8 Feathers

Chapter 8 Feathers The noisy hum of voices made Max feel as though he were back under the elephant ear plant, listening to cicadas. But he was in Juliana's restaurant, where

嘈杂的嗡嗡声让马克斯觉得自己好像回到了象耳植物下，听着蝉鸣。 但他在朱莉安娜的餐厅，在那里

happy tourists were chattering and laughing. At every table, people shared stories and photos of the scarlet macaws. "I've never seen anything so beautiful," a woman was telling her husband. "We'll have to let our friends know about this." A man at another table held up his phone. "I'm going to post a few photos online," he said. "What's the name of this place again?" "Juliana's," Paulo piped up. As he swiveled back to face Max and Sofia, he whispered, "Business will really pick up now!" His mother squeezed his shoulder. As she set down a plate of steaming pastéis, she smiled. "Maybe we should rename the restaurant," she said. "How about 'The Scarlet Macaw'?" "Yes!" said Max. "You could paint the walls red, and the window frames yellow and blue." "And hang photos of the macaws," added Sofia. "That would be a great way to celebrate them," said Paulo. "But..." He frowned. "What is it?" asked Sofia. "I only wish there were a way to stop more fires from destroying their nesting spots," he said. "If we

开心的游客们谈笑风生。 在每一张餐桌上，人们都在分享猩红金刚鹦鹉的故事和照片。 “我从来没见过这么漂亮的东西，”一个女人对她丈夫说。 “我们得让朋友们知道这件事。” 另一张桌子上的一个男人举起了他的手机。 “我要在网上发几张照片，”他说。 “再说一遍这个地方叫什么名字？”“朱莉安娜的。”保罗尖声说。 他转身面对着马克斯和索菲亚，低声说：“现在生意真的会好起来的！”他妈妈捏了捏他的肩膀。 当她放下一盘热气腾腾的面饼时，她笑了。 “也许我们应该给餐厅重新命名，”她说。 “《猩红色金刚鹦鹉》怎么样？”“是的！”麦克斯说。 “你可以把墙漆成红色，把窗框漆成黄色和蓝色。” “挂上金刚鹦鹉的照片，”索菲亚补充说。 “那将是庆祝他们的好方法，”保罗说。 “但是……”他皱起了眉头。“什么事？”索菲亚问。 “我只希望有一种方法可以阻止更多的火灾摧毁它们的筑巢点，”他说。 “如果我们

had more money, maybe we could protect this part of the forest from fire damage." "Then we'll just have to raise more money," said Sofia. "Like a scarlet macaw fund or something." She felt someone tap her arm. "Did you mention a scarlet macaw fund?" asked the woman behind her. "I'd like to donate to that, if I could." Sofia blinked. "Of course!" she said. "Um..." She scanned the restaurant, searching for a jar, bag, or box —anything she could pass to collect money. If the tourists want to help save the macaws, we should let them! she thought. Paulo quickly emptied the napkins, knives, and forks out of a jar on the table. "Here!" he said, offering it to the woman. "You can be the first to donate money to protect the scarlet macaws." He caught Sofia's eye and winked. As the jar circled around the restaurant, it began to fill with bills and coins. "Maybe tourists will donate after every tour!" Max whispered to Paulo. Caw, caw! A birdcall came from outside, as if saying, Yes! Good idea! But as it sounded again, the hair stood up on the back of Max's neck. "That wasn't a macaw," he said to

如果有更多的钱，也许我们可以保护这部分森林免受火灾的破坏。” “那我们就得筹更多的钱了。”索非亚说。 “就像猩红金刚鹦鹉基金之类的。” 她感到有人轻拍她的胳膊。 “你刚才提到一只猩红色金刚鹦鹉基金了吗？”她身后的女人问。 “如果可以的话，我想为此捐款。” 索非亚眨了眨眼睛。“当然！”她说。 “嗯……”她扫视了一下餐厅，寻找一个罐子、袋子或盒子——任何她可以传递的东西来收钱。 如果游客想帮助拯救金刚鹦鹉，我们应该让他们去！她想。 保罗迅速地从桌子上的一个罐子里倒出餐巾、刀和叉子。 “给！”他说着，把它递给了那个女人。 “你可以成为第一个为保护猩红金刚鹦鹉捐款的人。” 他碰到索菲亚的眼睛，使了个眼色。 罐子在餐厅里转了一圈，里面开始装满了钞票和硬币。 “也许游客每次游览后都会捐款！”麦克斯小声对保罗说。 高高的高高的!外面传来一声鸟鸣，好像在说：是的！好主意!但当它再次响起时，马克斯的头发都竖起来了。 “那不是金刚鹦鹉，”他说

