Ch9-Fire Dragon

CHAPTER NINE Fire Dragon

第九章火龙

Jack followed Annie over the wet rocks to the waterfall. In the moonlight, he could barely make out a hollow space in the cliff behind it. "That looks like a cave!" said Annie. "A cave that hides from sight behind a curtain of white," said Jack.

杰克跟着安妮翻过潮湿的岩石来到瀑布边。 在月光下，他几乎看不清后面的悬崖上有一个空洞。 “那看起来像个山洞！”安妮说。 “一个隐藏在白色帷幕后面的洞穴，”杰克说。

Yip! Yip! Oki popped his head out of Jack's backpack. The little dog kept barking as Jack and Annie slipped behind the waterfall and made their way inside the cave. The air in the cramped cave smelled of wet rocks and mold. Jack had to bend down to keep his head from hitting the ceiling, and Oki tumbled out of his backpack. Before Jack could catch him, the puppy dashed off. "Oki!" cried Annie. Yip! Yip! Oki's barking came from deep within the cave. "We're coming!" called Annie. She and Jack moved their hands along the cave wall to guide their way. As they followed the sound of Oki's barks and whines, the cave became more like a tunnel. The ceiling was so low that Annie and Jack had to get on their hands and knees and crawl in the blackness toward Oki's cries. Suddenly Jack heard a flapping and squeaking off to the side. "Watch out for bats," he called.

犬吠!犬吠!奥基从杰克的背包里探出头来。 小狗不停地叫着，杰克和安妮溜到瀑布后面，向山洞里走去。 在狭窄的洞穴里，空气中弥漫着潮湿的岩石和霉菌的味道。 杰克不得不弯下腰，以免头撞到天花板，奥基从背包里摔了出来。 杰克还没来得及抓住小狗，它就跑掉了。 “好吧！”安妮叫道。犬吠!犬吠!奥基的叫声来自洞穴深处。 “我们来了！”安妮叫道。 她和杰克用手在岩壁上移动，为他们引路。 他们顺着奥基的吠叫和呜咽声走，山洞变得更像一条隧道。 天花板很低，安妮和杰克不得不趴在地上，在黑暗中向奥基的哭声爬去。 突然，杰克听到一侧传来扑扇和吱吱的声音。 “小心蝙蝠，”他喊道。

"Yikes. You think spiders could be in here, too?" said Annie. "Probably yes," said Jack. "Oh, no," said Annie. "Keep going," said Jack. "Just keep your head down." Close by, Oki yelped furiously. Jack felt around blindly for the puppy. But instead of fur, his hand touched a cold, smooth object. He quickly drew back, afraid he might have touched a snake or some other creature. "Gotcha!" said Annie. "I got Oki!" "Good," said Jack. "Hey, there's something else here," said Annie. "What?" said Jack. "It's heavy, but it feels like a plate," said Annie. "Actually, I felt something, too," said Jack. He reached out and touched the cold object again. He picked it up and ran his fingers over it. "I think I found a goblet," he said. "I just found something else," said Annie. "Oh, wow…it's too heavy to lift with one hand."

“哎呀。你觉得蜘蛛也会在这里吗？”安妮说。 “可能是的，”杰克说。 “哦，不，”安妮说。“继续，”杰克说。 “把头低下就行了。” 在旁边，奥基愤怒地尖叫着。 杰克盲目地四处寻找小狗。 但他的手摸到的不是皮毛，而是一个又冷又光滑的东西。 他赶紧往后退，生怕碰到了蛇或别的什么生物。 “抓到你了！”安妮说。“我抓到奥基了！”“很好，”杰克说。 “嘿，这里还有别的东西，”安妮说。 “什么？”杰克说。“它很重，但感觉像一个盘子，”安妮说。 “事实上，我也感觉到了一些东西，”杰克说。 他伸出手，又摸了摸那个冰冷的东西。 他把它捡起来，用手指摸了摸。 “我想我找到了一只高脚杯。”他说。 “我刚发现了别的东西，”安妮说。 “哦，哇……它太重了，单手拿不起来。”

"Where is it?" said Jack, reaching toward the sound of Annie's voice. "Here," said Annie. She guided his hand to the object. When Jack tried to pick the object up, he almost dropped it. It was very heavy. Jack ran his fingers over its surface….Is that a head? A snout? he wondered. Wings? Claws? "Oh, man, we found it!" he whispered. "The dragon?" asked Annie. "Yes, I think so!" said Jack. "Let's get it outside!" "Okay, I'll carry Oki," said Annie. Jack stuffed the heavy object in his backpack. Crawling and then crouching, he and Annie made their way back through the cave, until they came to the entrance. The waterfall showered them with spray as they climbed over the rocks to the ground. Jack set down his backpack and pulled out the object. In the moonlight, the ninth dragon was magnificent. Its golden wings were raised behind its back, and its eyes seemed to be gazing into the far distant hills.

“它在哪儿？”杰克问，伸手去听安妮的声音。 “给你，”安妮说。她把他的手伸向那个东西。 当杰克试图把那个东西捡起来时，他差点把它掉在地上。 它很重。杰克用手指摸了摸它的表面....那是头吗？ 一个鼻子?他想知道。翅膀吗? 爪子?“哦，天哪，我们找到了！” “龙？”安妮问。 “是的，我想是的！”杰克说。 “我们到外面去吧！”“好吧，我来抱奥基，”安妮说。 杰克把那件沉重的东西塞进背包里。 他和安妮爬着又蹲着，穿过洞穴往回走，一直走到洞口。 当他们爬过岩石到达地面时，瀑布向他们溅来阵阵水花。 杰克放下背包，掏出了那个东西。 月光下，第九条龙气势磅礴。 它的金色翅膀在背后展开，它的眼睛似乎在凝视着远处的群山。