9 The Hungry Puffling

Chapter 9 The Hungry Puffling As Sofia crouched behind the rocky ridge, she studied the

第九章饥饿的小鹰索非亚蹲在岩石山脊后面，仔细研究着

sky, watching for puffins. The Puffin Patrol had spent the afternoon cleaning up the burrows. While most of the puffins were away fishing for food, the patrol had carefully picked up trash from the grassy mounds. No matter what happens, we tried to help the pufflings, Sofia reminded herself. We did what we could! "What time is it?" she asked Max for the third time. "Time for dinner—finally," he said. He pointed at the puffin landing on the burrows. As it waddled forward, a floppy fish swung from its beak. "Mmm, delicious," said Max. "No more plastic fish!" Sofia crossed her fingers, hoping she might recognize the puffling they'd seen earlier. As more birds returned from the sea, she waited. Then a flutter of wings caught her by surprise. A puffin landed a few feet away and dropped two juicy fish in front of a burrow. "Those are herring!" whispered Agnes. "What a tasty meal for the puffling." "But where is it?" asked Sofia, straining to see. When she heard a cheep, she held her breath. As the puffling popped out of the hole, Sofia grinned. Just like the others, the fuzzy-headed chick had a dark gray beak and feet, with none of its mother's bright colors. But it was so cute! It cheeped again and then began to

天空，看着海雀。 海雀巡逻队花了一下午的时间清理洞穴。 当大多数海雀外出觅食时，巡逻队小心翼翼地从草堆里捡起垃圾。 “不管发生什么，我们都尽力去帮助这些小家伙，”索菲亚提醒自己。 我们已经尽力了！“几点了？”她第三次问马克斯。 “晚餐时间终于到了，”他说。 他指着落在洞穴上的海雀。 当它摇摇摆摆地向前走时，一只软绵绵的鱼从它的嘴里荡了出来。 “嗯，很好吃，”马克斯说。 “不要再吃塑料鱼了！”索非亚交叉着手指，希望她能认出他们之前看到的那只小狗。 当更多的鸟从海里飞回来时，她等待着。 突然，翅膀扑腾的声音使她大吃一惊。 一只海雀落在几英尺远的地方，把两条多汁的鱼扔到一个洞穴前。 “那些是鲱鱼！”阿格尼斯小声说。 “多么美味的一餐啊！” “它在哪儿呢？”索非亚问，竭力想看清楚。 当她听到叫声时，她屏住了呼吸。 当小家伙从洞里蹦出来时，索菲亚笑了。 就像其他小鸡一样，这只毛茸茸的小鸡有着深灰色的喙和脚，没有妈妈那样鲜艳的颜色。 但是它太可爱了！它又吱吱叫了起来

gobble up its dinner. "Yes!" whispered Sofia. "We saved the beached whale and cleaned up the puffin burrows." We did what we came here to do, she realized, her heart swelling with joy and pride. As more puffins landed among the burrows, Max spotted one bird that wasn't a puffin. He nudged Sofia. "Look!" The seagull landed on a rock and stared at them, bobbing its sleek white head. "Our gull!" whispered Sofia. Max nodded. "It must be time to go." "You're right," said Agnes with a sigh. She stood up. "It's getting late."

狼吞虎咽它的晚餐。“是的！”索菲亚低声说。 “我们拯救了搁浅的鲸鱼，清理了海雀的洞穴。” 我们做了我们来这里要做的事，她意识到，她的心充满了喜悦和骄傲。 随着越来越多的海雀落在洞穴里，马克斯发现了一只不是海雀的鸟。 他推了推索菲亚。“看!”海鸥落在一块岩石上，盯着他们，摇晃着它那光滑的白色脑袋。 “我们的海鸥！”索菲亚低声说。 马克斯点点头。“该走了。” “你说得对。”阿格尼斯叹了口气说。 她站了起来。“时间不早了。”

"But we did well!" said Gunnar, hoisting a full recycling bag. "Now we just have to keep the burrows clean." "And the beaches, too," said Gefn. She linked arms with Sofia. "Can you and Max help us clean the beach tomorrow?" Sofia sighed. "I wish we could! But I think we're leaving tonight." As she glanced at the gull, it seemed to agree. It flapped its wings and flew over the edge of the cliff, toward the water below.

