3. Aliens Have Three Toes

3 Aliens Have Three Toes "This doesn't prove a spaceship landed here," Brian said. "Anything could have made this circle." "Like what?" Nate asked. "Um, like kids fooling around on bikes?" Brian offered. "Then where are the bike tracks?" Bradley asked. There were no bike tracks. Just one perfect circle in the snow.

“这并不能证明一艘宇宙飞船降落在这里，”布莱恩说。 “任何东西都可能形成这个圆圈。” “像什么?”内特问道。“嗯，就像孩子们在自行车上胡闹一样？”布莱恩。 “那么自行车道在哪里？”布拉德利问。 没有自行车道。 在雪地上形成一个完美的圆圈。

"What are these funny marks?" Lucy asked. She pointed to a trail of prints. Each print left three small dents in the snow. They led toward the barn. "Look, there are others, too!" said Bradley. These were bigger, the size of pancakes. "Those look like Polly's hoofprints," Brian said. "We'd better go check on her." The kids ran to the barn. Bradley was the first one inside. He flipped on the light switch. Polly's stall was empty. "She's gone!" Bradley said. Her fresh straw was there. Her feed and water buckets were full. But Polly the pony was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where are Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose?" asked Nate. "Maybe they took Polly for a walk," Lucy suggested to her friends.

“这些奇怪的记号是什么？”露西问。 她指着一串指纹。 每个指纹都在雪地上留下了三个小凹痕。 他们朝谷仓走去。“看，还有其他的！”布拉德利说。 它们更大，有煎饼那么大。 “这些看起来像是波莉的蹄印，”布赖恩说。 “我们最好去看看她。” 孩子们跑向谷仓。布拉德利是第一个进去的。 他打开电灯开关。 波莉的摊位空无一人。“她走了!”布拉德利说。 她的新鲜稻草就在那儿。 她的饲料桶和水桶都满了。 但是小马波莉却不见了。 “嘿，丁克、乔希和露丝·罗斯在哪里？”内特问。 “也许他们带波莉去散步了。”露茜向朋友们建议。

Bradley ran to the barn door. "There are no other footprints in the snow," he called. "Just Polly's and those funny pointy ones." "They must have gone back in the house," Brian said. "Let's go check." "Bri, they wouldn't take Polly in the house," Bradley said. "Besides, the only footprints are ours. And they're coming from the house, not to the house." "Well, I'm checking inside anyway," Brian said. "Kids don't just disappear." The four kids clumped back up the porch steps. They stomped the snow off their boots. Brian

布拉德利跑到谷仓门口。 “雪地上没有别的脚印了。”他喊道。 “只有波莉的和那些有趣的尖头的。” “他们一定是回屋里去了，”布莱恩说。 “我们去看看。”“布莱，他们不愿意把波莉带回家，”布拉德利说。 “再说，只有我们的脚印。 他们是从房子里出来的，而不是到房子里来的。” “好吧，反正我要进去看看，”布莱恩说。 “孩子们不会凭空消失。” 四个孩子成群结队地走上门廊的台阶。 他们把靴子上的雪跺掉。 布莱恩

shoved open the door. "Josh?" he yelled. There was no answer. The house was silent. No TV noise, no computer sounds, no video game beeps. "Where are they?" Nate whispered. "This is very, very weird," Lucy said. "They've been taken by the aliens!" Bradley whispered. Nate giggled. "Let's try upstairs," Brian said. "I'll bet they're just hiding." The kids tugged off their boots and followed Brian. The first room was Josh's. The door was closed. A sign on the door said: NO HUMANS ALLOWED. "Josh, are you in there?" Bradley called. No answer. Brian knocked on the door, then pushed it open.

推开门。“乔希？” 没有人回答。屋子里一片寂静。 没有电视噪音，没有电脑声音，没有电子游戏的哔哔声。 “他们在哪儿？”内特低声说。 “这真是太奇怪了，”露西说。 “他们被外星人抓走了！”布拉德利低声说。 内特咯咯笑了。“我们上楼试试，”布莱恩说。 “我敢打赌他们只是躲起来了。” 孩子们脱下靴子跟在布莱恩后面。 第一个房间是乔希的。 门关着。门上的牌子上写着：禁止入内。 “乔希，你在里面吗？”布拉德利。 不回答。布莱恩敲了敲门，然后把门推开。

"Oh my goodness!" Lucy said. "A burglar has been here! Josh's stuff is all messed up!" The bed was unmade. Clothes were all over the floor. "This is how he always keeps his room," Bradley said. "Josh's computer is on," Brian said. He walked over to his big brother's desk. "He was on a Web site about UFOs!" Nate said. Lucy picked up a paper from the tray of the printer. "Uh-oh," she said. "What?" Brian asked. Lucy handed him the paper. The others gathered around to read what Josh had printed: Scientists feel that space aliens have landed on Earth. In China, sixteen children have disappeared. In France, farm animals have vanished. In each case, a large circle was found on the ground. Small, three-pointed footprints

“哦，天哪！”露西说。 “有个飞贼来过这里！”乔什的东西全乱了！”床没叠好。 衣服扔了一地。 “他总是这样整理房间，”布拉德利说。 “乔希的电脑开着，”布赖恩说。 他走到他哥哥的书桌前。 “他在一个关于不明飞行物的网站上！”内特说。 露西从打印机的托盘里拿起一张纸。 “哦哦，”她说。“什么?”布莱恩问。 露西把报纸递给他。 其他人围在一起读乔希写的东西：科学家们觉得外星人已经登陆地球了。 在中国，有16名儿童失踪。 在法国，农场动物已经消失。 在每一个案例中，地面上都发现了一个大圆圈。 小小的三尖脚印

were found near the scenes as well. Dr. Barney Piper is a well-known expert on space. He was asked what he thinks of these strange occurrences: "I have always known there was life on other planets," Dr. Piper stated. "I think these aliens have run out of food. It is my belief that they are hungry and coming to Earth. They are taking our children and animals back into space to their home planet." Bradley poked his brother. "That's what I saw last night," he whispered. "The aliens were stealing Polly!"

也在案发现场附近被发现。 巴尼·派珀博士是一位著名的太空专家。 有人问他如何看待这些奇怪的现象：“我一直都知道其他星球上有生命。” 派珀说。“我认为这些外星人已经没有食物了。 我相信他们正饿着肚子来到地球。 他们正在把我们的孩子和动物带回太空，回到它们的母星。” 布拉德利戳了戳他的弟弟。 “这就是我昨晚看到的，”他低声说。 “外星人在偷波莉！”