎看不见东西。 他的思想混乱了。 他的胳膊疼。他不知道自己在做什么。 “我们必须快点行动！”熔岩马上就要来了！”克鲁兹喊道。 “直升机那儿见。” 杰克跌跌撞撞地离开了仙人掌。 他抬头一看，只见熔岩河从山坡上汩汩而下。 他感到害怕。“我们走吧，杰克！”安妮叫。 杰克没有回答。“杰克，你还好吗？”安妮喊道，跑向他。 “不!是的！”杰克喘着粗气说。 “我不知道！”“嘿!你的徽章呢？”安妮叫道。 杰克低头看了看自己的衬衫。 “哦,不!不见了！”他说。 “一定是从我口袋里拿出来的！”他疯狂地环顾四周。

"Okay. Stay calm. Don't panic," said Annie. "But Cruz and Pinto will see I'm just a kid!" cried Jack. "It's happened again! Just like when I lost my magic baseball cap!" "Don't worry—we'll find it. You start looking," said Annie. "I'll go tell the guys you have one more place to search for tortoises." Annie took off. Jack started crawling on his hands and knees, frantically searching for his badge. He crawled around the prickly pear and lava cactus. He looked deep into crevices. He peered under a shelf of rock. He gasped. Two shining eyes stared back at him. Jack scrunched down to see better.

“好吧。保持冷静。不要惊慌，”安妮说。 “但是克鲁兹和平托会发现我只是个孩子！”杰克叫道。 “又发生了！”就像我丢了我的神奇棒球帽一样！”“别担心——我们会找到的。 你开始找，”安妮说。 “我去告诉他们你还有一个地方可以找乌龟。” 安妮走了。杰克开始用手和膝盖爬行，疯狂地寻找他的徽章。 他在仙人掌和仙人掌周围爬来爬去。 他往裂缝深处看。 他在一块岩石下面窥视。 他气喘吁吁地说。两只闪亮的眼睛盯着他。 杰克蹲下来看得更清楚。

The shiny black eyes belonged to a giant tortoise! "Oh, no!" Jack said. "We can't be here! You have to go! Lava's coming this way!" The creature kept staring at Jack with a calm, thoughtful gaze. The tortoise was completely tucked inside the small cave of rock. There was no way to get it out. Jack wished he were wearing his badge! He didn't know anything about giant tortoises now—how to help them or what to do! He was overcome with fear and confusion. "You've got to come out!" Jack begged. "Please. …Annie!" he called, but his voice was hoarse. "Annie!" "Listen! Lava's coming!" Jack said to the tortoise. "It's burning up everything in its path!" The creature still didn't move. "Oh, come out! Please! Hurry!" Jack pleaded. He put all his heart into begging the tortoise. "Please! Lava's headed this way! You'll be killed if you don't come out. There are soldiers to fly you to safety. Please, start walking! Walk to me, and I can take you to them! You're—you're one of the last of your kind.

这双闪亮的黑眼睛属于一只巨大的乌龟！“哦,不!”杰克说。 “我们不能在这儿！”你得走了！岩浆往这边来了！”那个生物一直用一种平静而沉思的目光盯着杰克。 乌龟完全被塞进了小岩洞里。 没有办法把它弄出来。 杰克真希望他戴着警徽！他现在对巨龟一无所知——如何帮助它们，该做些什么！他被恐惧和困惑所征服。 “你必须出来！”杰克恳求。 “请。……安妮！”他叫道，但声音沙哑。 “安妮!”“听着!熔岩的来了!”杰克对乌龟说。 “它把沿途的一切都烧了！”那个生物仍然一动不动。 “啊，出来吧！”拜托!快点!”杰克恳求道。 他全心全意地乞求乌龟。 “请!岩浆朝这边来了！如果你不出来，你会被杀的。 有士兵送你去安全的地方。 请开始走路吧！向我走来，我可以带你去找他们！你是，你是最后的同类之一。

…You—you have to come out.…" Jack felt tears in his eyes. "We can't lose you. Please." Slowly, finally, the tortoise stuck out its neck. It started toward Jack on its thick, stumpy legs. "Yes! Oh, man, that's it! Keep coming, keep coming!" Jack urged. He crawled backward to make room for the tortoise. "Faster. Walk faster." The giant tortoise kept plodding forward until it stepped out from under the ledge. The creature's small head moved close to Jack's face. Its flat nose was almost touching Jack's nose. Jack held his breath as he looked straight into the bright black eyes of the giant tortoise. He and the tortoise stared at each other for a long moment. Jack felt as if he were looking into a face as old as time. He felt as if the two of them had known each other forever. "You're going to be okay," he whispered to the tortoise. "I promise. I love you. The whole world loves you."

你必须出来杰克感到眼里含着泪水。 “我们不能失去你。请。” 最后，乌龟慢慢地伸出了脖子。 它用粗壮的腿朝杰克走来。 “是啊!天啊，就是这样！继续来，继续来！”杰克要求。 他向后爬，给乌龟腾地方。 “快。走得更快。”那只大乌龟一直拖着沉重的步子向前走，直到从岩架下面走出来。 那个生物的小脑袋靠近杰克的脸。 它的扁鼻子几乎碰到了杰克的鼻子。 杰克屏住呼吸，直视着那只大乌龟明亮的黑眼睛。 他和乌龟对视了很长时间。 杰克觉得自己仿佛看到了一张和时间一样古老的脸。 他觉得他们俩好像早就认识了。 “你会没事的，”他小声对乌龟说。 “我保证。我爱你。全世界都爱你。”