Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 Mrs. Gomez sat down on the living room couch. Michael sat next to her, and Merle and Pearl climbed out of Michael's backpack and perched on the ottoman while Pearl caught her up on the squirrels' adventures. "Oh, my." Mrs. Gomez sighed. She turned to Michael. "You smuggled live animals out of a foreign country?" "They weren't alive! Or at least I didn't think they were at the time," Michael answered. "So you thought you were bringing DEAD animals home?" "Um... yes?"

戈麦斯太太坐在客厅的沙发上。 迈克尔坐在她旁边，梅尔和珀尔从迈克尔的背包里爬出来，坐在沙发上，珀尔则跟她讲松鼠的冒险故事。 “哦,我的。”戈麦斯太太叹了口气。 她转向迈克尔。“你从外国走私活的动物？”“他们不是活着的！”或者至少我当时不这么认为。”迈克尔回答。 “所以你以为你带的是死动物？”“嗯…… 是吗?”

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Mrs. Gomez demanded. "Because... they were cool? They didn't stink or anything." Michael's mom shook her head in disbelief. "If I might add—" Merle interrupted— "we're very glad he did." "Yes, we are," added Pearl. "Very thankful." "And on top of it all, THEY TALK!" Mrs. Gomez cried. "Not only that, but we're over 2,000 years old!" Merle pointed out proudly. "Merle!" Pearl jabbed him with an elbow. "Oh, my..." Mrs. Gomez repeated. She buried her face in her hands. "That's why you can't tell Dad," Michael pleaded. "If he finds out, he might think he has no choice but to return Merle and Pearl to the Dead Sea." "We don't want to go back!" Merle begged. "It's too dry, too hot, and waaaaay too salty!" "We're not even from there!" Pearl put in. Mrs. Gomez sat in silence for a few moments. "I dunno," she finally said. "I don't feel right about not telling your father about this."

“你为什么要这么做？！”戈麦斯太太问。 “因为……他们很酷吗？ 它们没有臭味什么的。” 迈克尔的妈妈难以置信地摇了摇头。 “容我补充一句——”莫尔打断了他的话，“我们很高兴他这么做了。” “是的，我们是，”珠儿补充说。 “非常感谢。”“最重要的是，他们会说话！”戈麦斯太太叫道。 “不仅如此，我们还有2000多年的历史！”莫尔自豪地指出。 “默尔!”珠儿用胳膊肘捅了他一下。 “哦,我……”戈麦斯太太重复道。 她双手掩面。 “这就是你不能告诉爸爸的原因，”迈克尔恳求道。 “如果他发现了，他可能会认为他别无选择，只能把莫尔和珀尔送回死海。” “我们不想回去！”默尔恳求。 “太干了，太热了，还太咸了！”“我们根本不是那里的人！”珠儿插嘴说。 戈麦斯夫人沉默地坐了一会儿。 “我不知道，”她最后说。 “我觉得不告诉你父亲这件事不对。”

"Mom!" Michael protested. "Please?!" "But it doesn't have to be right now. Dad is sleeping, and he needs to go in to work this weekend. I suppose it can wait until tomorrow night." "But, Mom—" "In the meantime," Mrs. Gomez continued, "I will help make Merle and Pearl feel at home and keep them safe from the cat. Have you met Mr. Nemesis yet?" she asked the squirrels. "HAVE we?!" Pearl answered. "I don't think that cat likes us very much." Merle sniffed. "Well, the feeling is mutual!"

“妈妈!”迈克尔抗议。“好吗? !”“但不一定是现在。 爸爸在睡觉，这个周末他要去上班。 我想可以等到明天晚上。” “但是，妈妈——”“与此同时，”戈麦斯太太继续说，“我会帮助梅尔和珀尔感到自在，并保护它们免受猫的伤害。 你们见过复仇女神先生了吗？”她问松鼠们。 “是吗? !”珠儿回答。 “我觉得那只猫不太喜欢我们。” 默尔闻了闻。“嗯，这种感觉是相互的！”