1 A Strange Light

CHAPTER ONE A STRANGE LIGHT IT WAS BEDTIME on Tuesday. But I wasn't in bed. "Mom! Dad!" I called from the top of the stairs. "Yes, Molly?" Mom called back. "There's a strange light outside!" I spoke loud enough to reach all the way to the living room. Mom and Dad like to read down there at night. "What's strange about it?" Dad said loudly. "It's like a long, straight beam of light," I answered.

第一章奇怪的光线星期二的就寝时间到了。 但我不在床上。“妈妈!爸爸!”我在楼梯顶上喊道。 “是的,莫莉?”妈妈回了电话。 “外面有奇怪的光！”我说话的声音大到可以一直听到客厅。 妈妈和爸爸喜欢晚上在那里读书。 “有什么奇怪的？”爸爸大声说。 “它就像一束又长又直的光，”我回答。

"What color is it?" Mom asked.

“它是什么颜色的？”母亲问。

"Just white," I said. "It's pretty far away. It's not like blue or red or anything." "What else is strange?" asked Dad. "It shoots across the sky every six seconds," I yelled. "Well, it's an even number, anyway," Mom called. "That's good, right?" "Right," I called back. My parents know I like even numbers way more than odd numbers. Because with odd numbers, there's always something left over. And what are you supposed to do with something that's left over? That just doesn't make sense to me. Dad called, "We're on the way!" When they got to my room, Mom, Dad, and I watched the light move across the sky from my window. "What is it?" I asked.

“只有白色，”我说。“它非常远。 它不像蓝色或红色或其他任何颜色。” “还有什么奇怪的？”爸爸问。 “它每六秒钟划过天空一次，”我喊道。 “好吧，反正是个偶数，”妈妈叫道。 “这很好，对吧？”“好的，”我回道。 我父母知道我更喜欢偶数而不是奇数。 因为对于奇数，总会有剩余的。 你该怎么处理剩下的东西呢？ 我觉得这说不通。 爸爸喊道：“我们在路上了！”当他们来到我的房间时，爸爸妈妈和我看着窗外的灯光划过天空。 “什么事？”我问。

"Looks like a searchlight," Dad said.

“看起来像探照灯，”爸爸说。

"What's a searchlight?" "It's a real powerful beam of light," Dad started to explain. "You know the spotlight the school uses for the holiday play every year?" "The one up in the balcony?" I asked. "Yes," Dad said and nodded. "A searchlight is like that, only a hundred times—maybe a thousand times —more powerful." "How come it moves in a circle like that?" I asked. "How come it goes around once every six seconds?" "It must be on a rotating platform," Mom answered. She pointed her index finger up in the air and turned it slowly. "Why is it there?" "I'm not sure," Dad answered and shrugged his

“探照灯是什么？”“这是一束非常强大的光，”爸爸开始解释。 “你知道学校每年节日演出用的聚光灯吗？”“阳台上的那个？”我问。 “是的，”爸爸说着点了点头。 “探照灯就像那样，只是比探照灯强一百倍——也许是一千倍。” “它怎么像那样绕圈运动呢？”我问。 “为什么它每六秒钟转一圈？”“它一定是在一个旋转平台上，”妈妈回答说。 她把食指指向空中，慢慢地转动。 “它为什么在那儿？”“我不确定，”爸爸回答，耸耸肩