12 A GIFT!

CHAPTER 12 A GIFT! Once we were in the forest, I couldn't hold back my questions anymore. "Why did the merhorses send for me? What's the news? Are the mayfly nymphs back?" "You'll see for yourself in a moment," Pip called down from my head as he gave it a little pat. I slowly waded across the stream while Sassafras grumbled and sat on the shore to wait. We made it to the log, and Pip leapt into the water. I set my things down, pressed my underwater

第十二章礼物！我们一进入森林，我就再也忍不住要问问题了。 “人鱼为什么叫我来？” 有什么新闻吗？蜉蝣仙女回来了吗？”“你马上就会看到的，”匹普轻轻地拍了拍我的头，从我的头上向下喊道。 我慢慢地涉水过河，而萨萨法斯则在岸边咕哝着，坐在那里等着。 我们游到圆木旁，匹普跳进了水里。 我放下我的东西，按下我的水下

viewer into the water, and gasped. I would never get used to the beauty of the shimmering rainbow glow from deep under the log. I could only see the entrance to the cave from up here (I wasn't quite brave enough to stick my whole head under the cold stream water yet), but it was breathtaking. Each small stone sent out rays of light. The colors smoothly changed from red to orange to yellow... all the way through the rainbow and back to red again. I couldn't take my eyes off the magical light show. At least not until Pip cleared his throat. "Zoey, I

观众跳入水中，倒吸了一口气。 我永远也不会习惯从圆木深处发出的闪闪发光的彩虹之美。 我只能从这里看到洞穴的入口（我还没有足够的勇气把整个头都伸进冰冷的溪水里），但这是令人惊叹的。 每一块小石头都发出光线。 颜色从红色到橙色再到黄色流畅地变化着。 一路穿过彩虹，又回到红色。 我目不转睛地看着那神奇的灯光表演。 至少在匹普清了清嗓子之后。 “佐伊,我

know the rainbow cave is really something, but I've got someone here who'd like to talk to you." Of course! The merhorses! I quickly put away my underwater viewer and turned my attention to the water. There, waiting patiently, was the merhorse. I set my hands in the water, and he swam into my palms. I smiled. Since the first time I'd met him, his eyes had grown so much brighter, and his whole body seemed to have a new sparkle to it. It was such a relief to see how much the merhorses had improved since we'd fixed the stormwater problem. The merhorse spoke. I turned to Pip. "He says, 'I have wonderful news to share with you, Zoey. The mayfly nymphs have begun to reappear. Our stomachs are full, and we are happy once again. We are so grateful to you for saving us. We want to present you with a gift to show our thanks.'" I nodded eagerly and opened my hands underwater so he could swim away. I was so excited. I love presents. And I couldn't think of anything more amazing than a present from a

我知道彩虹洞真的很了不起，但我这里有人想和你谈谈。” 当然!merhorses !我赶紧放下水下观赏器，把注意力转向水面。 在那儿，那匹马正耐心地等待着。 我把手伸进水里，他游进了我的掌心。 我笑了笑。自从我第一次见到他以来，他的眼睛变得明亮多了，他的整个身体似乎都焕发出新的光彩。 自从我们解决了雨水问题后，看到这些小美人鱼的状况有了很大的改善，真是让人松了口气。 马说话了。我转向匹普。 “他说，‘我有个好消息要和你分享，佐伊。 蜉蝣的若虫又开始出现了。 我们的肚子吃饱了，我们又开心了。 我们非常感谢你救了我们。 我们送您一件礼物以表谢意。’”我急切地点点头，在水下张开双手，好让他游开。 我太兴奋了。我喜欢礼物。 我想不出还有什么比来自

merhorse! I didn't realize that I was holding my breath until I saw a whole wave of shimmering motion in the stream. "Woooooowwww." Pip and I both exhaled. At least a dozen beautiful, healthy merhorses swim-galloped toward me, their long manes waving in the water. All of them seemed to have bigger cheeks than usual, like chipmunks with mouths full of seeds. They lined up and paddled in place,

merhorse !我没有意识到我在屏住呼吸，直到我看到小溪里有一波波光粼粼的运动。 “Woooooowwww。”皮普和我都呼了一口气。 至少有十几只美丽、健康的人鱼向我游来，它们长长的鬃毛在水里摇曳。 他们的脸颊似乎都比平时大，就像满嘴种子的花栗鼠。 他们排好队，划好桨，

looking up at me with big, bright eyes. I held out my hands in the water. One by one, each merhorse carefully placed a magically sparkling rainbow stone in my hands. Pip leaned so far forward, he fell in the water by accident. His cheeks were red as he hopped back onto shore and brushed off the stream water. For a moment, all I could do was stare open- mouthed at the amazing scene before me. Merhorses. Rainbow stones. It was all too much! But then I remembered my manners. I looked each merhorse in the eyes and said, "Thank you so much for the beautiful gift."

用明亮的大眼睛看着我。 我把手伸到水里。 每匹马一个接一个地小心翼翼地在我手里放了一块神奇地闪闪发光的彩虹石。 匹普靠得太靠前了，他不小心掉进了水里。 他跳上岸边，拂去溪水，两颊通红。 有那么一会儿，我所能做的就是目瞪口呆地看着眼前这令人惊异的景象。 Merhorses。彩虹的石头。 这一切太过分了！但后来我想起了我的礼貌。 我看着每匹马的眼睛说：“非常感谢你送给我这么漂亮的礼物。”

I leaned back a little to take a closer look at the stones and bumped into my camera. Oh! My camera! "Would you mind if I took a quick photo of you to add to my science journal?" I asked nervously. The merhorses looked at each other, nodded, and then faced me. I could see bubbles coming out of their mouths, but I had no idea what they were saying. Pip pointed toward the water. "Aren't you going to take the photo? They're saying, 'Cheese!'" "Oh!" I carefully placed the rainbow stones in my pocket, scrambled for my camera, and snapped a picture. I smiled down at the photo of my sweet little magical friends. "Thank you, merhorses!"

我向后靠了靠，想更仔细地看一看石头，结果撞到了我的相机。 哦!我的相机!“你介意我给你拍张照片，放到我的科学杂志上吗？”我紧张地问。 人鱼互相看了看，点了点头，然后面对着我。 我能看到他们嘴里冒出泡泡，但我不知道他们在说什么。 比普指着水。 “你不去拍照吗？” 他们说，‘奶酪！”“哦!”我小心翼翼地把彩虹石放进口袋，抓起相机，拍了张照片。 我微笑着低头看着我可爱的魔法小朋友们的照片。 “谢谢你们，人鱼！”