Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 "Look at this," Lucas called from the back corner of King's enclosure a few minutes later. "Loose board in the floor. King must have managed to pry it up with his head and slip out." They got Bubbles into her enclosure and started the search for the snake. Josh used a rake to gently rustle the bushes around the garage. He squinted

第七章“看这个。”几分钟后，卢卡斯从金圈地的后角喊道。 “地板上的木板松了。 金一定是设法用头把它撬了起来，溜了出去。” 他们把泡泡带进了她的围栏，开始寻找那条蛇。 乔希用耙子轻轻地把车库周围的灌木丛刮得沙沙作响。 他眯着眼睛瞄

in the late-evening sun, knowing that King would be hard to spot. His dark-green-and-yellow-gold skin was an almost perfect match to the crunchy dried-up grass around the house. Josh had moved on to some bushes on the far side of the house when Aunt Nicole called them over to the bird feeder. "I found something!" she shouted. They gathered around her, and she held up what looked like a beige sock—a very long, very dry, very shriveled beige sock.

在傍晚的阳光下，他知道金很难被发现。 他那深绿色和金黄色相间的皮肤和房子周围干裂的干草几乎是完美的搭配。 乔希已经走到房子另一边的灌木丛里去了，妮可姨妈把他们叫到喂鸟器那里。 “我找到东西了！”她喊道。 他们围在她身边，她举起一只看起来像米色袜子的东西——一只很长、很干、很皱的米色袜子。

"King Kong finally shed his skin!" Holly said. Aunt Nicole nodded. "I found it in the dirt, right over there." "That's probably why he wanted to get out," Holly said. "When pythons are kept in captivity, it's harder for them to shed. They need to move across rough ground to get their skin off."

“金刚终于蜕皮了！”霍莉说。 妮可姨妈点点头。“我在泥土里找到的，就在那边。” “这可能就是他想出去的原因，”霍利说。 “当蟒蛇被圈养时，它们更难蜕毛。 他们需要穿过崎岖不平的地面才能把皮剥下来。”

Josh's mind flashed to something Holly had told him about pythons, that in the wild they love to move around. Poor King had spent his whole life cooped up, first with his old owner and now in the pen in Holly's garage. Holly and Aunt Nicole took good care of him, but still. Josh's hands clenched tighter around his rake as he realized that Holly was right. It was cruel to keep these wild reptiles as pets. Holly gently took the crinkly-looking skin from her mom. "I'm keeping this," she said. Yikes, Josh thought. Snakes were cool, but keeping a snake skin would be like saving old toenails or something. He definitely wouldn't want the skin hanging around his house. Mom shot Josh a cringy look. She agreed. Holly stashed King's skin in the garage and they searched for a little while longer. When it was dark enough that they had to use flashlights, Aunt Nicole called them all together.

乔希的脑海里闪过霍莉告诉他的关于蟒蛇的事情，在野外，它们喜欢到处走动。 可怜的金一生都被关在笼子里，先是和他的老主人在一起，现在被关在霍莉车库的围栏里。 霍莉和妮可姨妈把他照顾得很好，但还是。 当乔希意识到霍莉是对的时，他的手紧紧地握着耙子。 把这些野生爬行动物当作宠物饲养是残忍的。 霍莉轻轻地从妈妈手里接过她那布满皱纹的皮肤。 “我要留着这个，”她说。 哎呀，乔希想。蛇很酷，但保存蛇皮就像保存旧脚趾甲之类的东西。 他肯定不希望这张皮挂在他的房子里。 妈妈尴尬地看了乔希一眼。 她同意了。霍莉把金的皮肤藏在车库里，他们又找了一会儿。 天黑到他们不得不用手电的时候，妮可姨妈把他们叫到一起。

"We're never going to spot King in the dark," she said. "My guess is he's found a hole, an animal burrow, to curl up in underground. Some rabbit or woodchuck is going to come home to a terrible surprise, but King will be safe. No animal around here would mess with a big python." "But what about mountain lions?" Holly asked worriedly. Josh's eyes went wide. "You have mountain lions here?!" "They keep to themselves," Lucas said. "And I'm pretty sure a mountain lion would be smart enough not to bother King Kong." As they made their way through the dusky darkness, Josh glanced over his shoulder at the forest, which seemed to stretch on forever. King Kong was out there. Mountain lions, too. What else was lurking in these woods? He shuddered and walked a little faster toward the house.

“我们永远不可能在黑暗中发现金，”她说。 “我猜他找到了一个洞，一个动物的洞穴，蜷缩在地下。 有些兔子或土拨鼠会大吃一惊，但国王是安全的。 这里没有动物会惹一条大蟒蛇。” “那美洲狮呢？”霍莉担心地问。 乔希睁大了眼睛。“你们这儿有美洲狮吗？！”“他们不跟别人来往，”卢卡斯说。 “而且我敢肯定，美洲狮也不会聪明到去打扰金刚。” 当他们在昏暗的黑暗中前行时，乔希回头看了一眼森林，森林似乎永远延伸下去。 金刚就在那里。还有美洲狮。 树林里还潜伏着什么？ 他打了个寒颤，加快了脚步朝房子走去。