Sofia. "That was a seagull." Her eyebrows shot up. She crossed the room to the window, where she could see Wind Rider slowly gliding up alongside the dock. The navy hull and white sail looked so fresh and new against the weathered boards of the pier. Sofia felt a sudden pang of homesickness. "Is it time to go?" Max asked as she sat back down. She nodded. "I think so." "Go where?" asked Paulo. "Home," said Max. "Our boat just arrived." He started to get up, then hesitated. It was so hard to say goodbye to new friends! Paulo's face fell, but as the jar made its way back to him, he brightened back up. "Thank you for helping me save the scarlet macaws," he said, lifting the jar filled with money. "The baby chicks are in their nest, the forest will regrow, and one day, maybe all the macaws will return to our forest." Sofia and Max said their goodbyes and slowly walked down the dock toward Wind Rider. Paulo and Juliana followed them out. A moment later, Antonio came, too. "Wait!" he called. "I have something for you. I found these on the deck of my boat."

索非亚。“那是一只海鸥。” 她的眉毛一下子竖了起来。她穿过房间走到窗前，看到风骑士沿着码头缓缓滑行。 海军蓝的船身和白色的船帆在饱经风霜的码头木板的映衬下显得那么清新。 索非亚突然感到一阵思乡之痛。 “该走了吗？”马克斯坐下后问道。 她点了点头。“我想是的。”“去哪儿？”保罗问。 “回家。”麦克斯说。“我们的船刚到。” 他刚要站起来，又犹豫了一下。 跟新朋友说再见真是太难了！保罗的脸沉了下来，但当罐子回到他身边时，他又高兴了起来。 “谢谢你帮我拯救了猩红色金刚鹦鹉，”他说着，举起了装满钱的罐子。 “小鸡在它们的巢里，森林会重新生长，有一天，也许所有的金刚鹦鹉都会回到我们的森林里。” 索菲亚和马克斯道别后，慢慢地沿着码头向风骑士走去。 保罗和朱莉安娜跟着他们走了出去。 不一会儿，安东尼奥也来了。 “等等！”他喊道。“我有东西要给你。 我在我的船甲板上发现了这些东西。”

He pulled three long feathers from his apron pocket. Sofia marveled at the brilliant red base and the bright blue tip. She could almost imagine the macaw that had shed it while flying high above the clay lick. "Thank you," said Max as he gently reached for a feather. "No, thank you," said Juliana, with a warm smile. "Thank you both for all you have done for the macaws, and for our restaurant." Antonio handed the last feather to Paulo. As Sofia and Max climbed up onto Wind Rider, Paulo waved

他从围裙口袋里掏出三根长羽毛。 索菲亚对鲜红的底座和亮蓝色的顶端感到惊奇。 她几乎可以想象出金刚鹦鹉在飞到粘土舔地上空时掉下它的样子。 “谢谢你。”马克斯说着，轻轻地伸手去拿一根羽毛。 “不，谢谢，”朱莉安娜说，脸上带着温暖的微笑。 “感谢你们为金刚鹦鹉和我们的餐厅所做的一切。” 安东尼奥把最后一根羽毛递给保罗。 当索菲亚和马克斯爬上风骑士时，保罗挥了挥手

his feather in the air. "Goodbye!" he called as the boat pulled away from the dock. Max waved, too, until the boat rounded the bend. The sails flapped overhead as the breeze began to pick up. "Let's get these feathers somewhere safe before they blow away!" Sofia called to him. Belowdecks, they placed their feathers on the shelf beside the carved sea chest. There was a perfect spot for them, right next to the turtle eggshell they'd been given in Hawaii. They admired their growing collection for a few moments before Wind Rider began rocking in a most familiar way.

他的羽毛在空中飘扬。“再见！”当船驶离码头时，他喊道。 马克斯也挥了挥手，直到船转过弯。 风势开始增强，帆在头顶上扇动。 “在这些羽毛被风吹走之前，我们把它们放到安全的地方吧！”索菲亚叫他。 在甲板下，他们把羽毛放在雕刻的海箱旁边的架子上。 对它们来说，有一个完美的地方，就在夏威夷给它们的龟壳旁边。 在风骑士开始以最熟悉的方式摇摆之前，他们欣赏了一会儿他们不断增长的收藏。