7 Race against the Tide

Chapter 7 Race Against the Tide Max heard the buzz of a motorboat and studied the waves. "Are those your friends?" he asked Gunnar. "Yes," said Gunnar. "At last!" The small blue boat was just rounding the rocky bend into the inlet. Max heard gasps and saw the kids in the boat pointing into the waves. "Belugas!" The cry drifted across the water to the shore. "The pod must still be out there," said Max. Sofia strained her eyes to see who was in the boat.

马克斯听到摩托艇的嗡嗡声，仔细观察着海浪。 “他们是你的朋友吗？”他问加纳。 “是的。”加纳说。“最后!”那艘蓝色的小船正绕过岩石的弯道进入海湾。 马克斯听到了喘息声，看到船上的孩子们指着海浪。 “白鲸!”哭声越过水面传到岸边。 “荚果一定还在外面。”麦克斯说。 索菲亚睁大眼睛想看看船上的人是谁。

"Did your friends bring the vet?" she asked. Agnes shook her head. "It doesn't look like it. The vet must be busy with another emergency. But our friends will help us with the whale until she gets here." When the boat slid ashore, three kids spilled out, carrying buckets and towels. Gunnar introduced them. "This is Benny," he said, pointing toward a boy in a black jacket. "And Lana." A girl with a long side braid dipped her head. "And Gefn." Gefn zipped up her pink puffer jacket and grinned. "This is Max and Sofia," Gunnar told them. "They love animals as much as we do!" Lana waved her phone in the air as she crossed the beach. "We have the aquatic vet on speakerphone. She'll talk us through what to do until she gets here." "Hello, kids!" A friendly woman's voice rose from the phone above the sound of the surf. "I'm going to have you do a quick exam, okay? First check the whale for any injuries to its tail, fins, or skin. Look for gashes or bites." Max followed Benny toward the whale's head. The boy pointed toward a dark scar just above the blowhole. "Is that an injury?" asked Max. "An old one, I think," said Benny. "It looks like it healed." As friendly Gefn followed Sofia from fin to fin, the whale swiveled its head to watch them. "Do you see

“你的朋友把兽医带来了吗？”她问。 阿格尼斯摇了摇头。“看起来不像。 兽医一定又有急事。 不过我们的朋友会帮我们照顾鲸鱼的，直到她回来。” 当船滑上岸时，三个孩子涌了出来，提着水桶和毛巾。 加纳介绍他们认识。“这是本尼，”他指着一个穿黑夹克的男孩说。 ”和拉娜”。一个梳着长长的侧辫子的女孩低下了头。 ”和Gefn”。格芬拉上粉红色羽绒服的拉链，咧嘴一笑。 “这是马克斯和索菲亚，”加纳告诉他们。 “他们和我们一样喜欢动物！”拉娜穿过海滩时在空中挥舞着她的手机。 “我们的免提里有水生兽医。 在她来之前，她会告诉我们该怎么做。” “你好,孩子!”电话里传来一个友好的女人的声音，盖过了海浪的声音。 “我要让你做个快速检查，好吗？” 首先检查鲸鱼的尾巴、鳍或皮肤是否受伤。 寻找伤口或咬伤。” 马克斯跟着本尼朝鲸鱼头走去。 男孩指着喷水孔上方的一道黑色伤疤。 “那是受伤吗？”马克斯问。 “我想是旧的，”本尼说。 “看起来已经愈合了。” 友好的格芬跟着索菲亚从鳍到鳍，鲸鱼转着头看着他们。 “你看见了吗？

anything?" Gefn asked. Sofia blew out her breath. "No, thank goodness." "Are the whale's eyes open and bright?" the vet asked. "Yes!" said Sofia. "It's been watching us." She gazed back into the whale's wise eyes and smiled. "Good, good. And how long is it?" asked the vet. Max, Gunnar, and Benny paced alongside the whale, trying to guess its length. Gunnar and Benny walked toe-to-heel, but since Max knew his shoe was shorter than a foot, he took slightly larger steps. Max counted off ten footsteps out loud. "So about ten feet," said the vet. "And it sounds like it's healthy. I think that plastic bag over the blowhole must be what caused the whale to beach. Have you finished digging the trench?" Benny rounded the whale's tail. "I think it should be deeper," he said. "Hand me a shovel."

