Chapter 1

The Panda Puzzle

熊猫拼图

CHAPTER 1 "I can't believe Green Lawn has its own pandas," Ruth Rose said. She held up her dad's camcorder. "I hope I can get them on videotape!" Ruth Rose always dressed in one color. Today, she wore sky blue from head to toe. Ruth Rose, her little brother, Nate, and her friends Dink and Josh were visiting the petting zoo. A mother panda and her baby had arrived just the day before! All four kids stood in the middle of a crowd near the panda enclosure. Dink recognized a lot of his friends from school. He waved at Officer Fallon and his grandson, Jimmy.

“我不敢相信绿草坪有自己的熊猫，”露丝·罗斯说。 她举起她爸爸的摄像机。 “我希望我能把它们录下来!”露丝·罗斯总是穿一种颜色的衣服。 今天，她从头到脚穿了一身天蓝色。 露丝·罗斯和她的弟弟内特，还有她的朋友丁克和乔希正在参观宠物动物园。 一只熊猫妈妈和她的宝宝前一天才来!四个孩子都站在熊猫围场附近的人群中间。 丁克认出了他在学校的许多朋友。 他向法伦警官和他的孙子吉米挥了挥手。

Through the skinny rails of the enclosure fence, the kids could see a cave and a pool of water. Bamboo grew beside the cave. From his pocket, Dink pulled out a folded paper. It was an issue of The Panda Paper. The front-page story was all about how the pandas, Ping and Winnie, had come to Green Lawn. The headline was PETTING ZOO PERFECT PLACE FOR PANDAS! "I'm going to ask the editor if I can write a story about the baby panda," Dink said. Josh was chomping on an apple and holding Pal's leash. "If you do, I'll draw its picture for you," he said. "Can I play with the panda?" asked Nate. "Sorry, Natie," Ruth Rose said. "Pandas only like to play with other pandas." Nate was on tiptoes. "I can't see," he complained. "There's too many big people." "There's a bench over there," Dink said. "We can see better if we stand on it."

透过围栏的细栏杆，孩子们可以看到一个洞穴和一池水。 山洞旁边长着竹子。 丁克从口袋里掏出一张折好的纸。 那是一期《熊猫报》。 头版的故事都是关于熊猫平和温妮是如何来到绿草坪的。 标题是“宠物动物园是熊猫的完美去处!”丁克说:“我要去问编辑我能不能写一篇关于熊猫宝宝的报道。” 乔什在咬苹果，牵着帕尔的皮带。 “如果你画了，我就画给你看，”他说。 “我能和熊猫一起玩吗?”内特问。 “对不起，纳蒂，”露丝·罗斯说。 “熊猫只喜欢和其他熊猫一起玩。” 内特踮起脚尖。“我看不见，”他抱怨道。 “大人物太多了。” “那边有一张长凳，”丁克说。 “如果我们站在上面，就能看得更清楚。”

The four kids climbed onto a nearby bench. Now they could see over the crowd. Pal flopped on the lawn with a big sigh and closed his eyes. The crowd stood just outside the fence. Off to one side, standing near a microphone, were two men and a woman. The kids recognized the woman. Her name was Irene Napper, and she worked at the petting zoo. She fed the animals and made sure they were safe and comfortable. She was wearing a green uniform with the words PETTING ZOO stitched onto her shirt pocket. Next to Irene was a short man with spiky yellow hair. That was Tom Steele, the editor of The Panda Paper. "Who's the guy wearing the necktie?" Josh asked. The man Josh had asked about was very tan. He was whispering something to Irene Napper. "That's Flip Frances," Dink said. He showed Josh a picture in The Panda Paper. "His grandmother gave the money to Green Lawn to build this park." Just then, Flip Frances spoke into the microphone. "Can you all hear me?" he asked.

