4 No Laughing Matter

Chapter 4 NO LAUGHING MATTER "Cheese Louise!" said Judy. "Just when we need Uncle Al, he's not there!" Andrew tightened his grip on the peppermint- stick insect. "For now, I guess we should stick with this bug," he said. "At least it's got a way to defend itself, and us too." As the stick insect climbed higher, the tree trunk became a forest. Mosses grew in velvety green patches and hung in gray strands. Fern fronds leaned over Andrew and Judy like lacy green umbrellas.

“奶酪露易丝！”朱迪说。 “正当我们需要艾尔叔叔的时候，他却不见了！”安德鲁紧紧地抓住了薄荷竹节虫。 “现在，我想我们应该继续使用这个bug，”他说。 “至少它有办法保护自己，也有办法保护我们。” 竹节虫爬得越高，树干就变成了一片森林。 苔藓簇拥着天鹅绒般的绿色，一缕缕灰蒙蒙地垂着。 蕨类植物的叶子像带花边的绿色雨伞一样斜倚在安德鲁和朱迪身上。

As they passed dark holes in the tree trunk, Andrew heard noises—scratching, tapping, hissing. Andrew imagined what was living deep inside the tree. He shivered. Ha! Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! came a sound like a wild party from the treetops. meep… "Laughing kookaburra bird!" said Thudd, pointing way above. A bird the size of a seagull landed on a branch nearby. "Jumping gerbils!" said Andrew. "It looks as big as a pterodactyl!" Then another kookaburra flew down, and then another. "I'll bet they're looking for bugs," said Judy. The peppermint-stick insect scuttled onto a branch and was scurrying around a mountain of brown fur. Ha! Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!

当他们经过树干上的黑洞时，安德鲁听到了各种声音——抓挠声、敲击声、嘶嘶声。 安德鲁想象着树深处住着什么。 他不禁打了个哆嗦。哈!哈!哈!昭熙!昭熙!呼! !呼! !呼! !从树梢传来一阵疯狂聚会的声音。 “会笑的笑翠鸟！” 一只海鸥大小的鸟落在附近的树枝上。 “跳沙鼠！”安德鲁说。 “它看起来和翼手龙一样大！”接着又有一只笑翠鸟飞了下来，接着又是一只。 “我敢打赌他们在找虫子，”朱迪说。 这只薄荷竹节虫爬上了一根树枝，在一堆棕色皮毛上四处乱窜。 哈!哈!哈!昭熙!昭熙!呼! !呼! !呼! !

Andrew turned to see the kookaburras swooping toward them. Hope this bug has a lot of peppermint spray left, thought Andrew. The fur mountain next to them shook. In an instant, it unfolded itself into a black-faced, sharp- clawed creature that towered over them like King Kong!

安德鲁转过身来，看见那些笑翠鸟朝他们飞来。 希望这只虫子还有很多薄荷喷雾，安德鲁想。 他们旁边的毛皮山摇晃着。 刹那间，它变成了一个黑脸、尖爪的生物，像金刚一样高高耸立在他们面前！

"Yaaaaah!" hollered Judy. "Uh-oh," Andrew gulped. meep… "Tree kangaroo!" squeaked Thudd. "Kinda kangaroo that always live in trees. Tree kangaroo leap far, far, far! Leap from tree to tree." The tree kangaroo crouched down, then sprang through the leaves.

“啊——啊！”朱迪大叫。“哦哦。”安德鲁哽咽着说。 “树袋鼠！” “那种总是住在树上的袋鼠。 树袋鼠跳得远，远，远！从一棵树跳到另一棵树。” 树上的袋鼠蹲了下来，然后从树叶中跳了出来。

Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! The kookaburras scattered. The tree kangaroo's jump made the branch dip low, then spring up high and hard. It's like I'm on a bucking bronco! thought Andrew, trying to hang on to the bug. But the branch bounced into a dangling vine that scraped Andrew and Judy off the stick insect. They were falling through the branches of the tree! "Yaaaargh!" hollered Andrew. "Yiiiiiikes!" screamed Judy. "Oof!" shouted Andrew, landing on a leaf lower down in the tree. "Uuuuuck!" came a muffled screech from below. It was Judy. It sounded like she was inside a bottle. "Get me outta here!" Andrew peered over the edge of the leaf, but he couldn't see Judy. "Where are you?" hollered Andrew.

呼! !呼! !呼! !笑翠鸟散开了。 袋鼠的一跳使树枝低垂下来，然后又高高跃起。 我就像骑在野马上一样！安德鲁想，试图抓住虫子。 但树枝弹到了一根悬垂的藤蔓上，把安德鲁和朱迪从竹节虫身上刮了下来。 他们从树枝上掉下来了！“啊！”安德鲁叫道。 “啊啊啊啊啊啊！”朱迪尖叫道。 “呜！”安德鲁大叫一声，落在树下面的一片叶子上。 “倒霉！”下面传来一声低沉的尖叫。 是朱迪。听起来就像她在一个瓶子里。 “把我弄出去！”安德鲁从树叶的边缘往外看，但他看不到朱迪。 “你在哪儿？”安德鲁喊道。

"Here!" shouted Judy. A hand shot out of a hole in a giant white lump on a tree branch below. The lump was covered with long, sharp thorns taller than Andrew. "Erk!" yelled Judy. "Hurry up, Bug-Brain! A monster ant is trying to bite off my leg!"

“这儿！”朱迪喊道。一只手从下面一根树枝上一个巨大的白色肿块的洞里伸出来。 那块石头上长满了又长又尖的刺，比安德鲁还高。 “呃！”朱迪叫道。“快点，笨蛋！”一只大蚂蚁想咬掉我的腿！”