8 Bad Stuff at the Bottom

Chapter 8 BAD STUFF AT THE BOTTOM Just then, a big fish darted toward the little fish at the edge of the shell and bit it. A cloud of tiny dark specks puffed out of the shell. The specks rained down on Andrew and Judy and the big fish. The big fish backed off and swam away. Andrew and Judy shook off the specks. They looked like teeny clams with hooks.

就在这时，一条大鱼向贝壳边缘的小鱼游去，咬住了它。 一团小小的黑点从贝壳里冒出来。 斑点像雨点一样落在安德鲁、朱迪和那条大鱼身上。 大鱼向后退去，游走了。 安德鲁和朱迪抖掉身上的斑点。 它们看起来像带钩的小蛤蜊。

meep… "Big shell buried in mud belong to animal called mussel," said Thudd. "Mussel got strange life cycle. Mussel larva got hooks. Hook on to gills of fish. Suck blood from fish for a while. Then drop off. "To get fish to come close, mussel got lure that look like little fish. When real fish come to bite fake fish, mussel shoot larva at fish. Mussel make millions and millions of larva babies." "Wowzers schnauzers!" said Andrew. "That's amazing!" Andrew and Judy kept shuffling through the silky mud and tangled stems. Andrew tripped over a twig. But as he got up, he saw it wasn't a twig. It was a tube made of grains of sand and tiny pebbles. It was moving and something was sticking out of one end of it. meep… "Caddis-fly larva," said Thudd. "Larva make silk. Use silk like glue. Stick stuff together. Make case to hide in." "There are a lot of these cases," said Andrew. "Some of them are empty."

“埋在泥里的大壳是一种叫贻贝的动物。” “贻贝的生命周期很奇怪。 贻贝幼虫有钩子。钩住鱼的鳃。 吸一会儿鱼的血。 然后下车。“为了让鱼靠近，贻贝得到了看起来像小鱼的诱饵。 当真鱼来咬假鱼时，贻贝会向鱼射出幼虫。 贻贝能生出成千上万的幼仔。” “哇兹雪纳瑞！”安德鲁说。 “这太神奇了!”安德鲁和朱迪继续在丝滑的泥泞和纠结的茎干中拖着脚步。 安德鲁被一根小树枝绊倒了。 但当他站起来时，他发现那不是一根小树枝。 那是一个由沙粒和小卵石组成的管子。 它在动，有什么东西从它的一端伸出来。 “小飞蛾的幼虫。” “幼虫会吐丝。像胶水一样使用丝绸。 把东西粘在一起。找个地方躲起来。” “有很多这样的案例，”安德鲁说。 “有些是空的。”

meep… "When caddis-fly larva grow, leave old case," said Thudd. "Make bigger case to move into. "Later, caddis-fly larva turn into flying bug." "Cheese Louise!" said Judy. "A lot of bugs start out not looking like bugs at all! And they spend most of their stupid lives in the water!" "Yoop! Yoop! Yoop!" said Thudd. "But bugs not so stupid. Bugs been living on earth longer than any other animals. More kindsa bugs than any other animals. Many million times more bugs on earth than humans." Suddenly a large, flat, round shape tumbled through the water and landed a few inches away from Andrew and Judy. Then another plopped down closer. "We're getting bombed!" yelled Judy. A dark, oval shape scooted sideways and buried itself in the mucky bottom. "Hmmmm…," said Andrew. "This reminds me of something…."

“等飞蛾幼虫长大了，就把旧箱子留下。” “找个更大的理由搬进去。 “后来，球蝇幼虫变成了飞虫。” “奶酪露易丝！”朱迪说。 “很多虫子一开始看起来根本不像虫子！它们愚蠢的一生中大部分时间都在水里度过！”“Yoop !Yoop !呜！” “但是虫子没那么蠢。昆虫在地球上生活的时间比其他任何动物都长。 昆虫的种类比其他任何动物都多。 地球上的虫子比人类多几百万倍。” 突然，一个又大又平又圆的东西从水里滚了出来，落在离安德鲁和朱迪几英寸的地方。 接着又有一个砰的一声靠近了。 “我们被轰炸了！”朱迪喊道。 一个黑色的、椭圆形的东西向旁边窜去，钻进了淤泥的底部。 “嗯……”安德鲁说。“这让我想起了一些事情....”

Judy kicked Andrew's leg. "Move it!" she said. "Before we get smooshed." "I've got it!" said Andrew. "People are skipping stones up there! If we get back to the surface fast, we can find them!" "Noooo!" said Judy, bounding toward the big rock. "We've gotta wait till the stones stop falling. We could get crushed." She arrived at the rock and quickly scooped muck from under it. Then she squeezed herself into the hiding place. Andrew wiggled in beside her. "Stop shoving me," said Judy. "I'm not shoving you," said Andrew. "Yes you are," said Judy. "No I'm not," said Andrew. "You're shoving me." Andrew reached over to touch what was nudging him. He felt something cold and hard and sharp. A shiver ran down his spine.

朱迪踢了安德鲁的腿。“让开！”她说。 “在我们被干掉之前。”“我找到了！”安德鲁说。 “人们在上面扔石头！”如果我们尽快回到水面，就能找到他们！”“不！”朱迪说着，跳向那块大石头。 “我们必须等到石头不再落下。 我们可能会被压垮。”她来到岩石旁，迅速地从岩石底下挖出淤泥。 然后她挤进了藏身之处。 安德鲁扭动着身子走到她身边。 “别推我了，”朱迪说。 “我不是在推你，”安德鲁说。 “是的，你是，”朱迪说。“不，我不是。”安德鲁说。 “你在推我。”安德鲁伸出手去摸那推他的东西。 他感到一种又冷又硬又锋利的东西。 他的脊背打了个寒颤。