6 ICE!

CHAPTER 6 I knew I'd found the right cave as soon as we got there. Just inside the entrance I could see a pile of caterflies huddled together like a tiny mountain of white snow with little pink dots. I set my backpack on a nearby rock, and the caterflies flew from Sassafras' fur into the cave. Sassafras looked around at the snow and decided to stay in the backpack. I didn't have much time, so I dug around in the

第六章我们一到那里，我就知道我找到了正确的洞穴。 就在入口里面，我看到一堆毛毛虫挤在一起，像一座小小的白雪山，上面有粉红色的小点。 我把背包放在附近的一块岩石上，毛毛虫从萨萨弗拉斯的皮毛上飞进了洞里。 黄樟环顾四周的雪，决定留在背包里。 我没有多少时间，所以我在

backpack for the thermos while Sassafras grumbled. I took it to the mouth of the tiny cave and peeked in. It was a little hard to see, but I could make out a shiny layer of ice where the waterfall had frozen. The two caterflies woke up the rest of the caterflies in the cave and told them about their adventure to and from the barn that morning. It ended with them pointing to me, saying, "That's Zoey. She's going to rescue our eggs!" The cave of caterflies cheered. Then the two caterflies continued, "Zoey has a cat. A real live cat. He's ever so warm. Come see!" All the caterflies rushed to the front of the cave and peered out. "Ooooooooh!" they said at once. And then one, and another, and then all the caterflies launched into the air and landed on my cat. They snuggled down into his fur and began to purr. I wished I had my camera because all I could see was Sassafras' face peeking out from a mound of white wings. I thought he would be nervous, but he looked like he was smiling. Maybe dozens of tiny purring cats snuggling happily against you is a good

当萨萨法斯在抱怨的时候，她把背包放在保温瓶里。 我把它拿到那个小洞的洞口往里偷看。 虽然有点难看清楚，但我能辨认出瀑布结冰的地方有一层闪闪发光的冰。 两只毛毛虫叫醒了洞里的其他毛毛虫，告诉他们早上往返于谷仓的冒险经历。 最后他们指着我说：“那是佐伊。 她要去救我们的蛋！”山洞里的毛毛虫欢呼起来。 然后两只毛毛虫继续说：“佐伊有一只猫。 一只活生生的猫。他非常热情。 来看看!”所有的毛毛虫都冲到洞前向外张望。 “呜——呜——呜！” 然后一只，另一只，然后所有的毛毛虫都飞到空中，落在我的猫身上。 他们依偎在他的皮毛里，开始呜呜叫。 我希望我有相机，因为我所能看到的只是从一堆白色的翅膀中露出来的黄樟的脸。 我以为他会紧张，但他看起来像是在微笑。 也许几十只喵星人快乐地依偎在你身边是件好事

recipe for happiness. I glanced at my watch. Oh no! I only had a few minutes left. After unscrewing the lid of the thermos, I was relieved to see steam coming from the water inside.

幸福的秘诀。我瞥了一眼手表。 噢,不!我只剩下几分钟了。 拧开保温瓶的盖子后，我松了一口气，看到里面的水里冒出了蒸汽。

Still hot. Phew. I reached into the cave and splashed the water on the wall of ice that trapped the caterfly eggs. The ice made crackling noises, and I could see some lines forming, but it wasn't enough. Good thing I'd also brought the salt. I wouldn't be able to come back until tomorrow, so I figured it was best to just use all of it now. It should definitely be enough to melt that ice! I pulled my glove off with my teeth and poured a ton of salt into my open hand. Then I rubbed the salt as best I could all over the ice. When I was done, the ice had a nice layer of salt on it. With my ear to the cave, I could hear more ice crackling (though it was a little hard to hear over all the purring going on behind me). I looked at my watch again and my heart jumped into my throat. We had to leave for home right now! "Caterflies! I'm sorry, but we've really got to go. My dad will be worried if I'm home late. I think the ice should melt now with the salt on it. I'll be back tomorrow morning to check on you, and I'll bring my mom in case the ice doesn't melt."

还是热的。唷。我把手伸进洞里，把水泼在困住毛毛虫卵的冰墙上。 冰发出噼里啪啦的声音，我看见一些线条在形成，但这还不够。 还好我还带了盐。 我明天才能回来，所以我想最好现在就用完。 足够融化那些冰了！我用牙齿脱下手套，往摊开的手里倒了一吨盐。 然后我把盐擦遍了整个冰面。 当我完成的时候，冰面上有一层很好的盐。 我把耳朵贴在洞里，可以听到更多的冰的噼啪声（尽管在我身后的呼噜声中听不太清）。 我又看了看表，心都跳到嗓子眼儿了。 我们现在就得回家了！“Caterflies !对不起，我们真的得走了。 如果我回家晚了，我爸会担心的。 我想冰应该融化了，上面还有盐。 我明天早上会回来看看你，我还会带上我妈妈，以防冰不化。”

The caterflies flew up and circled around my head, thanking me. I giggled.

毛毛虫飞起来，围着我的头转，感谢我。 我咯咯笑了。

They sure were cute little creatures. "See you tomorrow, Zoey!" they cheered as they flew into their cave for the night. I snapped up Sassafras in the backpack. "Hold on tight, Sass!" Sassafras hunkered down, and I ran for home.

它们确实是可爱的小生物。 “明天见，佐伊！”他们欢呼着飞回洞穴过夜。 我在背包里买了些黄樟。 “抓紧了，萨斯！”萨萨弗拉斯蹲下来，我跑回家。