Chapter 1

THE DEAD SEA SQUIRRELS Tree-mendous Trouble From the co-creator of VeggieTales Mike Nawrocki Illustrated by Luke Seguin-Magee

死海松鼠——来自VeggieTales联合创始人Mike Nawrocki的巨大麻烦，Luke Seguin-Magee绘制

CHAPTER 1 "It feels like the side of a boat," Pearl Squirrel commented as she stroked the wall of one of the rooms in the elaborate hamster home Mrs. Gomez had put together for Pearl and her husband, Merle. In her other paw, Pearl held a tiny teacup Mrs. Gomez had borrowed from one of her daughter, Jane's, dolls. Jane had also come up with a squirrel-sized fluffy pink robe and a tiny pair of bunny slippers. Pearl was getting some much-needed pampering after being kidnapped by and then rescued from the man in the suit and sunglasses, a mysterious agent working for a collector of ancient artifacts.

“感觉就像船舷，”松鼠珠儿一边抚摸着戈麦斯太太为珠儿和丈夫梅尔精心布置的仓鼠之家的一间屋子的墙壁，一边说。 珀尔的另一只爪子拿着一个小茶杯，这是戈麦斯太太从她女儿简的一个玩偶那儿借来的。 简还想出了一件松鼠大小的毛茸茸的粉红色长袍和一双小小的兔子拖鞋。 珍珠被一个穿着西装、戴着太阳镜的神秘特工绑架后，得到了一些急需的呵护。这个神秘特工为一位古代文物收藏家工作。

"It's called shiplap," Mrs. Gomez replied proudly as she and Jane sipped from their human-sized teacups. "Do you like it?" "I love it!" Pearl gushed. "Feels so homey. Wooden walls are my favorite— just like a tree!" "I'm so happy you like it!" Mrs. Gomez loved to decorate and was very excited for the chance to put a home together for the two ancient squirrels her son, Michael, had accidentally adopted. "Did you hear that, Merle?" Pearl called across the room to her husband, who was sitting with Dr. Gomez and Michael. "We've got shiplap!" Merle had no idea what shiplap was but assumed it was a good thing and gave his wife a thumbs-up before returning to his conversation with Dr. Gomez and Michael. "Ever since I was a little pup, I'd wanted to see the Dead Sea," he said. "You can't sink!" Dr. Gomez and Michael nodded, both having swum in the Dead Sea the previous summer. Dead Sea water is nearly 10 times saltier than the ocean. All that salt makes it impossible to sink. "But how did you get there?" Dr. Gomez asked. As an anthropologist who had studied the area for years, he knew the Dead Sea was no place for tree squirrels. "And how did

“这叫shiplap，”戈麦斯太太骄傲地回答，她和简从她们真人大小的茶杯里啜了一口。 “你喜欢吗？”“我喜欢！”珍珠涌。 “感觉很温馨。木墙是我的最爱——就像树一样！”“我很高兴你喜欢它！”戈麦斯太太喜欢装饰，她很高兴有机会为她儿子迈克尔意外收养的两只老松鼠建一个家。 “你听到了吗，莫尔？”珠儿从房间的另一头喊她的丈夫，他正和伯恩医生坐在一起。 戈麦斯和迈克尔。“我们破了船！”梅尔不知道什么是ship - plap，但他认为这是一件好事，并向他的妻子竖起大拇指，然后继续他的谈话。 戈麦斯和迈克尔。“当我还是只小狗的时候，我就想去看看死海，”他说。 “你不会沉没的！”戈麦斯医生和迈克尔点了点头，他们去年夏天都在死海游过泳。 死海的水比海水咸近10倍。 所有的盐使它不可能下沉。 “可你是怎么到那儿去的？”博士。 戈麦斯问道。作为一名研究该地区多年的人类学家，他知道死海不适合树松鼠。 “你是怎么做到的？”

you get here? If we're going to keep you safe from the man in the suit and sunglasses, I need the full story." Merle and Michael looked at each other. "Maybe you'd better sit down," Michael suggested, remembering how his dad had fainted when he'd first heard Merle speak in his research lab at the university. Dr. Gomez raised an eyebrow at his son but took a seat on the edge of Michael's bed. Then Merle and Michael told the story of how the squirrels had gotten to the Dead Sea in the 1st century and then to Walnut Creek, Tennessee, in the 21st. "It all started with the raft...," Merle began.

你到了吗？如果我们想让你远离那个穿西装戴墨镜的人，我需要完整的故事。” 莫尔和迈克尔面面相觑。 “也许你最好坐下来。”迈克尔建议道，他想起了父亲在大学的研究实验室里第一次听到梅尔讲话时晕倒的情景。 戈麦斯医生对他的儿子扬起了眉毛，但在迈克尔的床边坐了下来。 然后梅尔和迈克尔讲述了松鼠是如何在1世纪到达死海，然后在21世纪到达田纳西州的核桃溪的故事。 “一切都是从木筏开始的……莫尔开口说。