4 A chase in the dark

Chapter Four A CHASE IN THE DARK Leah could still see the poachers' flashlight, winking in and out through the trees. She grabbed Gustavo by the arm. "Come on!" They had to catch the poachers—and they had to get away from the huge animal lurking in the trees! The two Explorers sprinted through the dark forest. Every twist and turn brought

第四章黑暗中的追逐莉娅还能看见偷猎者的手电筒在树林中闪烁。 她抓住古斯塔沃的胳膊。 “来吧!”他们必须抓住偷猎者——他们必须远离潜伏在树上的巨大动物！两个探险者在黑暗的森林中疾跑。 每一次转折都带来了

them new danger, as roots threatened to trip them and thorns ripped at their clothes. From up ahead came a yell as one of the poachers blundered through a low-hanging branch. Suddenly, the poachers' light vanished. They'd lost them! Gasping, Leah peered into the night. She saw nothing but swaying branches and the darkness of the forest. Then Gustavo yelled, "This way!" He pulled her around, back to where the flashlight was now glimmering. The poachers had doubled back on themselves. Smart, Leah thought. They must be trying to outfox us! She set off after them, grateful for Gustavo's quick thinking. But without warning, the light vanished again.

他们面临着新的危险，树根要把他们绊倒，荆棘要扯破他们的衣服。 前面传来一声喊叫，一个偷猎者跌跌撞撞地穿过一根低垂的树枝。 突然，偷猎者的光亮消失了。 他们跟丢了！利亚喘着气凝视着黑夜。 除了摇曳的树枝和黑暗的森林，她什么也看不见。 然后Gustavo喊道：“这边！”他把她拉过来，回到手电筒闪烁的地方。 偷猎者们已经撤退了。 真聪明，利亚想。他们一定是想耍我们！她跟着他们走了，很感激古斯塔沃思维敏捷。 但毫无征兆地，那道光又消失了。

Leah stumbled forward a few steps, until the truth dawned on her. The light hadn't disappeared because the poachers had changed course. Something was blotting it out. A large, dark shape loomed up in front of them. A snuffling, grunting sound reached her ears. It was the animal they'd disturbed earlier! And Leah had realized what it was… She grabbed Gustavo and held on for dear life. "Stop!" she hissed at him. "Why? What…" "It's a black bear!" The moon came out from behind a cloud and she saw the bear clearly for the first time. It was standing upright, at least six feet tall. Its hulking body was covered all over with jet-black fur. They had almost run right into it.

莉娅跌跌撞撞地向前走了几步，直到她明白了真相。 光的消失并不是因为偷猎者改变了路线。 有什么东西把它遮住了。 一个巨大的黑影隐约出现在他们面前。 一阵鼻塞声和咕哝声传到了她的耳朵里。 是他们之前打扰的那只动物！利亚意识到了这是什么，她抓住古斯塔沃，拼命地抓住他。 “住手！”她对他嘶嘶地说。 “为什么?什么……”“是黑熊！”月亮从云层后面出来了，她第一次清楚地看到了熊。 它直立着，至少有六英尺高。 它笨重的身体上覆盖着乌黑的皮毛。 他们差点就撞上了它。

To her relief, the bear wasn't attacking. It dropped down on to all fours and grubbed about in the undergrowth, making huffing noises. Gustavo swallowed hard. "Is it going to eat us?" "Probably not," Leah said. "If it was a grizzly bear, we'd be in big trouble. Black bears aren't as aggressive." "Oh man, am I glad you said that!" Gustavo sighed with relief. "We've still got to be very careful, though," Leah warned. "We're in the bear's territory, and we weren't invited. Those poachers must have disturbed it. No wonder it's in a bad mood." "So what do we do?" "We skirt around it," Leah said. They edged through the forest, giving

令她宽慰的是，熊并没有攻击她。 它趴在地上，在矮树丛里摸索着，发出呼哧呼哧的声音。 古斯塔沃使劲咽了口气。“它会吃掉我们吗？”“可能不会，”利亚说。 “如果是灰熊，我们就有大麻烦了。 黑熊没有那么有攻击性。” “哦，伙计，我真高兴你这么说！”古斯塔沃松了口气。 “不过，我们还是要非常小心，”利亚警告说。 “我们在熊的领地，我们没有被邀请。 一定是那些偷猎者打扰了它。 难怪它心情不好。” “那我们该怎么办？”“我们会绕开它，”利亚说。 他们慢慢地穿过森林

the bear a very wide berth. Meanwhile, the poachers' flashlight dwindled off into the distance like a teasing will-o'-the-wisp. By the time Leah and Gustavo had made their way past the grumpy bear, the flashlight had completely vanished.

熊靠得很远。 与此同时，偷猎者的手电筒逐渐消失在远处，就像一缕戏弄的小精灵。 当莉亚和古斯塔沃经过这只脾气暴躁的熊时，手电筒已经完全消失了。