四个孩子爬上了附近的长凳。 现在他们可以越过人群看过去了。 帕尔重重地叹了口气，瘫倒在草坪上，闭上了眼睛。 人群就站在栅栏外面。 在另一边，站在麦克风附近的是两男一女。 孩子们认出了那个女人。 她叫艾琳·纳珀，在宠物动物园工作。 她喂养动物，确保它们安全舒适。 她穿着一件绿色制服，衬衫口袋上绣着“PETTING ZOO”的字样。 艾琳旁边是一个留着黄头发的矮个子男人。 这是汤姆·斯蒂尔，熊猫报的编辑。 “打领带的那个人是谁?”杰克问。 乔希问起的那个人皮肤晒得很黑。 他在跟艾琳·纳珀窃窃私语。 “那是Flip Frances，”丁克说。 他给乔希看了《熊猫报》上的一张照片。 “他的祖母把钱给绿草坪建了这个公园。” 就在这时，弗朗西丝对着麦克风说话。 “你们都能听到我吗?”他问。

Ruth Rose turned on the camcorder and aimed it toward the microphone. "Hi, everyone, I'm Flip Frances," he said. "As many of you know, it was my grandmother, Winifred Frances, who made Panda Park possible. Granny Win would be happy that you all came to meet little Winnie. And I'm pleased that her money went to such a good cause." He turned to Irene Napper. "Irene is taking good care of our new arrivals," he said, handing her the microphone. "Thanks, Flip," Irene said into the mike. "I just want to say that I've loved getting to know little Winnie. She's a happy, playful baby." Irene passed the mike to Tom Steele. "Hello, everyone," the editor said. "As you know, The Panda Paper has a very small staff—me! I could use some help. I'd love to print your stories, poems, or pictures about pandas." Tom Steele grinned. "But I can't pay you anything!"

露丝·罗斯打开摄像机，对准麦克风。 “大家好，我是Flip Frances，”他说。 “你们很多人都知道，是我的祖母温妮弗雷德·弗朗西丝(Winifred Frances)让熊猫公园成为可能。 温奶奶会很高兴你们都来见小温妮的。 我很高兴她把钱捐给了这么好的事业。” 他转向艾琳·纳珀。 “艾琳把新来的客人照顾得很好，”他说着，把麦克风递给了她。 “谢谢你，菲普，”艾琳对着麦克风说。 “我只想说，我很喜欢了解小温妮。 她是一个快乐、顽皮的孩子。” 艾琳把麦克风递给汤姆·斯蒂尔。 “大家好，”编辑说。 “你知道，《熊猫报》只有一个很小的员工——我!”我需要一些帮助。 我很乐意出版你关于熊猫的故事、诗歌或图片。” 汤姆·斯蒂尔咧嘴一笑。“但是我不能给你任何钱!”

Everyone in the crowd laughed. Just then, a black-and-white face appeared inside the cave's entrance. The crowd quieted. Slowly, the mother panda moved into the sunlight. Her head swiveled around and she lifted her nose into the air. Suddenly she charged the fence and threw her body against the metal rails. Tom Steele, Irene Napper, and Flip Frances leaped back. People at the front of the crowd jumped back, too. "What's wrong with her?" Ruth Rose asked, catching it all on videotape. Ping stared through the bars of the fence. After a minute, she waddled back into her cave. A man in a green uniform hurried over to Irene Napper. Irene handed him her keys, and the man unlocked the fence gate. Carefully, he crossed over to the cave, knelt down, and looked inside.

人群中的每个人都笑了。 就在这时，一张黑白相间的脸出现在洞口。 人群安静了下来。慢慢地，熊猫妈妈走到阳光下。 她的头转了一圈，把鼻子抬到空中。 突然，她冲向栅栏，把身体撞在金属栏杆上。 汤姆·斯蒂尔、艾琳·纳珀和弗朗西丝跳了回来。 人群前面的人也跳了回去。 “她怎么了?”露丝·罗斯问道，把这一切都拍了下来。 平透过栅栏凝视着。 过了一分钟，她摇摇摆摆地回到了自己的洞穴。 一个穿绿色制服的人匆匆走向艾琳·纳珀。 艾琳把钥匙递给他，那人打开了栅栏门。 他小心翼翼地走到山洞前，跪下来往里面看。