1 Going Batty

Chapter 1 GOING BATTY "Yaaaaargh!" hollered Andrew Dubble. He was the size of a beetle and clinging to the back of a bat. The bat zigged and zagged through the night sky. It was searching for its dinner of bugs. The wind stung Andrew's eyes. Every zig and zag made Andrew's stomach slosh. Urf! he thought. I feel like throwing up. URRRRRP! Andrew popped out a garlicky burp. It's the pepperoni pizza from lunch, he thought. He gripped the soft fur of the bat's neck tighter. meep… "Drewd okey-dokey?" came a squeaky voice from Andrew's shirt pocket.

“啊——啊！”安德鲁·杜布尔喊道。 他有甲虫那么大，紧紧抓在蝙蝠背上。 蝙蝠在夜空中蜿蜒而行。 它正在寻找它的昆虫晚餐。 风刺痛了安德鲁的眼睛。 每一个弯弯曲曲的弯弯曲曲都使安德鲁的胃蠕动起来。 Urf !他想。我想吐。 URRRRRP !安德鲁打了个蒜味十足的嗝。 这是午餐吃的意大利辣香肠披萨，他想。 他把蝙蝠脖子上柔软的毛抓得更紧了。 “德鲁还好吗？”从安德鲁的衬衫口袋里传来一个尖细的声音。

It was Thudd, Andrew's little silver robot and best friend. "It's like the worst roller-coaster ride," said Andrew. "And there's no safety belt!" "Androooooooo!" came a wail from the other side of the bat. Light from the full moon lit the frowning face of Judy Dubble, Andrew's thirteen-year-old cousin. She was dangling from the tip of one of the bat's big ears. Like Andrew, Judy had been shrunk as small as a beetle by Andrew's latest invention, the Goa Constrictor. Goa was sort of short for Garbage Goes Away. Andrew's invention was supposed to squash garbage atoms. It turns out the Goa could squash the atoms of anything—or anyone! "Jooodeeeeee!" hollered Andrew over the wind. "Get onto the back of the bat! You won't flap around so much!" "Whaaaat?" yelled Judy. "I can't hear you! I'm trying to get off this stupid ear!"

那是泰德，安德鲁的银色小机器人，也是他最好的朋友。 “这就像最糟糕的过山车，”安德鲁说。 “而且没有安全带！”“安德鲁……”蝙蝠的另一边传来一声哀号。 满月的月光照在安德鲁十三岁的表妹朱迪·杜布尔皱着眉头的脸上。 她吊在蝙蝠的一只大耳朵尖上。 和安德鲁一样，朱迪也被安德鲁的最新发明——果阿蟒蛇缩得像甲虫一样小。 果阿是垃圾消失的缩写。 安德鲁的发明是用来压碎垃圾原子的。 事实证明，果阿可以压扁任何东西的原子——或者任何人！“呜——呜——呜！”安德鲁在风中喊道。 “到球棒后面去！”你不会到处乱飞的！”“什么？”朱迪喊道。 “我听不见！”我要把这只愚蠢的耳朵摘下来！”

Judy reached down and grabbed a fistful of fur on the bat's neck. Then she let go of the ear. The wind caught her and bounced her on the bat's neck. With her free hand waving through the air, Judy looked like a cowgirl at a rodeo. Finally, Judy managed to grab on to the bat's neck with both hands. She tucked herself behind the bat's ear. The air around the bat was swarming with specks and dots. Andrew recognized the ones that came close—they were mosquitoes, beetles, and moths. Nyeeeeeee… A high-pitched whine whistled in Andrew's ears. meep... "Mosquito!" said Thudd. Nyeee— The sound suddenly stopped. The bat had scooped the annoying insect into its wide-open mouth.

朱迪伸手抓了一把蝙蝠脖子上的毛。 然后她放开了耳朵。 风把她吹到了蝙蝠的脖子上。 朱迪空着的那只手在空中挥舞着，看起来就像竞技场上的女牛仔。 最后，朱迪设法用双手抓住了蝙蝠的脖子。 她把自己藏在蝙蝠的耳朵后面。 蝙蝠周围的空气布满了斑点和圆点。 安德鲁认出了离他很近的是蚊子、甲虫和飞蛾。 一声尖厉的哀鸣在安德鲁的耳朵里呼啸而过。 meep……“蚊子！” 那声音突然停止了。 那只蝙蝠把那只讨厌的昆虫叼进了张开的嘴里。

"Wowzers!" said Andrew. "This bat can catch an awfully fast bug! I could barely see it!" meep… "Bat not use eyes to find bug," said Thudd. "Bat send out sound. Sound bounce off bug. Like echo. Sound bounce back to bat ears." Thudd pointed to his face screen. "Bat brain figure out 'xactly where bug is. Called echolocation. Use echo to find bugs to eat. "This bat eat three thousand bugs every night!" Thudd continued. "Bat can eat as much as bat weigh!"

“哇！”安德鲁说。“这只蝙蝠能抓住一只飞快的虫子！”我几乎看不见它了！” 蝙蝠发出声音。声音从虫子身上反弹。 像回声。声音会反弹回蝙蝠的耳朵。” 泰德指着他的屏幕。 “蝙蝠的大脑能准确地找出虫子在哪里。 称为回声定位。用回声来找虫子吃。 “这只蝙蝠每晚吃三千只虫子！”Thudd继续说。 “蝙蝠能吃的东西和它的体重一样多！”

"Holy moly!" said Andrew. "That would be like me eating eighty pounds of pizza!" Judy was shaking her head. "I don't know, Thudd. I don't hear the bat making any bug- finding sounds." meep… "Bat sound too high for human to hear," said Thudd. "Like whale sounds are too low for us to hear," said Andrew. "Yoop! Yoop! Yoop!" said Thudd. Suddenly the moon went dark. Andrew looked up. A huge shape with horns and wings was blotting it out! Eek! "Great horned owl!" squeaked Thudd. "Great horned owl eat bats!" "And us!" said Judy.

“天哪！”安德鲁说。“那就像我吃了80磅的披萨一样！”朱迪摇着头。 “我不知道，泰德。我没有听到蝙蝠发出任何找虫的声音。” “蝙蝠的声音太高了，人听不见。” “就像鲸鱼的声音太低了，我们听不到，”安德鲁说。 “Yoop !Yoop !呜！” 突然，月亮变黑了。 安德鲁抬起头来。一个长着角和翅膀的庞然大物挡住了它的视线！唷!“大角猫头鹰！” “大角猫头鹰吃蝙蝠！”“还有我们！”朱迪说。