6 The Smiling Fish

Chapter 6 The Smiling Fish Sofia took another step toward the beached whale. She had never stood beside such a large animal. But she knew

索非亚又朝那条搁浅的大鲸走了一步。 她从来没有站在这么大的动物旁边。 但她知道

what she had to do. "It's okay, whale. I'm going to help you," she whispered. As she reached out a hand to stroke the whale's smooth, slippery skin, it let out a high-pitched squeal. "I'm sorry," Sofia whispered, pulling her hand away. "I won't hurt you." She reached slowly for the bag, careful not to spook the whale again. She stood on tiptoe, the sand sinking beneath her feet. Could she get the bag without leaning on the frightened whale? "Take my hand!" she said to Max. He gripped one of her hands as she reached for the plastic bag with the other. She wobbled once, twice... then clutched the plastic bag with her fingertips. "Got it!" Relief flooded through her chest. The whale seemed to calm down, too. Its sides rose gently as it took a long, deep breath. "Nice work!" said Agnes, her cheeks flushed. But as Sofia glanced down at the bag in her hands, she gasped. "Bay Fish Grill? That's the restaurant in Starry Bay!"

她必须这么做。“没关系，鲸鱼。 我要帮助你，”她低声说。 当她伸出一只手去抚摸鲸鱼光滑光滑的皮肤时，它发出了一声尖锐的尖叫。 “对不起，”索非亚小声说，把手抽了回来。 “我不会伤害你的。”她慢慢地伸手去拿袋子，小心翼翼地不让鲸鱼再受惊。 她踮着脚尖站着，沙子在她脚下下沉。 她能在不靠在受惊的鲸鱼身上的情况下拿到袋子吗？ “抓住我的手！”她对麦克斯说。 当她伸手去拿塑料袋时，他抓住了她的一只手。 她摇晃了一次，两次…… 然后她用指尖抓住塑料袋。 “明白了!”她如释重负。 鲸鱼似乎也平静下来了。 它轻轻地抬起身子，深深地吸了一口气。 “干得好！”阿格尼斯说，她的脸涨得通红。 但当索菲亚低头看了一眼手里的袋子时，她倒吸了一口气。 “海湾烤鱼？”那是星空湾的餐厅！”

"No way. Let me see." Max stared at the Bay Fish Grill logo, and the smiling fish stared back. "Yep, I'd know that face anywhere," he said with a groan. "Bay Fish Grill is a chain of restaurants, so this might not be from Starry Bay. But it definitely traveled across the ocean to get here." Agnes sighed. "Iceland banned plastic bags like this," she said. "But we can't control what gets into the sea from other countries." "I'm sorry," said Sofia, gazing back at the whale. "Sorry to you, and sorry to the puffins who are feeding plastic to their babies." Then she began to pace, leaving a trail of footprints in the sand. "We have to get this whale back out to sea. But it's too heavy to push or pull. What do we do?" "Keep it wet!" Gunnar said, tucking his walkie-talkie into his pocket. "My friends say the vet wants us to keep the whale wet so that it stays cool and its skin doesn't dry

“没门。让我看看。”马克斯盯着海湾鱼烧烤店的标志，微笑的鱼也盯着他。 “是啊，这张脸我到哪儿都认得。”他呻吟着说。 “Bay Fish Grill是一家连锁餐厅，所以这可能不是来自星空湾。 但它肯定是漂洋过海来到这里的。” 艾格尼丝叹了口气。“冰岛禁止使用这样的塑料袋，”她说。 “但我们无法控制从其他国家进入海洋的东西。” “对不起，”索非亚说，回头望着鲸鱼。 “对不起你，也对不起那些用塑料喂宝宝的海雀。” 然后她开始踱步，在沙滩上留下了一串脚印。 “我们必须把这头鲸鱼放回大海。 但它太重了，推不动也拉不动。 我们该怎么办？”“保持潮湿！”加纳边说边把对讲机塞进口袋。 “我的朋友们说兽医希望我们让鲸鱼保持湿润，这样它就能保持凉爽，皮肤也不会干燥

out. Then we need to dig a channel beside it. When the tide comes in, the channel will fill with water and the whale can swim back out to sea." Agnes sighed. "How will we keep the whale wet? We don't have hoses or anything to carry water in!" "Wait!" said Sofia, sliding the backpack off her shoulder. "Will these work?" She tugged the towels out of the pack. "Yes!" said Agnes, brightening at once. "Hand me one." Together, they rushed toward the surf to wet the towels. As Sofia carefully placed the first wet towel on the whale's back, she held her breath—waiting for the whale to squeal again or pull away. Instead, it chirped softly and relaxed its head onto the sand. "That feels good, doesn't it?" Sofia whispered. Max zipped open his own backpack, and soon all four kids were laying cool wet towels across the whale's back, steering clear of its blowhole. "Time to dig the trench?" said Max. "If only we had shovels..." He shot Sofia a grin and then reached for his backpack. "Oh, wait! We do have shovels!"

