Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 "I have no idea where we are, but wherever it is, the people here sure do like to yell," Merle said to Pearl. He turned to the kids. "What's wrong? Never heard a squirrel talk before?" The kids all slowly shook their heads in response. "Merle, you're scaring the children. They've obviously never heard a squirrel talk," Pearl said. "It's okay," she told the three friends. "Don't be afraid. We

第七章“我不知道我们这是在什么地方，但不管在什么地方，这里的人肯定喜欢大喊大叫，”莫尔对珠儿说。 他转向孩子们。“怎么了? 以前没听过松鼠说话吗？”孩子们都慢慢地摇了摇头。 “莫尔，你吓到孩子们了。 他们显然从来没有听过松鼠说话，”珀尔说。 “没关系，”她对三个朋友说。 “不要害怕。我们

don't bite. Well, we do bite, but not children. Mostly just nuts." "And the occasional insect," added Merle. "Not my favorite, but when nuts are scarce, what are you gonna do?" He shrugged. The kids stared at the squirrels, not believing their own ears. "Um," Michael finally said, "we've never heard a squirrel talk." "Nope," Sadie and Justin confirmed. Now that the shock of meeting the kids was wearing off, Merle didn't feel shy at all. "So, I've been thinking about this," he said. "The last thing I remember is Pearl and me getting lost in a cave." "I told you not to go in there," Pearl reminded him. "I know, I know, and I should have listened to you, Paul, Moses, and God, but here we are," Merle said. "By the way, thanks for rescuing us," he said to Michael. "Any idea how long we were in there?" Michael shook his head. "From the looks of things, the world's a different place since we entered that cave." Pearl gazed around the room. "I know!" Merle exclaimed. "It's wonderful! Who would imagine a bowl that never runs out of water no matter how much you drink?!" Merle motioned toward Michael's bathroom. "I was parched when I woke up. Couldn't get enough!"

不咬人。我们会咬人，但不是孩子。 大部分都是坚果。”“偶尔还有昆虫，”梅尔补充说。 “不是我最喜欢的，但是当坚果稀缺的时候，你打算怎么办？”他耸了耸肩。 孩子们盯着松鼠，不相信自己的耳朵。 “嗯，”迈克尔最后说，“我们从来没听过松鼠说话。” “没有，”赛迪和贾斯汀确认道。 现在，见到孩子们的震惊逐渐消失了，梅尔一点也不害羞。 “所以，我一直在考虑这个问题，”他说。 “我记得的最后一件事是我和珠儿在一个山洞里迷路了。” “我告诉过你不要进去，”珠儿提醒他。 “我知道，我知道，我应该听你的话，保罗，摩西，还有上帝，但我们在这里，”梅尔说。 “顺便说一句，谢谢你救了我们，”他对迈克尔说。 “你知道我们在里面待了多久吗？”迈克尔摇了摇头。 “从事物的外观来看，自从我们进入那个洞穴后，世界就变得不同了。” 珠儿环视着房间。 “我知道!”默尔喊道。 “这是太棒了!谁能想象碗里的水不管喝多少都用不完？！”莫尔指了指迈克尔的浴室。 “我醒来的时候很渴。 怎么都不够！”

"Ewww," Sadie whispered to Justin. "I think he drank out of the toilet." "And so fresh!" Merle continued. "Yeah, it's probably not that fresh," Justin said. "We were all dried out and super salty... I'm thinking we could have kept for a good long time in that condition, like they do with fish!" Merle guessed. "Fish are dead before that point," Pearl pointed out. "Maybe squirrels can go on kicking!" Merle stood up tall and stuck his chest out. "Squirrels are survivors! So when we got wet from the rain blowing in last night, we started back up again!" "Whoa," Michael said. It was better than any explanation he could think of, and maybe the only plausible one. "But... how can you... talk?" Merle and Pearl looked at each other and shrugged. "We've always been able to," Pearl said.

“呃，”赛迪低声对贾斯汀说。 “我想他喝了厕所里的水。” “而且很新鲜！”默尔继续说道。 “是啊，可能没那么新鲜，”贾斯汀说。 “我们都干了，而且超级咸…… 我想我们可以在那种环境下保存很长一段时间，就像他们对待鱼一样！”默尔猜。 “在那之前，鱼都死了，”珠儿指出。 “也许松鼠可以继续踢！”莫尔挺直身子，挺起胸膛。 “松鼠是幸存者！”所以，当我们被昨晚吹来的雨淋湿时，我们又重新出发了！”“哇，”迈克尔说。 这比他能想到的任何解释都要好，也许是唯一合理的解释。 “但是……你怎么能……说话了吗?”莫尔和珠儿面面相觑，耸了耸肩。 “我们一直都能做到，”珀尔说。

"To... people?" Sadie questioned. "Among others," Merle answered. "By the way, I'm Merle, and this is my lovely wife, Pearl." Pearl bowed with her paw over her heart. "Pleased to meet you." "Um, I'm Michael, and these are my friends Justin and Sadie." "Nice to meet you, Michael, Justin, and Sadie!" Merle said cheerfully. "Now, we're starving. Anybody got any nuts?"

“…人?”赛迪质疑。 “其中之一，”莫尔回答。 “顺便说一下，我叫莫尔，这是我可爱的妻子珠儿。” 珠儿用爪子捂住心口鞠了一躬。 “很高兴见到你。”“我是迈克尔，这是我的朋友贾斯汀和赛迪。” “很高兴认识你们，迈克尔、贾斯汀和赛迪！”莫尔高兴地说。 “现在，我们快饿死了。有人有坚果吗？”