Chapter 7

Chapter seven The rain was pounding down on us. And to make things worse, fog was rolling in, as thick as pea soup with ham. I tried to follow the path of our tent as it rolled down the hill toward the lake. It was hard to see with all the fog and the rain. We were soaking wet, and even our sleeping bags were getting soggy. "I'll go down the hill and get our tent," Mom said. "Everyone stay just where you are." "No!" Emily screamed. "Don't leave me, Mommy." Emily threw her arms around my mom. She held on so tight, she almost put her in a

大雨倾盆而下。 更糟糕的是，雾滚滚而来，浓得像火腿豌豆汤。 我们的帐篷从山上滚下，朝湖边走去，我试着顺着帐篷的路径走。 又雾又雨，很难看清。 我们全身湿透，连睡袋都湿透了。 “我要下山去拿我们的帐篷，”妈妈说。 “大家都待在原地别动。” “不!”艾米丽尖叫。“别离开我，妈妈。” 艾米丽抱住了我妈妈。 她抓得太紧了，差点把她

headlock. That girl could be a wrestler on TV. It was clear my mom wasn't going anywhere without Emily attached to her like a fanny pack. "I'll go after the tent," I said. I couldn't believe that those words had come out of my mouth. But there they were. "Frankie!" I yelled over the wind. "You stay here and stand guard. Cheerio, you come with me." Cheerio yipped and looked at me as if to say, "You've got to be kidding. Do I look like I'm wearing a raincoat?" He dived into my sleeping bag, and all I could see was the shape of a long body burrowing into the deep end of my bag.

迎头一击。那个女孩可能是电视上的摔跤手。 很明显，没有艾米丽的陪伴，我妈妈哪儿都不会去。 “我去找帐篷，”我说。 我简直不敢相信那些话是从我嘴里说出来的。 但他们就在那里。“弗兰基!”我在风中大叫。 “你留在这里站岗。 麦圈，跟我来。” 麦里奥叫了一声，看着我，好像在说：“你在开玩笑吧。 我看起来像穿着雨衣吗？”他钻进了我的睡袋，我所能看到的只有一个长长的躯体的形状，它钻进了我睡袋的最深处。

"Okay, I guess it's just me," I said. "Here, take the flashlight," my mom said, rummaging around in her duffel bag to find it. "And come right back with the tent." "Don't worry," I said in the most confident voice I could come up with. "I'll handle this." I turned on the flashlight and jumped off the wooden platform. What had been solid ground in the afternoon was now a sea of slippery mud. I'd like to say I landed on my feet, but I didn't. I'd like to say I landed on my knees, but I didn't. That leaves only one possibility, and you guessed it. I landed smack on my backside.

“好吧，我想只有我这样。”我说。 “给，拿着手电筒，”妈妈说着，在她的行李袋里翻找着手电筒。 “马上带着帐篷回来。” “别担心，”我用我能想到的最自信的声音说。 “我来处理。”我打开手电筒，跳下了木平台。 下午还是坚实的地面，现在变成了滑泥的海洋。 我想说我已经恢复过来了，但我没有。 我想说我跪下来了，但我没有。 那就只剩下一种可能了，你猜对了。 我重重地摔在地上。

"You okay, Zip?" I heard Frankie call out. "No problem," I hollered back. "I meant to do that." Since I was already on the ground, I thought I'd just stay there and crawl the rest of the way. I waded through the mud on my hands and knees. Every few feet, I'd stop and shine the flashlight ahead of me, looking in the distance for our tent. The flashlight didn't help much, because all it did was light up the fog. Just keep going forward, I said to myself. You can't be scared now. Everyone is counting

“你没事吧，次波？”我听见弗兰基在喊。 “没问题，”我大声回答。 “我是有意这么做的。”既然我已经在地上了，我想我就呆在那里，爬完剩下的路。 我用手和膝盖在泥中跋涉。 每隔几英尺，我就停下来，用手电照亮前方，向远处寻找我们的帐篷。 手电筒帮不上什么忙，因为它只能把雾照亮。 我对自己说，继续前进吧。 你现在不会害怕了。每个人都在数

on you. It's too bad that I was too nervous to answer myself. I continued crawling down the muddy hill, trying to listen for the sound of a flapping tent. I was so busy listening that I crawled right into a big puddle of muddy water. I lost my balance and dropped the flashlight. I reached out to search for it, digging my hands into the mud in front of me. I grabbed on to something that I hoped was the flashlight, but it wasn't! It was long and thin and slimy. "Yikes! A snake!" I yelled as I pulled it out of the ground.

在你身上。太糟糕了，我太紧张了，没有回答自己的问题。 我继续从泥泞的山坡上爬下来，试图倾听帐篷拍打的声音。 我忙着听，结果爬进了一个泥水坑里。 我失去平衡，把手电筒掉在地上。 我伸出手去寻找它，双手在我面前的泥里摸索着。 我抓住了一个我希望是手电筒的东西，但它不是！它又长又细又黏糊糊的。 “呀! !一条蛇!”我一边喊一边把它从地里拔出来。

It took me a few seconds to realize the snake wasn't moving. That's because it wasn't a snake at all. But it was a snake-shaped old tree root, so you can't blame me for being a little scared. I decided to leave the flashlight behind. Through the howling wind, I thought I heard the tent flapping in the distance. I had to get to it. Just the thought of my mom and Emily and Frankie sitting out in the open was enough to push me forward. I crawled past swaying trees and empty campsites. Up ahead, I saw the shadowy outline of something wide and dark. Because of the thick fog, I couldn't make out what it was. It could have been our tent. Or it could have been a bear. I stopped moving and held my breath, waiting for it to roar. It flapped instead. Phew! It was our tent! I crawled toward it at top speed. I don't think I've ever crawled so fast in my life, not even when I was a baby. Just before I reached

我花了几秒钟才意识到那条蛇没有动。 那是因为它根本就不是蛇。 但那是一根蛇形的老树根，所以你不能怪我有点害怕。 我决定把手电筒留下。 透过呼啸的风，我觉得我听到了帐篷在远处拍打的声音。 我必须去找它。只要想到我妈妈、艾米丽和弗兰基坐在户外就足以让我向前走。 我爬过摇曳的树木和空荡荡的露营地。 在前方，我看到了一个又宽又黑的东西的模糊轮廓。 因为浓雾，我看不清那是什么。 这可能是我们的帐篷。 也可能是一头熊。 我停住脚步，屏住呼吸，等着它吼叫。 它反而拍打着翅膀。唷!那是我们的帐篷！我以最快的速度向它爬去。 我想我这辈子从来没有爬得这么快过，即使是在我还是个婴儿的时候。 就在我到达之前