4 The Tiny Turtle

Chapter 4 The Tiny Turtle Carrying their fins and masks, Max and Sofia raced along the beach toward the girl. "Is everything all right?" Sofia asked as they approached her. Sofia leaned over to catch her breath.

马克斯和索菲亚带着脚蹼和面具，沿着海滩向小女孩跑去。 “一切都好吗？”他们走近索菲亚时，索菲亚问道。 索非亚俯下身来喘口气。

The girl shook her head, her thick black braid swaying from shoulder to shoulder. "A baby sea turtle hatched from its nest." She pointed toward a low mesh fence in the sand. Sofia had seen fences like this before. They were noticeable enough to keep people off the nest but flexible enough for the animals that lived there to get in and out. "It's running the wrong way!" the girl said. "I'm trying to lead it to the water before it gets lost." "A baby sea turtle?" Sofia gasped. "Where?" She tiptoed forward, searching the sand. "Here!" said Max. He crouched low to get a better look at the baby turtle, which was only about the length of a stick of bubble gum. Its whole body wobbled back and forth as it scrambled across the sand on its flippers. But the girl was right—it was running for the trees instead of the water! Thinking quickly, Max gently blocked the turtle's

女孩摇了摇头，浓密的黑色辫子在肩上摇摆。 “一只小海龟从巢里孵出来了。” 她指着沙滩上一个低矮的网状栅栏。 索菲亚以前见过这样的栅栏。 它们足够引人注目，可以让人们远离巢，但又足够灵活，可以让住在那里的动物进出。 “它跑错方向了！”女孩说。 “我想在它迷路之前把它引到水里去。” “一只小海龟？”索非亚气喘吁吁地说。 “在哪里?”她踮着脚尖向前走，在沙滩上搜寻。 “给你！”麦克斯说。他蹲下身子，想看清楚这只只有一根泡泡糖那么长的小乌龟。 当它用鳍状肢在沙滩上爬行时，整个身体前后摇晃。 但是女孩是对的——它是冲着树而不是冲着水跑！马克斯想得很快，轻轻地堵住了乌龟的嘴

path with a piece of driftwood. Sofia used her foot to scoop a path through the sand. The path sloped downward, straight to the water's edge. "C'mon, little buddy," she said in a soothing voice. "This way." The girl with the braid squatted by the path to help keep the turtle on track. As Max watched in wonder, the turtle began to scurry down the beach, faster and faster, toward the water. "It's working," he said under his breath. "We did it!" When a wave rolled in, the water scooped up the baby turtle, and soon it was swimming safely out to

小路上有一块浮木。 索菲亚用脚在沙地上挖出一条路来。 这条小路向下倾斜，一直延伸到水边。 “来吧，小家伙，”她用安慰的声音说。 “这种方式。”那个扎着辫子的女孩蹲在小路旁，帮助乌龟走正道。 马克斯惊奇地看着，乌龟开始沿着海滩往水里跑，越跑越快。 “它起作用了，”他压低声音说。 “我们成功了！”当一个波浪滚滚而来的时候，水把小海龟卷了起来，很快它就安全地游到了海里

sea. "Yes!" cried Max. "Yay!" yelled Sofia. She turned to give the girl with the braid a high five. "Thank you," said the girl. "You showed up just in time!" She gave a shy smile. "I'm Laila. My mom and

海中。“是的！”麦克斯叫道。“耶！”索菲亚喊道。 她转过身来和那个扎辫子的女孩击掌。 “谢谢你，”女孩说。 “你来得正是时候！”她害羞地笑了笑。 “我是莱拉。我妈妈和

I live just down the beach. Are you staying here at the hotel?" Sofia glanced up at the Aloha Inn. "Um, no, we're not. I'm Sofia, and this is Max." She pointed toward Max, and then realized he was gone. "Max?" "Over here!" He stood beside the mesh fence, staring down at the turtle nest. It looked like a mound of sand. "Why did only one turtle hatch?" he asked. "There should be dozens of eggs in there. But there's only one set of footprints—er, I mean flipper prints!" Sofia ran to join him. "Maybe it hatched early. My mom told me most sea turtles hatch at night." Max nodded. "I hope the other turtles don't hatch until after the sun sets. They look for the moonlight on the water, and that's how they find their way." Laila cleared her throat. "I don't think hatching tonight would be a good idea at all...," she said. Sofia whirled around. "What do you mean?" Laila twisted her braid around her finger and then pointed at the Aloha Inn. "The inn is having a grand opening party tonight. In a few hours, it will be all lit up!" Max sucked in his breath. "What?" asked Sofia. "What's wrong?"

我就住在海滩那边。 你住在旅馆里吗？”索菲亚抬头看了一眼阿罗哈旅馆。 “嗯，不，我们不是。我是索菲亚，这是麦克斯。” 她指着马克斯，然后意识到他不见了。 “马克斯?”“在这里!”他站在网栅栏旁边，低头盯着龟窝。 它看起来像一堆沙子。 “为什么只有一只海龟孵出来？”他问。 “里面应该有几十个鸡蛋。 但是只有一组脚印——呃，我是说鳍状肢的脚印！”索菲亚跑过去和他会合。 “也许它孵得很早。我妈妈告诉我，大多数海龟在晚上孵化。” 马克斯点点头。“我希望其他海龟在太阳落山后才孵化。 它们寻找水面上的月光，这就是它们找到路的方式。” 莱拉清了清嗓子。“我认为今晚孵化根本不是个好主意……她说。 索菲亚转过身来。“你是什么意思？”莱拉把辫子缠在手指上，然后指着阿罗哈旅馆。 “旅馆今晚要举行盛大的开业晚会。 再过几个小时，这里就会灯火通明！”马克斯吸了口气。 “什么？”索菲亚问。“怎么了?”

"The baby turtles might get confused by the hotel lights," said Max. "They'll head away from the water instead of toward it!" He began to pace the length of the mesh fence. "It's called light pollution," he said. "It's one reason why sea turtles are endangered. And why there were so few turtles to see back home in Starry Bay." "So what do we do?" Sofia asked. No one answered. Silence fell over the beach. Beneath the late afternoon sun, waves lapped gently against the shore. Max kicked at the sand with his toe. "I wish there was a way to make the ocean brighter." Laila spun around slowly. "I think I have an idea," she said. As she stared up at the rocky cliffs surrounding the cove, a slow smile spread across her face.

“小海龟可能会被酒店的灯光弄糊涂，”马克斯说。 “它们会远离水，而不是迎向水！”他开始量网栅栏的长度。 “这叫做光污染，”他说。 “这是海龟濒临灭绝的原因之一。 以及为什么在星空湾能看到的海龟那么少。” “那我们该怎么办？”索菲亚问道。 没有人回答。海滩上一片寂静。 在傍晚的阳光下，海浪轻轻地拍打着海岸。 马克斯用脚趾踢着沙子。 “我希望有一种方法能让海洋变得更明亮。” 莱拉慢慢地转过身来。“我想我有个主意，”她说。 当她凝视着海湾周围的岩石悬崖时，她的脸上慢慢地绽开了笑容。