Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 "Where in the world are we?!" Merle gasped from behind the black mesh of the rolling pet carrier in the back seat of the rental car. In the seat directly in front of them, Ruben inched slowly through afternoon traffic. "This isn't what I remember," Merle said. In fact, the modern city of Nazareth, with a human population of close to 70,000 people, bore almost no resemblance to the town of 400 Merle had grown up in. Although most likely the squirrel population remained about the same.

第九章“我们究竟在什么地方？！”梅尔在租来的汽车后座上，躲在滚动的宠物笼的黑色网眼后面喘着气。 坐在他们正前方的座位上，鲁本缓慢地穿过下午的车流。 “这不是我记忆中的样子，”梅尔说。 事实上，拥有近7万人口的现代城市拿撒勒，与梅尔长大的那个400年的小镇几乎没有任何相似之处。 尽管松鼠的数量很可能保持不变。

As Merle marveled at the changes in the town of his youth, Pearl had managed to figure out an escape plan. If you've ever tried to keep squirrels from raiding a bird feeder, this won't come as a surprise. Squirrels are really good at solving problems, and Pearl was better than most. In his haste to get Merle and Pearl away from the little girl in the airport, Ruben had failed to zip the pet carrier completely closed. Pearl noticed some daylight peeking through and was able to squeeze one of her front paw toes into the gap between the top stop and the slider of the zipper. "Merle! Give me a push," she whispered. "I've almost got it."

当莫尔惊叹于他年轻时小镇的变化时，珠儿已经想出了一个逃跑计划。 如果你曾经试图阻止松鼠袭击鸟类喂食器，这不会让你感到惊讶。 松鼠真的很擅长解决问题，珍珠比大多数松鼠都强。 在机场，鲁本急于把莫尔和珀尔从小女孩身边带走，却没能把宠物笼完全拉上。 珠儿注意到一些阳光透过来，她能把一只前爪的脚趾塞进拉链的上挡和滑块之间的空隙里。 “默尔!推我一把，”她低声说。 “我快明白了。”

"Got what?" Merle asked, distracted. "Our way out. Remember?" "Oh yeah! Sorry. Just reminiscing." Merle grabbed Pearl around the waist and pushed her forward. Pearl's toe also pushed forward, slowly unzipping the carrier until she created a gap large enough to slip through. Thankfully, the sounds of the city outside Ruben's open driver's-side window were loud enough to mask the sound of unzipping. Merle and Pearl, still dressed in their emotional support vests, crawled slowly out of the carrier, keeping an eye on Ruben. The car had picked up a little speed, but Merle spotted a stoplight up ahead. If they were going to escape, they needed to do it when the car was not moving. He nudged Pearl and pointed at the light. He then pointed to the automatic window opener on the rear passenger-side door. Merle had taken enough car rides with Michael to know how those worked. Pearl nodded, understanding the plan. The car rolled up to the red light, slowing down. Merle and Pearl tensed, ready to spring into action. Just then, Ruben turned to check on the squirrels. "AHHHHH!" Two squirrels and one human screamed at once, shocked to see each other eye to eye. Merle recovered first and dove for the electric window opener. "Jump!" he shouted, pressing the button.

“有什么?”莫尔问道，心烦意乱。 “我们的出路。还记得吗?”“噢,是的!对不起。 只是回忆。”莫尔抓住珠儿的腰，把她往前推。 珠儿的脚趾也向前推了推，慢慢拉开了拉链，直到她创造了一个足够大的缺口，可以溜出去。 幸运的是，鲁本驾驶座一侧开着的车窗外，城市的嘈杂声足以掩盖他拉开拉链的声音。 莫尔和珀尔仍然穿着他们的情感支持背心，慢慢地爬出航母，看着鲁本。 汽车加快了一点速度，但梅尔发现前面有个红绿灯。 如果他们要逃跑，就得趁车不动的时候。 他推了推珠儿，指着那盏灯。 然后，他指着副驾驶侧后门上的自动开窗器。 梅尔和迈克尔坐过很多次车，他知道这是怎么回事。 珠儿点点头，明白了这个计划。 汽车开到红灯前，减速了。 莫尔和珀尔紧张起来，准备采取行动。 就在这时，鲁本转过身去查看松鼠。 “啊! ! !”两只松鼠和一个人突然尖叫起来，震惊地看到对方的眼睛。 莫尔先醒过来，扑向电动开窗器。 “跳！”他喊道，按下了按钮。

Pearl squeezed through the opening window. Ruben reached to try and grab Merle as Pearl leaped from the window onto the sidewalk. "Get out, Merle!" she shouted. Merle made a mighty leap for the open window, avoiding Ruben's swatting hand. As Merle sailed through the opening, freedom milliseconds away, his emotional support vest snagged on the knob of the door lock. He snapped back and smacked the outside of the car door, hanging helplessly from his vest by his armpits. Ruben's hand reached out to grab Merle! "Merle!" Pearl shouted. "I'm really not a fan of this vest!" Merle yelled, trying desperately to wiggle free. Ruben stretched farther into the back seat to snag the escaping squirrel. However, Ruben had not brought the car to a complete stop. With his attention on Merle, he didn't notice a car in front of him. CRUNCH! The impact of the two cars colliding sent Merle sailing forward, screaming, out of his vest and head-over-tail into a street-side potted plant!

珠儿从开着的窗户挤了进去。 鲁本伸手想抓住梅尔，珀尔却从窗户跳到人行道上。 “出去，莫尔！”她喊道。 莫尔躲开鲁本的猛击，向敞开的窗户纵身一跃。 当梅尔穿过入口，离自由只有几毫秒之遥时，他的情感支持背心被门锁的旋钮卡住了。 他啪的一声退回来，砰的一声拍在车门外面，无助地用腋窝吊在背心上。 鲁本伸手去抓梅尔！“默尔!”珍珠喊道。 “我真的不喜欢这件背心！”莫尔喊道，拼命想挣脱。 鲁本把身子伸到后座去抓住那只逃跑的松鼠。 然而，鲁本并没有让赛车完全停下来。 他的注意力都集中在莫尔身上，没有注意到前面有辆车。 危机!两辆车相撞的冲击力使莫尔向前疾驰，尖叫着冲出背心，一头撞到街边的一株盆栽上！