Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 When a boy's sense of curiosity outweighs his common sense, he can sometimes find himself alone in a cave in the Middle East in the middle of the night. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it usually means trouble. As hard as Michael tried to fall asleep, and as much as his conscience told him to stay in bed, in the end, he decided that he just had to know what was on that ledge. I'm the son of a scientist, he reasoned to himself as he plodded through the cave with only the sound of his footsteps on the dusty stone floor to keep him company.

当一个男孩的好奇心超过了他的常识时，他有时会发现自己在半夜独自在中东的一个山洞里。 这种事不常发生，但一旦发生，通常就意味着麻烦。 尽管迈克尔努力想入睡，尽管他的良心告诉他要呆在床上，但最后，他还是决定一定要知道窗台上有什么。 我是一个科学家的儿子，他一边在洞穴里缓慢地走着，一边对自己说，只有他的脚步声在尘土飞扬的石头地板上陪伴着他。

Discovery is in my blood! These thoughts helped him feel a little better. Conveniently, they also let him blame his dad for his decision not to listen to his dad. The loud squeal of a bat pierced the silence. The louder scream of a frightened boy followed. Michael dropped both his flashlight and his map. He heard the creature's wings flapping behind him toward the mouth of the cave as he leaned against the rock wall, breathing heavily. The fact that a dead bat is what Michael was expecting to find at the end of his quest

我的血液里流淌着探索的血液！这些想法让他感觉好了一点。 方便的是，他们还让他责怪他的父亲，因为他决定不听他父亲的话。 蝙蝠的尖叫打破了寂静。 接着是一个受惊的男孩更响亮的尖叫。 迈克尔扔下了手电筒和地图。 他靠在岩壁上，喘着粗气，听到那怪物的翅膀在他身后扑向洞口。 事实上，一只死蝙蝠是迈克尔期望在他的探索结束时找到的

didn't do much to lessen his surprise. "It's just a bat. Bats live in caves," Michael said out loud, reassuring himself. He picked his flashlight back up, located the map, and was soon on his way again. It turns out that Michael's memory— and his map- drawing skills— were pretty good. After about 20 minutes, three right turns, two left turns, and one more squealing bat encounter, Michael found himself exactly where he hoped to be— at the foot of the ledge. Justin will be amazed when he sees what I bring back, Michael thought proudly as he took a length of rope out of his backpack. Holding tightly to one end, he tossed the other end of the rope up and over a rock that jutted out from the ledge. It looped smoothly over its target and fell softly at his feet. "This is almost too easy!" Michael said out loud, impressed with his own rope skills. "Yep. Exploring is definitely in my blood." He anchored one end of the rope to a heavy rock on the floor of the cave, put the flashlight in his mouth, and began his climb. In no time, he found himself peeking over the top of the ledge, his eyes going wide as he made his discovery. If he hadn't had a flashlight in his mouth, he would have said, "Whoa..." But since he did have a flashlight in his mouth, what came out was,

这并没有减轻他的惊讶。 “这只是一只蝙蝠。蝙蝠住在山洞里。”迈克尔大声说，安慰自己。 他拿起手电筒，找到地图，很快又上路了。 事实证明，迈克尔的记忆力——以及他的地图绘制技能——相当不错。 大约20分钟后，他向右转了3个弯，向左转了2个弯，又遇到了一只尖叫的蝙蝠，迈克尔终于找到了他想要的地方——岩壁脚下。 贾斯丁看到我带回来的东西一定会大吃一惊的，迈克尔一边从背包里拿出一段绳子，一边自豪地想。 他紧紧抓住绳子的一端，把绳子的另一端抛到一块突出的岩石上。 它平稳地盘旋在目标上空，轻轻地落在他的脚下。 “这简直太简单了！”迈克尔大声说，对自己的绳技印象深刻。 “是的。探索绝对是我的天性。” 他把绳子的一端固定在洞穴底部一块沉重的岩石上，把手电筒放进嘴里，开始攀登。 没过多久，他就发现自己从岩架顶上往外偷看，发现后眼睛睁得大大的。 如果他嘴里没有手电筒，他会说：“哇……” 但因为他嘴里含着手电筒，所以他说，