Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 Amy decided she was never watching Animal Planet again. Once you'd lived Animal Planet, it lost its charm. She edged away from the bank of the river. Behind her, the trees and foliage looked thick and impenetrable. Without the sun, the river had taken on a dark and oily look. "Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal on earth," Dan said. "Five thousand pounds per square inch. That's, like, twelve times stronger than a great white shark. They move fast, even on land. But the best way to run away from them is straight ahead, not zigzaggy. Just run really fast." "Dan! Zip it," Amy said. "They hunt at night. They wait in ambush for their prey."

艾米决定再也不看《动物星球》了。 一旦你生活在动物星球，它就失去了魅力。 她慢慢地离开了河岸。 在她身后，树木和树叶看起来密密麻麻，密密麻麻。 没有了太阳，这条河显得又黑又油。 “鳄鱼的咬合力是地球上最强的，”丹说。 “每平方英寸五千磅。 它比大白鲨强壮12倍。 它们行动迅速，即使在陆地上也是如此。 但逃离他们的最好方法是直走，而不是曲折前行。 只要跑得很快就行了。”“丹!闭嘴，”艾米说。 “他们在晚上打猎。他们埋伏着等待猎物。”

"This isn't helping." "They drag you underneath the water and roll around and around with you and drown you before they chomp you. If you're lucky. You've got to get your hands around their jaws and hold them closed—" "Dan, get lost!" "I am lost!" There was a short silence. Across the dark river, the lights of Luxor glittered. Behind them on the west bank of the river, the ancient kings and queens slept in the limestone cliffs, the mummies still undiscovered, the hills cradling their spirits. The sky overhead was thick with more stars than Amy had ever seen. It would have been beautiful if only Amy could stop worrying about getting clamped in crocodile jaws. "I'm just trying to be helpful," Dan said. "If we can attract a boat's attention, someone will see us," Amy said. She could see the individual lights on the ends of boats— feluccas, Theo had called them—out on the river. "How do you say yoo-hoo in Arabic?"

“这没有帮助。”“他们把你拖到水下，和你一起滚来滚去，在咬你之前把你淹死。 如果你够幸运的话。你必须用手捂住它们的下颚，把它们合上——”“丹，走开！”“我迷路了！”一阵短暂的沉默。 黑暗的河对岸，卢克索的灯光闪闪发光。 在他们身后的河西岸，古代的国王和王后们睡在石灰岩的悬崖上，木乃伊还没有被发现，群山孕育着他们的灵魂。 头顶上的天空布满了艾米从未见过的星星。 要是艾米不用再担心被鳄鱼咬住就好了。 “我只是想帮忙，”丹说。 “如果我们能引起一艘船的注意，就会有人看到我们，”艾米说。 她可以看到船尾的灯光——西奥在河上叫它们“三桅帆船”。 “用阿拉伯语怎么说‘you -hoo’？”

"I believe that yoo-hoo could be part of a universal language," Dan said. "Like ow. Or— you're stepping on my foot." "That's universal?" "No, you're stepping on my foot. Ow." Amy moved. "Yoo-hoo!" Her voice sounded thin. It was swallowed up by the darkness. She tried to remember if crocodiles hunted by noise. She decided not to ask Dan. "YOO-HOO!" she shouted. The tiny boat lights stayed on their courses, tacking lazily back and forth. "Well, Nellie and Theo will come looking for us," she said. "How will they look for us?" Dan asked. "Jonah stole the boat!" "They'll hire a boat, and—" "Shhh," Dan stopped her. "Just because I told you to be quiet before—" "Shhh! Listen." Amy didn't hear anything. Then she heard a soft splash.

丹说：“我相信‘you -hoo’会成为世界通用语言的一部分。” “就像噢。或者——你踩到我的脚了。” “这是普遍的吗?”“不，你踩到我的脚了。 噢。”艾米感动。“哇呼!”她的声音听起来很单薄。 它被黑暗吞没了。 她试着回忆鳄鱼是否会被声音捕食。 她决定不去问丹。 “嗬——嗬！”她喊道。小船的灯光停留在它们的航线上，懒洋洋地前后摇摆。 “嗯，内莉和西奥会来找我们的，”她说。 “他们会怎么找我们呢？”丹问道。 “约拿偷了船！”“他们会租一条船，然后——”“嘘。”丹阻止了她。 “就因为我之前叫你安静——”“嘘！听。” 艾米什么也没听到。然后她听到一声轻轻的水花声。

She froze. "Do you see anything?" she whispered. "I thought I saw… two eyes," Dan whispered. "Out there… by those reeds. Crocodiles stay submerged until they attack…." Amy looked. She didn't see anything by the reeds. What she did see was a giant log floating close to the riverbank. Then she saw that the log had two eyes and a snout. The crocodile turned and began to glide toward the beach. "D-d-d-d…" "What?" "C-c-croc…" The crocodile lumbered onto the beach, and Amy forgot how to move. It looked like a walking dinosaur. Something primitive and evil and hungry for flesh. Every impulse had been driven from her brain except for terror. The crocodile opened its mouth. Amy felt mesmerized by what looked like hundreds of sharp, pointed teeth. Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal on earth…. "Run!" Dan hissed. He yanked at her arm.

