4 What Looks Like a Worm and Tastes Like Peanut Butter

Chapter 4 WHAT LOOKS LIKE A WORM AND TASTES LIKE PEANUT BUTTER? Andrew shook his head. "The Hologram Helper is probably having battery problems again," he said. Judy checked the bush's branches for katydids before moving into the shade. "I know how to windsurf," said Judy. "If we had something to use as a sail, we could windsurf over the sand." "Or if we had something to make a big kite with," said Andrew. "Let's think while we walk toward Uluru."

什么东西看起来像虫子，吃起来像花生酱？ 安德鲁摇了摇头。“全息助手可能又出现电池问题了，”他说。 朱迪在进入阴凉处之前检查了一下灌木丛的树枝上有没有蝈蝈。 “我知道怎么滑风帆，”朱迪说。 “如果我们有什么东西当帆的话，我们就可以在沙滩上用风帆冲浪了。” “或者如果我们有东西可以做一个大风筝，”安德鲁说。 “在我们走向乌鲁鲁的路上，让我们思考一下。”

"Humph," grumped Judy. "At our size, it could take us months to walk there, Bug-Brain." "It'll take even longer if we don't start," said Andrew. "Let's go." Andrew crept over the bush's woody roots. Suddenly he tripped and fell into a crack. He landed facedown on something soft and squishy— and wriggling. "Holy moly!" cried Andrew. He was on top of a fat, white wormy thing squirming inside the root! Judy peered into the cracked root as Andrew struggled out of it. "Aaaack!" she hollered. "There's something disgusting in there!" meep… "Called witchetty grub," said Thudd. "Larva baby of big moth. Native people eat larva. Sometimes raw. Taste like egg. Sometimes cooked. Taste like peanut butter. "This bush called witchetty bush cuz witchetty grub live in roots." Judy rolled her eyes. "Yuck-a-rama!" she exclaimed. "Eating worms! Drinking frog water. What's wrong with these people?"

“哼，”朱迪嘟囔着。“以我们的体型，走到那里可能需要几个月的时间，虫脑。” “如果我们不开始，会花更长的时间。”安德鲁说。 “我们走吧。”安德鲁爬过灌木的木根。 突然，他绊了一下，掉进了一条裂缝里。 他脸朝下摔在一个软软的东西上——还在扭动。 “天哪！”安德鲁叫道。 他站在一个又胖又白的虫子上面，它在根里蠕动！当安德鲁挣扎着从破裂的树根里爬出来时，朱迪向里面看了看。 “啊！”她叫道。“叫巫妖蛴螬。”萨德说。 “大蛾子的幼虫。当地人吃幼虫。 有时候原始。尝起来像鸡蛋。 有时候煮熟。尝起来像花生酱。 “这种灌木叫做金缕金缕，因为金缕金蛆生活在根里。” 朱迪翻了个白眼。“呸！”她叫道。 “吃虫子!喝青蛙水。 这些人怎么了？”

meep… "Australian people smart, smart, smart!" said Thudd. "Witchetty grubs and frog water lots more healthy than hot dogs and soda!" "Urp!" burped Andrew. "I'm getting hungry. Uncle Al said there were restaurants at Uluru. Chop-chop, Judy! Let's go!" They began plodding away from the puddle and onto the dry sand. Even with their sunglasses, the blazing sun was blinding. Andrew propped his hand over his eyes like a visor. With the heat and the wind, their wet, muddy clothes dried quickly. Soon they were meltingly hot again. Sweat trickled down their foreheads and dripped into their eyes. But they kept on trudging toward Uluru. After what seemed like hours, they came to a place where the tall grass didn't block their view of the distance. "Look!" hollered Judy. "There's a patch of blue ahead! It's a lake! We can tell Uncle Al to meet us there!"

