6 Race to the nest

Chapter Six RACE TO THE NEST "The crack must have been caused by the earthquake," Cheng said. He knelt down and scooped up a handful of soil. "This ground has only just been disturbed." "The crack must end somewhere," Tamiko said. She started walking along it. "For all we know, the mother Archaeopteryx could already be back in her conifer, wondering

“裂缝一定是地震造成的，”程说。 他跪下来，捧起一把土。 “这块地刚刚被人打扰过。” “裂缝必须在某个地方结束，”田美子说。 她开始沿着它走。 “据我们所知，始祖鸟妈妈可能已经回到她的针叶树里，在想

where her egg has gone. We've got to get her baby back to her!" They hurried along. Some trees had fallen down, uprooted by the earthquake. Ahead of them a large boulder slid into the crack. It felt like forever before Tamiko and Cheng heard it land at the bottom. "This is no good," Tamiko said, after ten minutes of walking. They still couldn't see the end of the crack. "Let's try the other direction."

她的蛋去哪了。我们得把她的孩子还给她！”他们匆匆赶路。 有些树被地震连根拔起，倒了下来。 在他们前面，一块巨石滑进了裂缝。 在Tamiko和Cheng听到它落在底部之前，感觉像是过了很久。 “这样不行，”多美子走了十分钟后说。 他们仍然看不见裂缝的尽头。 “我们试试另一个方向吧。”

They turned back. As they walked, Cheng lifted worms and bugs from broken clods of earth for the hungry little dinosaur. "I don't think this crack is ever going to end," he said, peering up ahead. Tamiko groaned. This was taking way too long. She sat down on a fallen tree to think… and an idea struck her. She jumped up. "We can use this tree to make a bridge!" "Good idea," said Cheng. "In theory." Tamiko put her hands on her hips. "What do you mean, in theory?"

他们转过身来。他们一边走，程一边从破碎的土块里捡起虫子，喂给饥饿的小恐龙。 “我认为这条裂缝永远不会结束，”他说，凝视着前方。 Tamiko呻吟着。这花的时间太长了。 她坐在一棵倒下的树上思考，突然有了一个主意。 她跳了起来。“我们可以用这棵树做一座桥！”“好主意，”程说。 “理论上”。多美子把手放在屁股上。 “你是什么意思，理论上？”

"It's massive," said Cheng. "We'll never be able to move it." He had a point. The tree was enormous, with a thick trunk and huge branches. "But we could look for a smaller one," Cheng added. Broken trees lay around them like spilled matches. Tamiko took off her hoodie once more and left the Archaeopteryx inside it, enjoying a worm. Then she and Cheng clambered around the fallen tree, searching for the perfect bridge. They tried to lift one or two of the smaller ones, but couldn't get a grip. Their best find was a small, stout ginkgo tree which lay near the deep crack.

“这是巨大的，”程说。 “我们永远无法移动它。” 他说得有道理。这棵树非常高大，树干粗壮，树枝粗大。 “但我们可以寻找一个较小的，”程补充说。 折断的树像散落的火柴一样躺在他们周围。 多美子再次脱下她的连帽衫，把始祖鸟留在里面，享受着一条虫子。 然后，她和程在倒下的树周围爬来爬去，寻找完美的桥梁。 他们试着举起一两个小的，但是抓不住。 他们最好的发现是一棵又小又壮的银杏树，它躺在深裂缝附近。

Together, they rolled the broken tree across the ground. "Let's both keep hold of one end," Tamiko said, "and push it across the crack." They both held onto one end of the trunk and shuffled it along. Earth fell away as the trunk inched over the edge of the crack. Clods thumped into the darkness below. Finally, the far end of the trunk touched down on the other side. Tamiko and Cheng cheered.

他们一起把那棵断了的树滚过地面。 “让我们俩抓住一端，”多美子说，“把它推过裂缝。” 他们俩都抓住树干的一端，拖着它往前走。 当树干慢慢爬过裂缝边缘时，泥土往下陷了。 泥土砰砰地砸向下面的黑暗。 最后，树干的另一端落在了另一边。 多美子和程欢呼起来。

"Nice work, team-mate!" said Tamiko, grinning. Something brushed past her ankles, making her jump. She glanced down to see a Compsognathus hurtle past her. A whole group of the little carnivores sprinted out from a clump of ferns, screeching and snapping their teeth. "The Archaeopteryx!" Tamiko cried. "They'll eat it!"

“干得好，队友！”多美子笑着说。 有什么东西擦过她的脚踝，使她跳了起来。 她低头看了一眼，看见一只巨颌龙从她身边疾驰而过。 一群小食肉动物从一丛蕨类植物中冲了出来，尖叫着，咬着牙齿。 “‘始祖鸟’!”Tamiko哭了。 “他们会吃掉它的！”