她愣住了。“你看到什么了吗？”她小声说。 “我想我看到了……两只眼睛。”丹低声说。 “在那边……在芦苇那边。” 鳄鱼会一直呆在水下直到它们攻击....” 艾米看起来。她没看见芦苇边有什么东西。 她看到的是一根巨大的圆木漂在靠近河岸的地方。 然后她看到木头有两只眼睛和一个鼻子。 鳄鱼转过身，开始向海滩游去。 “D-d-d-d…”“什么?”“鳄鱼……”鳄鱼笨重地爬上海滩，艾米忘了该怎么移动。 它看起来像一只会走路的恐龙。 某种原始的，邪恶的，渴望肉体的东西。 除了恐惧，她脑子里所有的冲动都被驱除了。 鳄鱼张开了嘴。 艾米被那几百颗锋利的尖牙迷住了。 鳄鱼的咬合力是地球上最强的.... “快跑!”丹发出嘘嘘的声音。他猛拉她的胳膊。

Amy wheeled, stumbled, and took off, running across the beach toward the center of the island. The sand sucked at her shoes. It was like running in a nightmare. Amy looked back. The crocodile was following them! "Don't zigzag!" Dan shouted. But she wasn't zigzagging. She was stumbling. Her legs were shaking so badly that she couldn't run. They crashed into the underbrush, following a narrow path that snaked through the trees. Amy's T-shirt snagged on a branch but she ripped it free and kept running, jumping over roots and ducking under branches. Over the sound of their gasping, they heard the actual thump of the crocodile hitting the path. The swish as its gigantic tail hit the greenery. It was so dark under the trees that it was like running underneath a black hood. Amy's heart banged against her chest. She could already feel the hot breath of the beast. Any moment it would snatch her from behind and whirl her in the air as

艾美转过身来，踉跄了一下，然后起飞，穿过海滩向岛中心跑去。 沙子吸着她的鞋子。 就像在噩梦中奔跑一样。 艾米回头看。鳄鱼在跟着他们！“别曲折!”丹喊道。 但她并没有走之字形。 她步履蹒跚。她的腿抖得厉害，跑不动了。 他们沿着一条蜿蜒穿过树林的狭窄小路，撞进了灌木丛。 艾米的t恤被一根树枝卡住了，但她把它扯了下来，继续跑，跳过树根，钻到树枝下。 在他们喘气的声音之外，他们听到了鳄鱼撞击小路的声音。 它巨大的尾巴撞到绿色植物时发出的嗖嗖声。 树下很黑，就像在一个黑色的兜帽下跑步一样。 艾米的心砰砰地撞在胸前。 她已经能感觉到野兽的热气。 它随时会从后面把她抓住，在空中旋转，就像

its jaws cut her in two. The path suddenly ended, spilling them out on a beach. Moonlight silvered the sand. It was as if someone had turned on the lights. "Where to now?" Amy asked, whipping her head around. Down by the water, a shadow slipped away from a palm tree. A man stood, dressed in the white galabia that many Egyptian men wore. "Help us!" Amy screamed. "Amy…" Dan stopped short. "He's got a knife." Moonlight glinted on the blade the man held at his side. Amy turned around. Behind her on the path she saw the green eyes of the crocodile coming toward them. Faster. "I don't care," Amy said. "Come on!" They ran down the beach toward the man with the knife. Better that than a crocodile's jaws. The man sheathed the knife as they approached him. The crocodile was running across the beach now. The man suddenly backed away, then

它的嘴把她切成两半。小路突然结束了，把他们洒在沙滩上。 月光把沙滩染成银色。 就好像有人开了灯。 “现在去哪儿？”艾米一边摇头一边问。 在水边，一个影子从一棵棕榈树上溜走了。 一个男人站在那里，穿着许多埃及人穿的白色长袍。 “帮助我们!”艾米尖叫。“艾米……”丹突然停住了。 “他有一把刀。”月光照在他身边的剑上。 艾米转过身来。在她身后的小路上，她看见鳄鱼的绿眼睛朝他们走来。 得更快。“我不在乎，”艾米说。 “来吧!”他们沿着海滩向拿刀的人跑去。 这总比鳄鱼的下巴好。 当他们走近他时，那人收起了刀。 鳄鱼现在正跑过海滩。 然后，那人突然往后退