4 Up the mountain

Chapter Four UP THE MOUNTAIN Halan chattered happily to Leah and Cheng as they made their way from the beach toward a path that wound through the trees toward Mount Yasur. She was clearly delighted by how much Leah knew about the island's wildlife. Keemo rushed ahead, tugging on his leash and wagging his tail.

第四章上山哈兰愉快地跟利亚和成聊着天，他们从海滩走到一条穿过树林通向亚苏尔山的小路上。 莉娅对岛上的野生动物了解如此之多，她显然很高兴。 基莫冲到前面，拽着皮带，摇着尾巴。

The path grew steeper, and the trees began to thin out as they reached the slopes of the volcano. Now Cheng saw other people walking up it also. The earth beneath his feet grew darker. Soon, the vegetation died away entirely, and the ground was just rock. The smell of sulfur was growing stronger, and the earth felt warm. Cheng imagined the magma beneath his feet, churning and boiling and bubbling like a great witch's cauldron. It gave him a thrill.

当他们到达火山的斜坡时，道路变得越来越陡峭，树木也开始变得稀疏。 现在程看到其他人也走上了这条路。 他脚下的大地越来越暗。 很快，植被全部死亡，地面只剩下岩石。 硫磺的气味越来越浓，大地感到温暖。 程想象着岩浆在他脚下翻滚、沸腾、冒泡，就像一个巨大的女巫坩埚。 这使他兴奋不已。

A flash in the sky made Cheng look up. His mouth dropped open. A great fountain of lava shot out of the crater, hissing and glowing. Wow, he breathed. He was witnessing a real, live volcanid eruption! It was a dream come true. At last, they reached the top of the volcano. Around the crater, a lot of visitors were having guided tours, looking around and taking photos. "They're pretty close to the edge," said Leah. "What if there's a really big eruption?" "That's where I come in!" said a voice.

天空中一闪而过，让程抬起头来。 他的嘴张得大大的。一个巨大的熔岩喷泉从火山口喷出，嘶嘶作响，闪闪发光。 哇，他喘了口气。他目睹了一次真实的火山喷发！这是一个梦想成真。 最后，他们到达了火山的顶部。 在火山口周围，很多游客都在导游的带领下四处张望，拍照留念。 “他们非常接近边缘，”利亚说。 “如果真的有一次大喷发怎么办？”“这就是我进来的地方！”一个声音说。

They all turned to see a woman in overalls, bending over a silver box. Keemo jumped up at her eagerly. The woman patted his head. She was tall, with curly hair and glasses. "Hi, little guy! You're friendly, aren't you?" Cheng was staring at the silver box on the ground by the woman's feet. It stood on three metal legs that were bent in the middle, and had rows of blinking lights. "That's my equipment," the woman explained "It contains seismology devices that monitor the volcano's activity."

他们都转过身来，看到一个穿工装裤的女人正弯腰看一个银盒子。 奇莫急切地向她跳起来。 女人拍了拍他的头。 她个子很高，一头卷发，戴着一副眼镜。 “嗨，小家伙！”你很友好，不是吗？”程盯着女人脚边地上的银盒子。 它立在三条中间弯曲的金属腿上，上面有一排排闪烁的灯。 “那是我的设备，”女人解释说，“里面有监测火山活动的地震学设备。”

Cheng's eyes widened. "You're a volcanologist? That's so cool!" Volcanology was the perfect job. Imagine spending all day, every day, studying volcanoes! The woman nodded. "That's right, I'm a volcanologist! My name's Elenola. I've been working on Mount Yasur for several months now." Leah studied the box's silvery legs. "It looks like a crazy metal spider," she said. "That's what we call it!" said Elenola. "A Spider. This Spider picks up information about the volcano, such as changes in the gases around it and any movement within the ground. Then it sends the information to an observatory, where scientists look at it. They use the information to predict when Mount Yasur is going to have a big eruption, so they can evacuate the volcano."

程的眼睛睁大了。“你是火山学家？” 这太酷了！”火山学是一项完美的工作。 想象一下，每天花一整天的时间研究火山！女人点点头。 “没错，我是火山学家！”我叫埃莉诺拉。 我已经在亚苏尔山工作好几个月了。” 利亚仔细研究着盒子银色的腿。 “它看起来像一只疯狂的金属蜘蛛，”她说。 “我们就是这么叫它的！” “一只蜘蛛。这只蜘蛛收集有关火山的信息，比如火山周围气体的变化和地面上的任何运动。 然后它将信息发送到天文台，科学家们在那里观察它。 他们利用这些信息来预测亚苏尔火山何时会发生大喷发，这样他们就可以疏散火山人员。”

"Evacuate?" said Leah, looking a little alarmed. Keemo yapped happily. Elenola laughed. "Don't worry. Large eruptions are very rare. It's only when the buttons light up..." Her voice trailed off. The lights had suddenly lit up along one side of the Spider and there was a whirring sound inside the silver box. It sounded like it was picking up speed, like an accelerating car. Cheng saw a flash of panic in Elenolo's eyes. "The volcano's going to erupt," he guessed "Isn't it?"

“撤离？”莉娅说，看上去有点惊慌。 基莫高兴地叫着。Elenola笑了。 “别担心。大喷发非常罕见。 只有当按钮亮起来的时候……” 她的声音变小了。蜘蛛一侧的灯突然亮了起来，银盒子里发出了呼呼的声音。 听起来像是在加速，就像一辆正在加速的汽车。 程看到埃莱诺洛眼中闪过一丝恐慌。 “火山要喷发了，”他猜测道，“是不是？”