“但我们做得很好！”加纳说着，举起了一个装满垃圾的袋子。 “现在我们只要保持洞穴干净就行了。” “还有海滩，”格芬说。 她挽着索菲亚的手。 “你和麦克斯明天能帮我们打扫海滩吗？”索非亚叹了口气。 “我希望我们能！”但我想我们今晚就走。” 她瞥了海鸥一眼，它似乎也同意了。 它拍打着翅膀，飞过悬崖边缘，朝着下面的水面飞去。

Agnes patted the badge on Sofia's sleeve. "Well, you'll always be members of our Puffin Patrol." She gave Sofia a sweet smile. On the hike back to the beach, Max kept one eye on the rocky trail and one eye on the sea. Is our beluga out there? he wondered. Will the whales and puffins be safer now that the Puffin Patrol is working on the plastic problem? He hoped so. A short while later, he and Sofia were hugging their new friends and wading back out to Wind Rider. As they stood on the deck, waving goodbye to the Puffin Patrol, Sofia glanced at her badge. You'll always be members of our Puffin Patrol, Agnes had said. The memory made Sofia smile. Max heard the creak of the anchor lifting. The sails unfurled, and Wind Rider moved slowly away from shore. Then he spotted something in the waves below. "Whales!" Sofia joined him at the bow just as a beluga lifted its head. It whistled and sent a spray of water sky-high. Sofia laughed as she wiped the mist from her face. "That whale is swimming so close!" she said. When Max saw the dark scar above the whale's blowhole, his heart leaped. "It's our whale," he said. "The one we saved!"

艾格尼丝拍了拍索菲亚袖子上的徽章。 “好吧，你们将永远是我们海雀巡逻队的成员。” 她给了索菲亚一个甜蜜的微笑。 在返回海滩的徒步旅行中，马克斯一只眼睛盯着岩石小径，一只眼睛盯着大海。 我们的白鲸在那里吗？他想知道。 现在海雀巡逻队正在处理塑料问题，鲸鱼和海雀会更安全吗？ 他希望如此。过了一会儿，他和索菲亚拥抱了他们的新朋友，然后涉水回到风骑士那里。 他们站在甲板上，向海雀巡逻队挥手告别，索菲亚瞥了一眼她的徽章。 “你们将永远是我们海雀巡逻队的成员。”阿格尼斯说。 回想起来，索非亚笑了。 马克斯听到了起锚的嘎吱声。 帆展开，风骑士慢慢地驶离海岸。 然后他发现下面的海浪里有什么东西。 “鲸鱼!”索非亚和他一起站在船头，这时一条白鲸抬起了头。 它呼啸着把水花喷到天上去了。 索菲亚一边擦去脸上的雾气，一边笑着。 “那条鲸鱼游得那么近！”她说。 当马克斯看到鲸鱼喷水孔上方的黑色伤疤时，他的心怦怦直跳。 “这是我们的鲸鱼，”他说。 “我们救的那个！”

As the whale surfaced again, Sofia studied its friendly face. It let out an excited squeal, and Sofia did, too. "It is our whale!" The other whales let out a chorus of chirps and squeaks. One rolled in the water, showing off its belly. Another slapped its tail against the waves. "Maybe they came to say thank you," said Sofia. "Maybe," said Max. "Or to say goodbye." When a brisk wind nudged him off-balance, he reached for the rail, ready for the journey back to Starry Bay. And as the helm began to spin, he squeezed his eyes shut. He felt Sofia beside him, bracing against the gusty wind.

当鲸鱼再次浮出水面时，索菲亚仔细研究了它友好的脸。 它发出一声激动的尖叫，索菲亚也跟着叫了起来。 “这就是我们的大鲸！”其他鲸鱼齐声发出唧唧喳喳的叫声。 其中一只在水里打滚，炫耀着它的肚子。 另一只则用尾巴拍打着海浪。 “也许他们是来向您道谢的。”索非亚说。 “也许吧，”马克斯说。“或者说再见。” 一阵微风把他推得失去了平衡，他伸手去抓栏杆，准备返回星空湾。 当舵开始旋转时，他紧紧地闭上了眼睛。 他感到索非亚在他身边，顶着狂风。