Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 VAMPYRA FLIPPED AND FLITTERED AND fluttered along the riverbank. She was ahead of Wolfy. She was far ahead of their paper boats. And she was very far ahead of Franky. She was sure she was going to earn her Flying Merit Badge… as long as she could keep her wings going long enough. But right now, she needed a rest. "Whew, flying sure is tiring," she said. "So is swimming," someone croaked from the edge of the river. "Laguna!" said Vampyra. She landed and changed back into a vampire. Laguna lived in the swamp with her mom, dad, and sixteen younger swamplings. But

第二章吸血鬼在河岸上扑腾、扑腾、扑腾。 她在狼的前面。她远远领先于他们的纸船。 她远远领先于弗兰基。 她确信自己一定能获得飞行奖章……只要她能把翅膀撑得足够长。 但现在，她需要休息。 “哇，坐飞机确实很累，”她说。 “游泳也是如此。”河边有人嘶哑地说。 “拉古纳！”她着陆后又变回了吸血鬼。 拉古娜和她的妈妈、爸爸以及十六个年轻的沼泽朋友住在沼泽地里。 但

today, she was not in the swamp. She was in the river. Laguna pulled herself onto the riverbank and sprawled out in the wet grass. She stretched her webbed toes and spread her webbed fingers. Her gills heaved in and out. She seemed very tired. Even more tired than Vampyra. "What are you doing in the river, Laguna?" Vampyra asked. "Swimming lessons," Laguna groaned. Wolfy and Franky finally caught up with them. They were out of breath too.

今天，她不在沼泽里。 她在河里。拉古娜爬上河岸，在潮湿的草地上摊开四肢。 她伸展有蹼的脚趾，展开有蹼的手指。 她的腮上下起伏。 她看起来很累。甚至比吸血鬼还累。 “你在河里干什么，拉古纳？”Vampyra问道。 “游泳课，”拉古娜呻吟道。 狼和弗兰克终于追上了他们。 他们也上气不接下气。

"I think I'm going to hurl a hair ball," Wolfy said. "I think I swallowed a fish," said Laguna. Laguna's mom popped up above the surface of the river. She swam in circles on her back. She was an excellent swimmer. "Hello, kids," she said. "Hi, Mrs. Lagoon," they all answered. "Laguna is going to take her swimming test today," said Mrs. Lagoon. "But first, she has a bit of practice to do." "Mommmmm," said Laguna. "I can't swim to the other side." "Sure you can," said Mrs. Lagoon. "It just takes practice, and for you to believe in yourself." "You can totally do it," Vampyra said. "I have a great idea," said Mrs. Lagoon. "Maybe Vampyra, Franky, and Wolfy will take lessons with you!"

“我想我要扔一个毛球，”狼说。 “我想我吞了一条鱼，”拉古娜说。 拉古娜的妈妈突然出现在水面上。 她仰面游来游去。 她是一名优秀的游泳运动员。 “你好，孩子们，”她说。“嗨，泻湖太太，”他们都回答。 “拉古娜今天要参加游泳考试，”泻湖太太说。 “但首先，她要做一些练习。” “妈妈，”拉古娜说。“我游不到对岸。” “当然可以，”泻湖太太说。 “这只需要练习，让你相信自己。” “你完全可以做到，”Vampyra说。 “我有一个好主意，”泻湖太太说。 “也许吸血鬼、弗兰克和狼会和你一起上课！”

"No way!" said Wolfy. "My fur will be a stinky, wet mess." Franky shuffled his feet. "Um… my bolts might get rusted." "I'd rather fly," Vampyra said with a grin. "See, Mom?" said Laguna. "Even the Junior Monster Scouts are scared of swimming." "Well, I wouldn't say we are scared," mumbled Wolfy. "I would," said Franky. Mrs. Lagoon floated on her back and blew a long jet of water up into the air. "There is nothing to be scared of," she said. "Besides… isn't swimming one of the Junior Monster Scout merit badges?" Franky flipped through his scout handbook. Sure enough, swimming was a Junior Monster Scout merit badge. "Come on, kids," said Mrs. Lagoon. "I'll help you all learn how to swim. You'll get

“不可能！”狼说。“我的毛会变得又臭又湿。” 弗兰克拖着脚。“嗯……我的螺栓可能会生锈。” “我宁愿飞。”Vampyra笑着说。 “看到了吗，妈妈？”拉古娜说。“就连少年怪兽童子军也害怕游泳。” “嗯，我不会说我们害怕，”狼嘟囔着。 “我会的，”弗兰克说。泻湖太太仰面漂浮着，向空中喷出一股长长的水柱。 “没什么好害怕的，”她说。 “而且……游泳不是少年怪兽童子军的荣誉徽章之一吗？”弗兰克翻了翻他的童子军手册。 果然，游泳是少年怪兽童子军的荣誉徽章。 “来吧，孩子们，”泻湖太太说。 “我来帮你们学游泳。 你会得到

your merit badges, and Laguna won't feel so scared with her friends alongside her." Laguna sat up and clapped her webbed fingers. "Oh, will you?" she asked. "Will you? Will you? Will you? Puhleeaaazzze!" Wolfy looked at Vampyra. Vampyra looked at Franky. Franky stared at his scout handbook. "I suppose?" he said nervously. Meanwhile, back in the village, the umbrella contest was well underway. There were bright umbrellas and striped umbrellas, umbrellas with swirls and spirals and flowers and polka dots. Tall umbrellas and short umbrellas, round umbrellas and square umbrellas. "Oh, this is absolutely splendiferous!" said the mayor. "Truly wonderific! Everyone, get

你的荣誉徽章，拉古娜有她的朋友在身边就不会那么害怕了。” 拉古娜坐了起来，拍了拍有蹼的手指。 “哦，是吗？”她问。 “你会吗?你会吗?你会吗? Puhleeaaazzze !”狼看着吸血鬼。 吸血鬼看着弗兰克。弗兰克盯着他的童子军手册。 “我想是吧？”他紧张地说。 与此同时，在村里，雨伞竞赛正在进行中。 有鲜艳的伞，有条纹的伞，有漩涡、螺旋、花朵和圆点图案的伞。 高伞和矮伞，圆伞和方伞。 “啊，这真是太棒了！”市长说。 “真正wonderific !每个人,让

in line. The parade is about to begin!" "Quack, quack, quack!" said the ducks. They were very excited for the parade and even more excited to help judge the umbrella contest. "Yes, yes, of course," the mayor said to the ducks. "You can join our parade as well!" The ducks fluffed their feathers and waddled into line. "Quack, quack, quack!" (That means Thank you and We are very pleased to accept your invitation. As you can see, these were very polite ducks.) "Okay, Peter," said the mayor. "Lead the way!" Peter picked up his flute and led the parade through the town. Rain boots squelched and splashed in puddles. Ducks quacked. And everyone—everyone—was singing in the rain.

线。游行就要开始了！”“呱，呱，呱！”鸭子们说。 他们对这次游行感到非常兴奋，更兴奋的是能帮助评判雨伞比赛。 “是的，是的，当然，”市长对鸭子们说。 “你也可以参加我们的游行！”鸭子们抖了抖羽毛，摇摇摆摆地排成一排。 “呱，呱，呱！”这意味着谢谢你，我们很高兴接受你的邀请。 如你所见，这些鸭子都很有礼貌。)“好的，彼得，”市长说。 “带路吧！”彼得拿起笛子，带领队伍穿过城镇。 雨靴在水坑里哗啦哗啦地响。 鸭子嘎嘎叫。每个人——每个人——都在雨中歌唱。