Chapter 3

ChAPTER THREE After a quick and secret sandwich to avoid the never-ending supply of too-hot shrimp, Kate and Rupert scurried back to their cabin to inspect the book. The pair had a tiny cabin all to themselves, with Dad's just next door. Everything was neat and tightly packed together. Mosquito nets and lanterns swung from the low ceiling, and a small round window looked out onto soupy

第三章 为了躲开那些源源不断、烫得下不去嘴的虾，凯特和鲁珀特飞快地偷偷啃了个三明治，就急匆匆冲回他们的小舱房去研究那本书。 他俩独自住一间小小的舱房，爸爸的房间就在隔壁。 所有东西都摆放得整整齐齐，紧紧地收在一起。 低矮的天花板上挂着蚊帐和提灯，一扇小圆窗望出去，是雾蒙蒙的

green water and trailing vines. Kate flopped onto her bunk and wiped some slime off the cover with a spare sock. It read: The Diary of C.A. Bloom [WORLD-FAMOUS BOTANIST, SCHOLAR SPECTALUIAR SPECiES] ZooLoGiST, ECOloGiST, BiOLoGiST "We get it," muttered Rupert. "You're very clever and you want us to know it." "Wait a minute!" Kate exclaimed, her hair fluffing up as it did when she was close to a good story. "I know that name!" Rupert's eyes narrowed the way they did when his walnut-sized brain was

绿色的水面，还有垂下来的藤蔓。 凯特“扑通”倒在自己的铺位上，拿了只备用袜子擦去书封上的黏糊糊的东西。 封面上写着：C.A.布卢姆日记 【世界知名植物学家、专攻特殊物种的学者】 动物学家、生态学家、生物学家 “知道啦知道啦，”鲁珀特嘟囔道。 “你厉害得很，就想让所有人都知道呗。” “等一下！” 凯特大叫起来，她的头发都炸毛了——每次她碰到有意思的故事时都会这样。 “我知道这个名字！” 鲁珀特眯起了眼睛，他那颗核桃大的小脑袋在琢磨重大可能性的时候就会是这副样子

contemplating enormous possibilities. "It does sound rather familiar, doesn't it?" "I guess there's only one way to find out, said Kate, and she opened the soggy diary. It was crammed with spindly handwriting and drawings of peculiar-looking birds.

琢磨着各种不得了的可能性。 “这名字听起来确实挺耳熟的，对吧？” “我看只有一个办法能搞清楚啦。”凯特说着，翻开了这本湿乎乎的日记。 本子里写满了细长潦草的字，还有好多模样怪兮兮的鸟类插画。

"The silver wibbler!" cried Kate. "That's the bird Bertie was talking about earlier!" "I wonder if C. A. Bloom ever found it?" said Rupert. "Whoever they are- a she or a he or a they- C. A. Bloom can't have, said Kate, "or else everyone would know about it- and Bird Brigade leaders like General Hornbill especially." "What were the chances of us fishing this out of the river...?" mused Rupert, tapping his tail on the tip of his nose- but Kate was already miles ahead. "Bertie would worship this book, she continued. "I bet we could help him decipher it and find out loads about the silver wibbler!"

“是银晃鸟！”凯特叫出了声。 “就是那只鸟啊 伯蒂之前说过的那只！” “不知道C.A.布卢姆有没有找到过它？”鲁珀特说。 “不管这人是男是女，或是别的身份，C.A.布卢姆肯定没找到，”凯特说，“不然所有人都会知道这件事了——尤其是犀鸟将军那样的鸟类队领队。” “我们居然能从河里捞到这本日记，这概率得有多小啊……？”鲁珀特若有所思地说，尾巴尖还轻轻点着自己的鼻子——可凯特早就想到更远的地方去了。 “伯蒂要是看到这本书肯定要高兴坏了，”她接着说。 “我们肯定能帮他破译上面的内容，挖到好多关于银晃鸟的信息！”

"Kate..." said Rupert. "Imagine if Bertie made the discovery! That would shut the General up once and for all!" "Kate," said Rupert. "And then I could write an article about it and not have to do the shrimp stuff!" "KATE!" said Rupert, heaving the heavy diary shut with his tail. "That's exactly the problem- you've already got enough on your plate!"

“凯特……”鲁珀特开口。 “你想啊，要是伯蒂真的发现了银晃鸟！ 肯定能让那个将军彻底闭嘴！” “凯特。”鲁珀特又喊了一声。 “到时候我还能写篇相关的报道，再也不用应付那些虾的破事了！” “凯特！”鲁珀特大喊，用尾巴“啪”地把沉甸甸的日记合上了。 “问题就在这儿啊——你手上要忙的事已经够多了！”