6 THE MERHORSES

CHAPTER 6 THE MERHORSES Mom and I hurried through the snack that Dad and "Plop" had made. Pip sat on my head. He kept fidgeting, which was very distracting. "I think Zoey and I are going to head back to the stream," said Mom. "I'd like to see if we can find the source of the pollution." "Absolutely," Dad said. "I'll come with you guys. Three pairs of eyes are better than two, right?"

第六章人鱼妈妈和我匆匆吃完爸爸和“扑通”做的点心。 匹普坐在我的头上。他一直坐立不安，这让人很分心。 “我想佐伊和我要回到小溪那里去，”妈妈说。 “我想看看我们能否找到污染源。” “当然，”爸爸说。“我和你们一起去。 三双眼睛总比两双眼睛好，对吧？”

Mom and I exchanged worried looks. Pip wanted to take us to the merhorses so we could talk to them. How could we do that with my dad there? It would look like we were talking to air again. After our conversation with Pip earlier, it might be too much for Dad. Mom's eyes lit up. "That would be great! Why don't you and I go upstream, and Zoey can go downstream. We'll meet again at the middle?" We all agreed on Mom's plan and went back to the stream. Unlike my usual trips to the stream, this time I had a frog sitting cross-legged on my head. The trail ended at the stream, and I stopped to take my shoes and socks off and roll up my pants. My parents walked upstream. "The merhorses live over there. Let's go!" Pip said as he wiggled nervously. I plucked him off my head. "Hey!" he pouted. "I can't see where you're pointing," I whispered. "Here, ride on my shoulder instead." "The merhorses live over there," he repeated. This time, I could see him point toward the other side of the stream from where I had been looking for

妈妈和我交换了担心的眼神。 皮普想带我们去看那些人鱼，这样我们就可以和它们说话了。 我爸爸在那儿，我们怎么能这么做？ 看起来我们又在对着空气说话了。 在我们之前和皮普的谈话之后，这对爸爸来说可能太过分了。 妈妈的眼睛亮了起来。“那太好了！”不如你和我去上游，佐伊去下游。 我们在中间再碰头吧？”我们都同意了妈妈的计划，回到了小溪边。 不像我平时去小溪，这次有一只青蛙盘腿坐在我的头上。 小路到小溪尽头，我停下来脱下鞋子和袜子，把裤子卷起来。 我的父母向上游走去。 “人鱼住在那边。 我们走吧!”皮普紧张地扭动着身体说。 我把他从我头上拽下来。 “嘿！”他撅着嘴说。“我看不清你指的是哪里。”我低声说。 “来，骑在我的肩膀上吧。” “人鱼住在那边。”他重复了一遍。 这一次，我可以看到他指着小溪的另一边，我一直在寻找的地方

bugs this morning. Wait a minute. Wasn't that where I had seen that mysterious rainbow light earlier? Maybe I hadn't been imagining it after all! I gave Sassafras a quick pet, and then carefully crossed the stream with Pip on my shoulder. "We need to get over there to that log," Pip directed me. "You can sit on the shore there, and I'll dive down to get the merhorses." "Get them from where?" I asked. "From their rainbow cave, of course," replied Pip. "Rainbow cave?" I breathed. "Oh, right!" Pip clapped a webbed hand to his head. "You've never even seen a merhorse. Yes, they live deep down in the stream in hidden caves they built with rainbow stones." "Wait a minute, are you telling me there are rainbow stones in our stream?" My heart beat a little faster at the thought. "Well, yes and no," Pip said. "They aren't just lying around, if that's what you're thinking. When a merhorse finds a stone that's the right size and shape, it carries it back to the cave in its mouth.

早上有虫子。等一下。 那不是我之前看到那道神秘彩虹的地方吗？ 也许这根本不是我的想象！我迅速地抚摸了一下萨萨法斯，然后让匹普骑在我的肩膀上小心地过了河。 “我们需要到那边的圆木那里去，”皮普指示我。 “你可以坐在岸边，我潜下去捉海马。” “从哪儿弄来的？”我问。 “当然是从他们的彩虹洞里来的，”匹普回答。 “彩虹洞?”我呼吸。 “哦,对了!”匹普用带蹼的手拍了拍他的头。 “你连马都没见过。 是的，他们住在河的深处，住在他们用彩虹石建造的隐蔽洞穴里。” “等等，你是说我们的小溪里有彩虹石吗？”想到这里，我的心跳加快了。 “嗯，是也不是，”匹普说。 “如果你是这么想的话，他们不是随便躺着的。 当马发现一块大小和形状都合适的石头时，它会把它叼回嘴里的洞穴。

Then the merhorse uses magic to enchant the stone to shimmer in all the colors of the rainbow." "Their caves sound amazing," I said dreamily. "That must be why they're hidden. I bet if the caves were near the top of the water, animals like raccoons could find them easily with that rainbow light

然后人鱼用魔法让石头闪烁出彩虹的所有颜色。” “他们的洞穴听起来很神奇，”我梦幻般地说。 “这一定是它们被藏起来的原因。 我敢打赌，如果洞穴靠近水面，像浣熊这样的动物可以很容易地用彩虹光找到它们

shining out." "Indeed," said Pip. "You're pretty smart for a human. You remind me a lot of your mother when she was your age. Ah, here we are. This log right here is the one we're looking for." I knelt on the sandy shore. Pip hopped off my shoulder and jumped in with a sploosh. I got down on my hands and put my face right by the water. He disappeared under the log, but if I held my head in the right place, I could make out some rays of rainbow light shimmering deep below. I wished I had brought my underwater viewer. Next time, I promised myself. Pip swam back into view. And something was following right behind him.

闪亮的。”“的确，”匹普说。 “作为人类，你很聪明。 你让我想起了你妈妈在你这么大的时候。 啊，我们到了。这块木头就是我们要找的。” 我跪在沙滩上。 皮普从我肩上跳下来，噗的一声跳了进去。 我趴在地上，把脸贴在水边。 他消失在圆木下面，但如果我把头放在正确的地方，我可以看到下面深处闪烁着彩虹的光芒。 我真希望我带了我的水下观察器。 下次，我向自己保证。 匹普游回了视野。有东西跟在他后面。