Chapter 8

8 The Forest Giants Higgs finally gave in and squirrelled himself up into a ball. Rosa gripped Nan's arm tight. Together they stared into the woods, watching the distant trees shake and scatter leaves like leaf blowers. And then they saw lots of heavy brown creatures, giants compared to Rosa, storming through in a blur of dark brown muscle, horns and hair.

希格斯终于屈服了，蜷缩成一团。 罗莎紧紧抓住南的胳膊。 他们一起凝视着树林，看着远处的树木像吹叶机一样摇动和散落着树叶。 接着，他们看到许多粗壮的棕色生物，和罗莎比起来简直是巨人，在深褐色的肌肉、角和毛发的模糊中冲了过来。

'They're going to miss us!' said Nan with relief. Rosa's grip loosened, but amid the fury one particularly big animal veered off from the main group. The creature rammed straight into a tall pine tree, knocking it half out of the ground, while knocking itself half out. As all the others burst a path out of the forest, the lone animal was left behind, wallowing dizzily on the ground.

“他们会想念我们的！”南松了口气说。 罗莎的手松开了，但在一片狂怒中，一只特别大的动物从人群中走开了。 这个生物直接撞上了一棵高大的松树，把它撞出了地面的一半，同时也把自己撞出了一半。 当所有的动物冲出森林时，那只孤独的动物被留在了后面，在地上头晕地打滚。

I've not seen a creature like that in, well, forever, said Nan. 'It's a bison!' Higgs was muttering to himself, terrified of what he might see if he unfurled, but Nan took a few tentative steps closer to the animal, keeping an eye on it. It always paid to show respect to a strange animal - particularly one so large. Rosa followed her lead. 'Hold off,' said Nan warily. 'It's huge!' said Rosa. 'So we must be very, VERY careful...' The creature had a bulging tattoo- covered neck that was much wider than his head, but up close Rosa was relieved to find he didn't look scary. He had a very kind face and a very thick beard.

“我很久没见过那样的生物了，”南说。 “是一头野牛！”希格斯在自言自语，害怕自己展开后会看到什么，但南还是试探性地朝这只动物靠近了几步，一直盯着它。 对一种奇怪的动物表示尊重总是值得的，尤其是对这么大的动物。 罗莎跟着她走。“等等，”南小心翼翼地说。 “这是巨大的!罗莎说。“所以我们必须非常、非常小心……”这家伙的脖子上有一个凸起的纹身，比他的头宽得多，但仔细一看，罗莎发现他看起来并不可怕，这让她松了一口气。 他长着一张慈祥的脸，蓄着浓密的胡子。

'Oh, hello,' he said in a tremendously deep voice. 'My name's-' He scratched the thick tufts of hair on his head in thought. His eyes flicked from left to right before the answer presented itself. 'Bigley. I was wallowing and, well-' Stick barked from inside Rosa's backpack, and she hurriedly retrieved her. 'Sorry,' said Rosa, placing her down on the ground. Bigley and Stick took one look at each other and both squeaked in fright. Stick hid behind Rosa's legs, while Bigley started fidgeting on the spot like he needed a wee. He pointed frantically to the distance, then back to the

“哦，你好，”他用极其低沉的声音说。 “我的名字是——”他若有所思地挠了挠头上浓密的头发。 他的眼睛从左到右扫视了一下，才想出了答案。 “绑架。我在打滚，好吧——”棍子从罗莎的背包里叫了起来，她赶紧把它捡了回来。 “对不起，”罗莎说着，把她放在地上。 比格利和棍子互相看了一眼，都吓得尖叫起来。 棍子躲在罗莎的腿后面，而比格利开始在原地坐立不安，好像他需要上厕所似的。 他疯狂地指了指远方，然后又指了指

rest of his herd who were long gone, and then to Stick. He gulped. 'Wolf!' 'You're scared of Stick?' said Rosa. 'Wolves make my horns tremble,' he said. 'No offence to the little one, of course...' 'But you're immense!' said Rosa. 'I know, I know,' said Bigley. I've no reason to be scared.'

他的其他牧群早就走了，然后去了棍子。 他一饮而尽。“狼!“你怕棍子？”罗莎说。 “狼让我的角发抖，”他说。 “当然，我无意冒犯那个小家伙……“但你是伟大的！”罗莎说。 “我知道，我知道，”比格利说。 我没有理由害怕。”