Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 Danny flung open the back door. Ma's new pot of flowers lay shattered on the ground. Was someone in trouble? Or were robbers planning to break in? Danny picked up a broom, ready to strike. The yard was small, just a patch of grass surrounded by a tangle of bushes and palm trees. He didn't see anyone, but then he caught sight of a

丹尼猛地打开后门。 马的新花盆碎了一地。 有人遇到麻烦了吗?还是劫匪打算破门而入? 丹尼拿起扫帚，准备出击。 院子很小，只有一小块草地，周围是一团灌木和棕榈树。 他没看见任何人，但突然看到一个

small dark head poking out from behind one of the thick bushes. Danny put down the broom and walked over. It was a little kid, maybe three years old. What the heck was he doing here all by himself? "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" the kid screamed. Was the kid hurt? "Hey!" Danny said. The kid turned around. He was grinning like a monkey standing on a mountain of bananas. And he was clutching a little animal of some kind. "Puppy!" the kid said. Danny studied the animal. It was very small and black except for one white ear. He didn't want to break the kid's heart, but he was pretty sure it wasn't a puppy. It looked more like a rat. "My puppy!" the kid said, hugging the poor ugly critter so tight Danny was sure it would pop like a balloon. Danny looked around. The kid was too young to be wandering around on his own.

一个黑色的小脑袋从茂密的灌木丛后面探了出来。 丹尼放下扫帚走了过去。 是个小孩，大概三岁吧。 他一个人在这里做什么? “啊啊啊啊!”孩子尖叫起来。 孩子受伤了吗?“嘿!”丹尼说。 孩子转过身来。他笑得像一只站在香蕉山上的猴子。 他手里抓着一只小动物。 “小狗!”孩子说。丹尼研究这只动物。 它很小，除了一只白色的耳朵外，全身都是黑色的。 他不想伤孩子的心，但他很确定那不是一只小狗。 它看起来更像一只老鼠。 “我的小狗!”孩子说着，紧紧地抱着这只可怜的丑陋的小动物，丹尼确信它会像气球一样爆开。 丹尼环顾四周。那孩子太小了，还不能独自四处游荡。

"Who are you?" Danny said, bending down to look the kid in the eye. "Aki!" he said. "Who you?" "I'm Danny," said Danny. "Danny see my puppy?" Aki held out his poor squished pet like he wanted Danny to give it a big smooch. And then the kid's eyes got huge. He pointed to something over Danny's shoulder. "Monster!" he said. Danny spun around and there, moving toward them, was the ugliest animal Danny had ever seen in his life. It was black, the size of a huge dog, with wiry bristles, a pig's snout, and two huge spiked tusks sprouting right from its face like swords.

“你是谁?”丹尼说着，弯下腰看着孩子的眼睛。 “阿奇!”“你谁?”“我是丹尼，”丹尼说。 “丹尼看到我的小狗了吗?”阿基伸出他那可怜的被压扁的宠物，好像想让丹尼给它一个大大的吻。 然后那孩子的眼睛变大了。 他指着丹尼肩膀上的什么东西。 “怪物!”他说。丹尼转过身来，在那里，向他们走来的是丹尼一生中见过的最丑陋的动物。 它是黑色的，有一条大狗那么大，长着铁丝似的鬃毛，长着猪的鼻子，两根巨大的尖牙像剑一样从它的脸上长出来。

It did look like a monster. The animal grunted and snorted as it stared at Aki with beady black eyes. Prepare to die! it seemed to be saying. "Put down the puppy!" Danny said, suddenly understanding: That was a mother monster, and she thought Aki was stealing her baby.

它看起来确实像个怪物。 这只动物用乌黑的眼睛盯着阿琪，哼哼着，哼着鼻子。 准备去死吧!它似乎在说。 “把小狗放下!”丹尼说，突然明白了:那是一个怪物妈妈，她以为阿琪在偷她的孩子。

"My puppy!" Aki screamed. Danny pried the baby out of Aki's sticky hands. He gently placed it on the ground. The mother rushed up to it, nudged it with her nose, and gave a loud squeal. "Okay," he said, bending down and speaking softly to Aki. "Let's go." Aki screamed again, right into Danny's ear. "My puppy!" Aki howled, lunging over to reclaim his pet. The mother monster gave out a high-pitched roar. Aki screamed right back. This kid really was crazy! Danny tried to grab Aki, but he pulled away. The animal charged, its sharp tusks aimed right for Aki's stomach.

“我的小狗!”阿基尖叫。丹尼从阿琪黏糊糊的手里把婴儿撬了出来。 他轻轻地把它放在地上。 母亲冲到它跟前，用鼻子碰了碰它，发出一声尖叫。 “好吧。”他说着，弯下腰，轻声对阿琪说。 “我们走吧。”阿琪又尖叫了一声，直对着丹尼的耳朵。 “我的小狗!”阿基嚎叫着，扑过去要回他的宠物。 母怪兽发出一声尖厉的怒吼。 阿琪也尖叫起来。这孩子真是疯了!丹尼想抓住阿琪，但他挣脱了。 这只动物冲了过来，它锋利的长牙对准了阿琪的胃。