3 Freaks of Nature

FREAKS OF NATURE

大自然的怪物

Later that afternoon, when Dad, Stink, and his friends got to the nature center, a young guy came out to meet them. "Hi, I'm Jasper," said the guy. He was tall and had a tiny beard on his chin. He wore a hat with a wide brim, a vest covered with little pockets, and rubber boots up to his knees. Dad shook hands with him, and the kids all told him their names. "I'm a grad student at the local college," said Jasper. "And I'll be your guide. Looks like it's just us today, huh? Everybody grab a bucket and a net. Let's head over to the vernal pool." The vernal pool was a small wetland surrounded by trees. Pussy willows and cattails lined the banks. "Are there bobcats here?" asked Webster. "Are there flying squirrels here?" Sophie asked. "You guys!" said Stink. "How about mosquitoes?" Sophie scratched an imaginary mosquito bite.

那天下午晚些时候，当臭爸爸和他的朋友们来到自然中心时，一个年轻人出来迎接他们。 “嗨，我是贾斯帕，”那家伙说。 他个子很高，下巴上留着一撮小胡子。 他戴着一顶宽边帽，穿着一件有小口袋的背心，脚上穿着一双长及膝盖的橡胶靴。 爸爸和他握手，孩子们都告诉了他自己的名字。 “我是当地大学的研究生，”贾斯帕说。 “我来做你的向导。看来今天就我们俩了？ 每个人拿一个桶和一个网。 我们去春天的池塘吧。” 春池是一片被树木环绕的小湿地。 柳枝和香蒲排列在河岸两旁。 “这里有山猫吗？”韦伯斯特问。 “这里有鼯鼠吗？”苏菲问。 “你们这些家伙！”臭臭说。“蚊子怎么办？”索菲想象着被蚊子咬了一口。

"Mostly amphibians," said Jasper. "Luckily, they eat all the mosquitoes." "Amphibians are my favorite!" said Stink. "Especially frogs. Also skinks. And newts. I even make up comics about this superhero called Stink Frog." "Sounds cool. What does he do?" "Mostly he fights slime. But he's really good at swimming and he can put his head all the way under and he can jump higher than the Empire State Building. And once he saved the earth from a giant spitball. You know, like Spider-Man and the asteroid." "So, you're into Spider-Man?" said Jasper. "I used to collect Spider-Man comics." "Really? My dad did, too. I'm reading some of his from the seventies!" Dad nodded. "Stink, let's give Jasper a chance to tell us about the pond." "This is a vernal pool," said Jasper. "That means it's a wetland that's here mostly from rain and melted snow. Vernal pools are great habitats for all kinds of frogs, toads, turtles, and salamanders." "I have a Stuffed Animal Baby named Salamandra," Sophie chimed in. "Made of crushed

“大部分是两栖动物。”贾斯帕说。 “幸运的是，它们吃掉了所有的蚊子。” “我最喜欢两栖动物！”臭臭说。 “特别是青蛙。石龙子。 和蝾螈。我甚至还为这个叫臭青蛙的超级英雄创作了漫画。” “听起来很酷。他是做什么的？”“大多数时候，他都在和黏液战斗。 但他真的很擅长游泳，他可以把他的头一直伸到水下，他可以跳得比帝国大厦还高。 有一次他从一个巨大的痰盂中拯救了地球。 你知道，就像蜘蛛侠和小行星一样。” “这么说，你喜欢蜘蛛侠？” “我以前收集蜘蛛侠漫画。” “真的吗?我爸爸也是。我在读他70年代的一些作品！”爸爸点了点头。 “臭臭，给贾斯帕一个机会，让他给我们讲讲池塘的事。” “这是一个春天的池塘。”贾斯帕说。 “这意味着这里是一片湿地，主要来自雨水和融化的雪。 春天的池塘是各种青蛙、蟾蜍、乌龟和蝾螈的好栖息地。” “我有一个叫萨拉曼德拉的毛绒娃娃，”索菲插嘴说。 由碎料制成

orange velvet." They walked out onto a short wooden dock that jutted out over the pond. "Shh!" said Jasper. He pointed. Five painted turtles sunned themselves on a rock. A small blue-tailed skink darted across the dock. Two red dragonflies dipped and dived over the pond. Water striders skipped across the surface. "Is that a stick bug?" asked Stink, pointing to a bug that looked like a stick. "A stinkbug?" said Webster, holding his nose closed. "That's a water scorpion," said Jasper. He took them down to the banks of the pond and lifted up

橙色天鹅绒。”他们走到一个突出在池塘上的短木码头上。 “嘘！”贾斯帕说。他指出。 五只彩绘乌龟在一块岩石上晒太阳。 一只蓝色尾巴的小蜥蜴飞快地穿过码头。 两只红蜻蜓在池塘上俯冲。 水黾在水面上跳跃。 “那是竹节虫吗？”臭臭指着一只长得像棍子的虫子问。 “臭虫？”韦伯斯特闭着鼻子说。 “那是一只水蝎子。”贾斯帕说。 他把它们带到池塘岸边，举起来

some leaf litter. Curled up underneath was a black salamander with yellow spots. "Spotted salamander?" Dad asked. "Yep. They're making a comeback," said Jasper. Jasper let everybody dip nets and buckets in the water. "Dip your bucket in, take a look, and then put it back," said Jasper. Sophie caught a fairy shrimp in her bucket. Webster caught a diving beetle. And Stink caught... a stick. A stick with glup on it. "Hey! There's a polka-dot jellyfish on my stick," said Stink, pointing to a clear jelly-like glob on the stick.

一些落叶。蜷缩在下面的是一条长着黄色斑点的黑色蝾螈。 “斑点蝾螈?”爸爸问。 “是的。它们正在卷土重来，”贾斯帕说。 贾斯帕让每个人都把网和桶浸在水里。 “把你的水桶浸在水里，看一看，然后放回去。”贾斯帕说。 苏菲在桶里抓到了一只仙子虾。 韦伯斯特抓住了一只潜水的甲虫。 臭臭被抓住了……一根棍子。 一根沾了胶水的棍子。“嘿!我的棍子上有一只圆点水母。”臭臭指着棍子上一个透明的果冻状的东西说。