Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 As the sun hung low over the western horizon, two caged squirrels, a donkey, and a squirrelnapper reached the outskirts of the village of Zababdeh, where they began setting up camp for the night. Earlier in the day, the group had crossed the border into an area in Israel known as the West Bank, a section of modern Israel about the size of Delaware (which is the second smallest state in the US after Rhode Island). The West Bank is one of the Palestinian territories that also includes the town of Bethlehem, many more miles to the south.

第十章太阳低垂在西方的地平线上，两只关在笼子里的松鼠、一头驴子和一只松鼠鼠来到了扎巴代村的郊区，开始在那里扎营过夜。 当天早些时候，这群人越过边界，进入了以色列的一个名为西岸的地区，这是现代以色列的一部分，面积约为特拉华州（特拉华州是美国仅次于罗德岛州的第二小州）。 西岸是巴勒斯坦领土之一，它还包括伯利恒镇，在更南边的地方。

"Do you think we can get Dusty to talk again?" Merle whispered to Pearl as Ruben walked off into a nearby grove of trees to gather firewood. The squirrels' cage was now set up on a flat rock next to a hitching post where Dusty was tied. "I think I might have an idea," Pearl answered back in hushed tones. She pulled the trail map back out. "Hmm... let's see here," she said much louder. Dusty glanced her way. "It looks like we're already one day ahead of schedule. At this rate, we'll be there in six days." "Are you kidding me?! No way! That's not—" Dusty started, then abruptly stopped. Merle and Pearl looked at him wide-eyed.

“你觉得我们能让达斯迪再开口吗？”鲁本走到附近的树林里去捡柴火时，莫尔悄悄对珀尔说。 松鼠的笼子现在被放在一块平坦的岩石上，旁边是一根拴着达斯迪的绳子。 “我想我可能有个主意，”珠儿压低声音回答。 她把地图拉了出来。 “嗯……让我看看。”她说得更大声了。 达斯迪朝她这边瞥了一眼。“看起来我们已经提前一天了。 照这样下去，六天之内我们就可以到那里了。” “你在开玩笑吗？！”没门!那不是——”达斯迪开始说，然后突然停了下来。 莫尔和珠儿睁大了眼睛看着他。

"I knew it!" Merle said. "You can speak human!" Pearl added. Dusty shook his head in disappointment. "Oh, man! I can't believe I fell for that." He was used to holding his tongue around humans, but with Merle and Pearl, two other animals chatting away in human, he'd let his guard down. Now that the cat was out of the bag, Pearl lowered her voice so Ruben wouldn't overhear. "Why didn't you tell us you could speak human?!" "Isn't it obvious?" Dusty whispered. "He knows you can talk human, and now look at you! Cooped up like a couple of birds... not that I have anything against birds." Before Pearl could respond, she heard footsteps approaching. Ruben returned with the firewood. A couple of hours later, as Ruben snored away in the light of the glowing campfire, the squirrels and Dusty continued their conversation. Merle and Pearl learned that Dusty

“我就知道！”默尔说。“你会说人话！”珍珠补充道。 达斯迪失望地摇了摇头。 “哦,男人!我真不敢相信我上当了。” 他习惯了和人类说话，但和另外两只动物默尔和珀尔用人类语言聊天时，他放松了警惕。 既然事情已经泄露了，珠儿降低了声音，免得鲁本听到。 “你为什么不告诉我们你会说人话？！”“这不是很明显吗？”尘土飞扬的小声说。 “他知道你能像人一样说话，现在看看你！”像一对鸟一样被关在一起… 并不是说我反对鸟。” 珠儿还没来得及回答，就听见有人走近了。 鲁本拿着柴火回来了。 几个小时后，鲁本在熊熊燃烧的篝火中打着呼噜，松鼠和达斯迪继续他们的谈话。 莫尔和珠儿知道了，达斯迪

could talk because he was a descendant of Balaam's donkey— a famous talking donkey mentioned in the Bible (if you want to look it up, the story can be found in the book of Numbers, chapter 22). He also told them that he had talking donkey relatives scattered all around Israel. "We all try to keep to ourselves. If people knew we could talk, there's no telling what sort of mess we could find ourselves in," Dusty whispered. He then wondered, "Is there a talking squirrel in the Bible?" "As far as I know, the Bible is silent on squirrels," Merle replied. Pearl went on to fill Dusty in on their story. "Wow," Dusty said. "You can talk AND you're 2,000 years old. I can see why they're after you. I wish there was some way I could help." "That goes for us, too," Pearl replied. "We'll think of ways to help each other."

他会说话，因为他是巴兰的驴的后代——圣经中提到的一头著名的会说话的驴（如果你想查一下，这个故事可以在民数记第22章中找到）。 又告诉他们，他有驴族，会说话的，散在以色列的四地。 “我们都试图保持自我。 如果人们知道我们会说话，谁也不知道我们会陷入什么样的困境。”达斯迪低声说。 他想：“圣经里有会说话的松鼠吗？”“据我所知，《圣经》对松鼠只字不提，”梅尔回答。 珀尔继续向达斯迪讲述他们的故事。 “哇，”达斯迪说。“你会说话，而且你已经2000岁了。 我知道他们为什么追你了。 我希望我能帮上什么忙。” “我们也一样，”珠儿回答。 “我们会想办法互相帮助。”