4 FROM WHERE

CHAPTER 4 FROM WHERE? I set a big serious-looking book down on the table next to the seed pod. "OK Sassafras, I'm going to read about different kinds of seeds in this botany book. Maybe there's a real-life seed pod that looks like this. And then we can get a hint about where this one might grow!" Sassafras ignored me and instead sniffed all around the seed pod. He reached out a paw and bopped it softly. Then harder. The seed pod rolled away from him, then bonked into the wall and rolled straight back at him. Sassafras hissed and jumped backward with his tail puffed up.

第四章从哪里来？我把一本看起来很严肃的大书放在籽荚旁边的桌子上。 “好了，檫木，我要在这本植物学书里读到不同种类的种子。 也许现实生活中有这样的种子荚。 然后我们就能得到一个关于这棵树可能生长在哪里的提示！”黄樟不理我，而是在种子荚周围嗅来嗅去。 他伸出一只爪子，轻轻地拍打着它。 那么困难。种子荚从他身边滚开，然后撞到墙上，又直接滚回他身边。 萨萨弗拉斯嘶嘶地叫了一声，翘起尾巴向后跳了跳。

I caught the seed ball before it rolled off the table and laughed. I tapped him gently on the nose with one finger. "Why don't you try and stay out of trouble while I read?" Sassafras grumbled and jumped down from the table. While Sassafras explored spider webs in the corners of the barn, I read about seed pods and fruit seeds and flying seeds and dangling seeds called catkins (I liked saying that word because it reminded me of cats). But nothing sounded at all like our rainbow pod. "Ugh, Sassafras. Reading is not working. Now

在种子球滚下桌子之前，我接住了它，笑了起来。 我用一根手指轻轻地拍了拍他的鼻子。 “我看书的时候，你为什么不尽量别惹麻烦呢？”黄樟嘟囔着从桌子上跳了下来。 当Sassafras在谷仓的角落里探索蜘蛛网时，我读到关于种子荚、水果种子、飞行的种子和被称为“柳絮”的悬挂种子（我喜欢说这个词，因为它让我想起了猫）。 但没有什么听起来像我们的彩虹荚。 “哎,黄樟。读书不是工作。 现在

what do I do?" Sassafras gave a little meow and began pacing the barn. I joined him and tapped my Thinking Goggles. It made a fun sound, so I started tapping out a little beat. That made me want to hum. And the humming quickly turned into a little song: Oh seed pod, seed pod, At your colors we are awed. I paused at the table. Wait a second. Was the seam getting bigger on the seed pod? Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. I shrugged and kept singing: This is really kind of odd. Then I jumped a little. The seam definitely looked bigger. Whoa. I scrambled to come up with more words to the song: At your surface, my cat pawed. And a magic creature clawed. I think you live somewhere abroad. If I knew where, I would APPLAUD! All at once, the two halves of the seed pod

我该怎么办？”黄樟轻轻地叫了一声，开始在谷仓里踱来踱去。 我也跟着他，轻敲我的思考镜。 它发出一种有趣的声音，所以我开始敲出一点节拍。 这让我想哼起来。嗡嗡声很快变成了一首小曲：噢，种子荚，种子荚，我们敬畏你的颜色。 我在桌旁停了下来。等一下。 豆荚上的缝是不是越来越大了？ 也许是我的眼睛搞错了。 我耸耸肩，继续唱：这真是有点奇怪。 然后我跳了一下。接缝确实看起来更大了。 哇。我绞尽脑汁想给这首歌配上更多的词：At your surface， my cat paw。 一个神奇的生物用爪子抓。 我想你住在国外。 如果我知道在哪里，我会鼓掌的！突然，种子荚的两半

swung apart. We peered inside at a couple dozen shiny black seeds as perfectly round and about the same size as bouncy balls. I reached in and pulled out a handful. Sassafras and I silently stared. Then I felt a frog on my head. "WHOA, ZOEY! IT'S OPEN!" Pip exclaimed. He jumped down to my wrist and touched a seed with a webbed hand. "You left the barn door open so I just let myself in. What happened?" "I think the pod liked my singing? I kept going, and it popped open!" Just then Mom walked in with a sandwich. "Do I hear my favorite frog?"

摇摆。我们往里面看了看，里面有几十颗发亮的黑色种子，圆圆的很完美，大小和弹跳球差不多。 我把手伸进去，拿出一把。 萨萨弗拉斯和我默默地凝视着。 然后我感到一只青蛙在我的头上。 “哇,佐伊!它是开放!”皮普喊道。 他跳到我的手腕上，用带蹼的手摸着一颗种子。 “你没关谷仓的门，所以我就自己进来了。 发生了什么事?”“我想豆荚喜欢我的歌声吧？” 我继续往前走，门就开了！”就在这时，妈妈拿着一个三明治走了进来。 “我能听到我最喜欢的青蛙的声音吗？”

Pip hopped over to Mom, and we told her everything we'd figured out so far. "Well, this certainly makes things interesting," she said. "You couldn't figure out any hints on where the seed pod might grow from reading. Can you think of something other than reading that we could try?" I tapped my trusty Thinking Goggles. "Do you think we could—? I mean, would it be safe to use some of the seeds in an experiment?" "Aha! Good thinking," said Mom. "That's what I would try next. We have a good number of seeds. What sort of experiment do you have in mind?" Once I explained my idea to Mom, it was time to get to work.

皮普跳到妈妈身边，我们把我们目前知道的一切都告诉了她。 “嗯，这当然让事情变得有趣了，”她说。 “你无法从阅读中找到任何关于种子荚可能生长在哪里的提示。 除了读书，你还能想到什么别的办法吗？”我敲了敲我信赖的思考镜。 “你觉得我们能——？” 我的意思是，在实验中使用一些种子安全吗？”“啊哈!好主意，”妈妈说。 “这是我接下来要尝试的。 我们有很多种子。 你想做什么样的实验？”我向妈妈解释了我的想法后，就该开始工作了。