4 The Cliff’s Edge

Chapter 4 The Cliff's Edge "This way," said Gunnar. They rounded the base of the cliffs, heading toward a steep dirt path. "Nowhere to go but up!" Max let out a low whistle as he craned his head to look at the top of the cliff. His backpack suddenly felt very heavy. "I think I'll wait for the cable car," he joked.

“这边走，”加纳说。 他们绕过悬崖底部，朝一条陡峭的土路走去。 “除了往上走，别无他法！”马克斯低低地吹了一声口哨，抬起头看着悬崖的顶端。 他的背包突然感到很重。 “我想我还是等缆车吧，”他开玩笑说。

"C'mon," said Sofia, nudging him. "Remember, there are puffins at the top!" She started up the path so quickly, she nearly passed Gunnar. Max followed, but he soon felt sweat sliding down his neck from the effort. He unzipped his parka, hoping the breeze would cool him down. "Do you hike this path a lot?" he asked Gunnar, who wasn't the slightest bit out of breath.

“走吧。”索菲亚用胳膊肘碰了碰他说。 “记住，山顶上有海雀！”她飞快地走上小路，差点儿就超过了加纳。 马克斯紧随其后，但他很快就感到汗水从脖子上滑了下来。 他拉开大衣的拉链，希望微风能让他凉快下来。 “你经常走这条路吗？”他问加纳，加纳一点也不上气不接下气。

Gunnar nodded. "Our friends take turns with us. We check on the puffins and report back." He patted the walkie-talkie at his side. "Everyone in the Puffin Patrol

贡纳点点头。“我们的朋友轮流和我们在一起。 我们检查海雀的情况，然后回来报告。” 他拍了拍身边的对讲机。 “海雀巡逻队的每个人

gets one of these." "And a badge?" asked Sofia, pointing at the round patch sewn to Agnes's jacket. A cute puffin was embroidered against a blue sky. "Yes," said Agnes. "And notebooks for jotting down what we see. It's all very official." Sofia sighed. "I'd love to be part of the Puffin Patrol— and to hike this pretty path every day." The steep, rocky trail had gradually become a grassy slope blanketed with wild flowers. As they neared the top of the trail, Agnes stopped. "The fjord is the most beautiful part," she said. "Look! It's the valley over there that runs out to sea." To their right, the mountains gave way to a U-shaped valley. A thin waterfall trickled down the cliffs toward the sea, the water sparkling in the distance.

得到其中一个。”“还有徽章？”索菲亚指着缝在阿格尼斯夹克上的圆形补丁问道。 在蓝天的映衬下绣着一只可爱的海雀。 “是的，”阿格尼斯说。“还有笔记本，用来记下我们看到的东西。 一切都很正式。”索非亚叹了口气。 “我很想成为海雀巡逻队的一员，每天都能在这条美丽的小路上徒步旅行。” 陡峭的岩石小道逐渐变成了长满野花的草坡。 当他们快到小路的顶端时，阿格尼斯停了下来。 “峡湾是最美丽的地方，”她说。 “看!那边是通向大海的山谷。” 在他们的右边，群山让位给了一个u形的山谷。 一条细细的瀑布从悬崖上滴落下来，流向大海，远处的水闪闪发光。

Sofia stepped toward the edge to get a better view, but a stiff gust of wind pushed her backward. "Careful!" Gunnar called. "Puffins dig their burrows out of the cliffside just below your feet." Sofia froze. Was the ground beneath her moving, or was she imagining it? She slowly stepped back toward the trail. "It's all right," said Agnes. "Come look at the other burrows!" She led Sofia to a small rocky ridge and knelt behind it. "Puffin burrows?" Max hurried toward the ridge. He crouched beside Sofia and gazed over the rocks. Grassy mounds stretched out before them. Here and

索非亚向悬崖边缘走去，想看得更清楚些，但一阵狂风把她向后推了推。 “小心!”贡纳。“海雀在你脚下的悬崖边挖洞。” 索非亚冻结。是她脚下的地面在动，还是她的幻觉？ 她慢慢地向小路走去。 “没关系，”阿格尼斯说。 “快来看其他的洞穴！”她把索非亚带到一个小岩石山脊前，跪在它后面。 “海雀洞穴?”马克斯急忙向山脊走去。 他蹲在索菲亚身边，凝视着岩石。 草堆在他们面前展开。 这里,

there, Max could see deep round holes in the earth, masked by tufts of grass. When a puffin poked its colorful bill out of a hole, Sofia gasped. "I see one!" she whispered. The puffin crept from the hole and waddled forward on bright orange feet. Soon another puffin popped out of a burrow. And then another. As they perched on the grass, like little soldiers standing guard, Agnes and Gunnar began jotting notes in their Puffin Patrol notebooks. "Where are the chicks?" whispered Max. "Deep in the burrows," said Gunnar. "It's not fledgling season yet—the pufflings can't fly. So they stay

在那里，马克斯可以看到地上深深的圆洞，被一簇簇的草遮住了。 当一只海雀从洞里伸出它彩色的喙时，索菲亚倒吸了一口气。 “我看见一只！”她低声说。 海雀从洞里爬出来，用亮橙色的脚摇摇摆摆地向前走。 不久，另一只海雀从洞里跳出来。 然后是另一个。他们像站岗的小士兵一样坐在草地上，艾格尼丝和加纳开始在海雀巡逻队的笔记本上记笔记。 “小鸡在哪儿？”麦克斯小声问。 “在地洞深处。”加纳说。 “现在还不是羽翼未丰的季节——海鹦还不会飞。 所以他们留下来了