10 RUBBERY POTATOES

RUBBERY POTATOES CHAPTER 10 Sassafras and I smooshed our noses against the window, staring at the never-ending snowstorm, when the kitchen timer went off. We dashed into the kitchen, eager to see what had happened to our potato slices. Sassafras was so curious, he even jumped on the counter to see. "Sassafras!" my mom scolded as she joined us. Sassafras lowered his head and jumped back

当厨房的计时器响起时，我和檫树用鼻子蹭着窗户，凝视着那永无休止的暴风雪。 我们冲进厨房，急切地想看看我们的土豆片出了什么事。 萨萨法斯很好奇，他甚至跳上柜台去看。 “黄樟！”妈妈一边加入我们一边骂着。 萨萨弗拉斯低下头，跳了回去

down. I picked up the potato slice that was in plain water first and bent down to show him. He took a sniff but leaped backward as a water drop fell from the potato. "It feels the same, I think," I gave it a poke. "Maybe a little stronger? It seems harder to bend now."

下来。我先拿起放在清水里的土豆片，弯下腰给他看。 他闻了闻，但一滴水从土豆上掉下来，他向后一跳。 “感觉一样，我想。”我戳了戳它。 “也许再强一点？”现在似乎更难屈服了。”

Mom nodded. Next I plunged my hand into the salty water. My fingers touched the potato slice, and I made a face. I pulled it out and knelt down. "This one is gross, Sassafras." I wiggled it between my hands to show him. "It feels rubbery." I looked up at Mom. "What does that mean?"

妈妈点了点头。接着我把手伸进咸水里。 我的手指碰到了土豆片，我做了个鬼脸。 我把它拔了出来，跪了下来。 “这个真恶心，萨萨弗拉斯。” 我在手里晃了晃给他看。 “摸起来像橡胶。”我抬头看着妈妈。 “这是什么意思？”

"Things like to be equal when they can," she said as she sat down at our kitchen table. She picked up the saltwater potato slice. "More salt was outside the potato than inside the potato itself. To even out the saltiness, water moved out of the potato. But only a little water has moved out so far. We'll leave it overnight, and you'll see a big difference tomorrow morning. Water will keep moving out of the potato to make the saltiness more equal." I picked up the plain water potato slice. "So this one was pretty even already? That's why the water didn't have to move a bunch here?" Mom nodded. "So, can you figure out what saltwater might do to a whole plant?"

“只要有可能，事情就应该是平等的，”她在餐桌旁坐下时说。 她拿起咸水土豆片。 “土豆外面的盐比土豆里面的盐多。 为了使咸味均匀，水分从土豆中流出。 但到目前为止，只有很少的水流出来。 我们把它放一晚上，明天早上你就会看到很大的不同。 水分会不断从土豆中流出，使咸味更均匀。” 我拿起白开水土豆片。 “所以这次已经差不多了？” 这就是为什么水不需要在这里移动一堆的原因？”妈妈点了点头。 “那么，你能弄清楚盐水对整株植物有什么影响吗？”

I poked the rubbery potato slice as I thought out loud. "If there's salt around a plant, and plants try to make things even by moving water... that means..." I gasped. Oh no. "What's wrong, honey?" I looked down at my feet. "I, um, made a mistake, Mom. With the caterflies. I dumped a ton of salt on the ice to make it melt faster. I was worried about the eggs freezing!" I slowly picked up the rubbery potato slice. "Will the catnip host plants look like this tomorrow? Because if they do... what are the baby caterflies going to eat once they hatch?" Mom rubbed my back. "Oh, honey. We all make mistakes. You never know, the salt might not have made it very far. We'll have to wait and see. Try to take your mind off it. Whatever's happened, we'll figure it out tomorrow." I felt like tomorrow would take forever to get here! Maybe Mom was right and I should keep myself busy so I wouldn't worry as much. While Mom made hot cocoa, I grabbed my science journal

我一边想，一边戳着那片有橡胶的土豆片。 “如果植物周围有盐，植物甚至试图通过移动水来制造东西…… 这意味着……”我喘息着说道。哦,不。 “怎么了，亲爱的？”我低头看了看自己的脚。 “我，嗯，犯了个错误，妈妈。 和毛毛虫一起。我在冰上倒了一吨盐，让它融化得更快。 我担心卵子会冻坏！”我慢慢地拿起那片有弹性的土豆片。 “猫薄荷寄主植物明天还会是这个样子吗？” 因为如果他们这么做了…小毛毛虫孵出来以后吃什么呢？”妈妈揉我的背。 “哦,亲爱的。我们都会犯错。 你永远不知道，盐可能不会走得太远。 我们只能拭目以待了。 试着不去想它。 不管发生了什么，我们明天会弄清楚的。” 我觉得明天要花很长时间才能到这里！也许妈妈是对的，我应该让自己忙起来，这样我就不会那么担心了。 妈妈煮热可可的时候，我拿起我的科学杂志

and decided I'd write down everything I'd learned about the caterflies so far: Caterflies.14 What I know17 they lay eggs. Eggs can't get too cold. Eggs hatch into caterpillars. Caterpillars eat catnip. Host plant. Then I added all the caterfly things I still wondered about:

我决定把我所学到的关于毛毛虫的一切都写下来：毛毛虫。 鸡蛋不能太冷。卵孵化成毛虫。 毛毛虫吃猫薄荷。寄主植物。 然后我加上了所有我仍然想知道的关于毛毛虫的事情：