出去了。那我们就得在旁边挖条通道。 当潮水来的时候，通道就会充满水，鲸鱼就可以游回大海了。” 艾格尼丝叹了口气。“我们怎样才能使鲸鱼保持湿润呢？” 我们没有水管或任何东西来取水！”“等等！”索菲亚说着，把背包从肩上滑了下来。 “这些有用吗？”她把毛巾从包里拽出来。 “是的！”阿格尼斯说，立刻高兴起来。 “给我一个。”他们一起冲向海浪，把毛巾弄湿。 索菲亚小心翼翼地把第一块湿毛巾放在鲸鱼背上，她屏住呼吸，等待鲸鱼再次尖叫或挣脱。 相反，它轻轻地叫着，把头放在沙滩上。 “感觉很好，不是吗？”索非亚低声说。 马克斯拉上自己的背包，很快四个孩子就把冰凉的湿毛巾铺在鲸鱼的背上，避开它的喷水孔。 “是时候挖沟了？”麦克斯说。 “要是我们有铲子就好了……” 他朝索菲亚咧嘴一笑，然后伸手去拿他的背包。 “哦,等等!我们有铁锹！”

"Wow!" said Agnes, laughing. "You two are very prepared." It's easy to be prepared when you've got a magical sailboat, thought Max, as he dug at the sand beside the whale. It knew just what we needed.

“哇！”阿格尼斯笑着说。 “你们俩准备得很充分。” 当你有一艘神奇的帆船时，做好准备是很容易的，马克斯一边在鲸鱼旁边挖沙子，一边想。 它知道我们需要什么。

Sofia began to dig, too, while Gunnar and Agnes made sure the towels on the whale's back stayed wet. The damp black sand was heavy, though, and hard to lift with the shovel. When Sofia stopped for a break, Agnes held out her hand. "My turn," she offered. "Thanks!" said Sofia, handing over the shovel. As she stepped away from the whale, it watched her with wise dark eyes. "You know we're trying to help you, don't you?" said Sofia soothingly. "You seem awfully smart." "Beluga whales are very smart," said Gunnar as he reached for Max's shovel. "Just like dolphins. They're in the same family." Sofia nodded. "I've read that they're really social, too." "And chatty," Max reminded her. "Remember how they were squawking, chirping, and whistling when we first saw them out at sea? They were communicating with each other—and maybe with us, too!" Sofia smiled, remembering. Then she glanced over her shoulder at the waves, where she hoped the pod of whales was still waiting. "When the tide comes in, you'll be free," she said, turning back toward the whale. "You can go join your family." But as the waves lapped against the shore, the whale

索非亚也开始挖土，加纳和艾格尼丝确保鲸鱼背上的毛巾保持湿润。 潮湿的黑沙子很沉，很难用铲子铲起。 索菲亚停下来休息时，阿格尼斯伸出手来。 “轮到我了，”她说。“谢谢！”索非亚说着，把铲子递给她。 当她离开鲸鱼时，它用一双睿智的黑眼睛注视着她。 “你知道我们是在帮助你，是不是？”索菲亚安慰地说。 “你看起来非常聪明。”“白鲸很聪明，”加纳一边说，一边伸手去拿麦克斯的铲子。 “就像海豚一样。他们是一家人。” 索非亚点点头。“我读到过，它们也很喜欢社交。” “而且很健谈，”马克斯提醒她。 “还记得我们第一次在海上看到它们时，它们是怎么叫、怎么叫、怎么吹口哨的吗？” 他们在互相交流——也许也在和我们交流！”索菲亚回忆着，笑了。 然后她回头看了看海浪，她希望那群鲸鱼还在那里等着她。 “涨潮时，你就自由了，”她说着，转身对着鲸鱼。 “你可以去和家人团聚了。” 但当海浪拍打着海岸时，鲸鱼