“澳大利亚人聪明，聪明，聪明！” “巫妖蛆和青蛙水比热狗和苏打水健康得多！”“嘘！”安德鲁打了个嗝。 “我饿了。艾尔叔叔说在乌鲁鲁有餐馆。 快点,朱迪!我们走吧!”他们开始步履沉重地离开水坑，来到干燥的沙滩上。 即使戴着墨镜，烈日依然刺眼。 安德鲁用手像遮阳板一样捂着眼睛。 在高温和风的作用下，他们潮湿泥泞的衣服很快就干了。 很快，它们又热得要融化了。 汗水顺着他们的额头淌下来，流进了他们的眼睛。 但他们继续向乌鲁鲁跋涉。 似乎过了几个小时，他们来到了一个地方，高高的草没有挡住他们的视线。 “看！”朱迪喊道。“前面有一片蓝色！”这是一个湖！我们可以告诉阿尔叔叔在那儿等我们！”

"Noop! Noop! Noop!" said Thudd. "Oody not see lake. Oody see mirage! "In the desert, air near the ground super-hot. High up, air is cool, air is heavy. "Light travel, light bounce. When light from ground hit cool air up high, it bounce back down to ground. "What look like blue lake is reflection of blue sky." "Darn!" said Judy. "It's not real!" meep… "Can take picture of mirage," said Thudd. "Stuff is real. Just not in place Oody see it. Like stuff in mirror."

“等待!等待!不！” “我看不见湖。哎呀，看到海市蜃楼了！“在沙漠中，接近地面的空气非常热。 在高处，空气凉爽，空气沉重。 “光传播，光反弹。 当来自地面的光线碰到高处的冷空气时，它会反弹回地面。 “看起来像蓝色湖泊的是蓝色天空的反射。” “该死！”朱迪说。“我可以拍海市蜃楼。” “东西是真实的。就是不合适，我看到了。 就像镜子里的东西。”

"Neato mosquito!" said Andrew. "Stupid, stupid mirage," complained Judy. They were coming close to one of the mysterious tall mounds that loomed above the grass. "Looks like a weird sand castle ahead," said Andrew. meep… "Castle for termites," said Thudd. "Home of termite colony. Termites mix spit with dirt. Make stuff hard as cement to build mound. A million termites in colony, maybe. "Got all kindsa rooms inside. Garden rooms. Nursery rooms for babies. Rooms for queen termite. "Termites even got way to make breeze come through. Keep rooms cool!" Judy frowned. "I thought termites were supposed to eat wood," she said. "There's hardly any wood in this stupid desert. Just a few scrawny trees and bushes."

“蚊子！”安德鲁说。 “愚蠢，愚蠢的海市蜃楼，”朱迪抱怨道。 他们正走近草地上隐现的一座神秘的高丘。 “前面看起来像个奇怪的沙堡，”安德鲁说。 “白蚁的城堡。” “白蚁群的家。白蚁把唾液和泥土混在一起。 把东西弄得像水泥一样硬，以建造土堆。 也许是一百万只白蚁。 “里面有各种房间。 花园的房间。婴儿保育室。 蚁后的房间。“白蚁甚至找到了让微风吹过的方法。 保持房间凉爽！”朱迪皱起了眉头。 “我以为白蚁是吃木头的，”她说。 “在这愚蠢的沙漠里几乎没有任何木材。 只有几棵骨瘦如柴的树和灌木丛。”

meep… "Desert termites eat poop and dead plants," said Thudd. "Yuck-a-roony!" said Judy As they came closer to the termite mound, they saw dark streams spilling away from it. These weren't streams of water, they were rivers of insects—thousands of ants! meep… "Meat ants!" said Thudd. "Eat up any dead animal. Even dead cow." One of the ant streams was heading toward Andrew and Judy. The ants skittered on their skinny, stick-like legs. Some ants were carrying plump, white wormy things in their jaws. Others dragged ant-like

“沙漠白蚁吃粪便和死植物，”泰德说。 当他们走近白蚁丘时，他们看到黑色的溪流从白蚁丘流出来。 这些不是小溪，而是昆虫的河流——成千上万的蚂蚁！“肉蚂蚁！” “吃掉所有死去的动物。甚至是死牛。” 其中有一群蚂蚁朝安德鲁和朱迪走来。 蚂蚁用它们细长的、像棍子一样的腿蹦蹦跳跳。 一些蚂蚁嘴里衔着又肥又白的虫子。 其他的像蚂蚁一样拖着