什么?”Gefn问道。索菲亚喘了口气。 “没有，谢天谢地。”“鲸鱼的眼睛睁开了吗？”兽医问。 “是的！”索菲亚说。“它一直在注视着我们。” 她回望着鲸鱼睿智的眼睛，笑了。 “好,很好。它有多长？”兽医问。 马克斯、加纳和本尼在鲸鱼旁边踱来踱去，试图猜测它的长度。 加纳和本尼踮着脚尖走着，但麦克斯知道他的鞋比一英尺短，所以他的步子迈得稍微大一些。 麦克斯大声数了十个脚步声。 “大概十英尺吧，”兽医说。 “听起来很健康。 我认为喷孔上的塑料袋一定是导致鲸鱼搁浅的原因。 你们挖好壕沟了吗？”本尼绕着鲸鱼的尾巴。 “我认为应该更深入，”他说。 “给我一把铲子。”

"I'll help, too," said Lana, setting down her phone on an overturned bucket. Sofia watched them dig, wishing there were more than two shovels. Then she heard Gunnar shout. "Tide's coming in!" "Quick, everybody dig!" cried Max. He dropped to his knees and began scooping up sand with his hands. Sofia and the others joined him, digging furiously as the foamy surf crept farther up the beach. When the waves reached the trench and began to fill it with water, the whale thumped its tail, as if it were excited, too. "Keep digging!" cried Benny as he pitched a shovelful of sand over his shoulder. Sofia was digging so fast, she could barely catch her breath. Her hands were freezing numb, but she ignored the cold. "Make it wider!" she cried. "So there's enough

“我也会帮忙的，”拉娜说着，把手机放在一个翻倒的水桶上。 索非亚看着他们挖土，真希望不是只有两把铲子。 然后她听到加纳的喊声。 “潮水来了！”“快，大家都挖！”麦克斯叫道。 他跪了下来，开始用手挖沙子。 索非亚和其他人也加入了他的行列，随着泡沫般的海浪向海滩爬去，他们疯狂地挖掘着。 当海浪到达海沟并开始灌满水时，鲸鱼拍打着尾巴，好像它也很兴奋。 “继续挖！”本尼喊道，他把一锹沙子扔到肩上。 索菲亚挖得太快了，都快喘不过气来了。 她的手冻僵了，但她不顾寒冷。 “再宽一点！”她叫道。 “所以这就够了

water for the whale to swim free!" Beside her, Gefn scrabbled at the sand, too—like a dog digging up a bone. When the trench was full of water, Sofia sat back on her heels. "Now what?" she said, her heart pounding in her ears. "Now the whale needs a little help," said the vet on speakerphone. "Roll it into the channel. Get on one side of the whale and gently push." Max locked eyes with Sofia. This wasn't the biggest whale he'd ever seen, but it looked heavy. Would they be strong enough? We'll have to be, he decided. As they all lined up alongside the whale, Max took a deep breath. "On the count of three!" he cried. "One, two..." He set his hands on the whale's smooth, wet skin. "Three!"

给鲸鱼自由游泳的水！”在她身边，格芬也在沙子上乱抓，就像一只狗在挖骨头一样。 壕沟里满是水，索非亚踮起脚后跟坐了下来。 “现在怎么办？”她说，她的心在耳朵里狂跳。 “现在鲸鱼需要一点帮助，”兽医通过免提电话说。 “把它滚到沟里去。 站在鲸鱼的一边，轻轻地推它。” 马克斯和索菲亚对视了一下。 这不是他见过的最大的鲸鱼，但看起来很重。 它们足够强大吗？ 我们必须这样，他决定。 当他们都站在鲸鱼旁边时，马克斯深吸了一口气。 “我数到三！”他喊道。 “一,二……”他把手放在鲸鱼光滑湿润的皮肤上。 “三!”