兒童英語讀物《神奇樹屋》 第一冊 Dinosaurs Before Dark 04

4亨利

當安妮伸出手時，杰克倒吸了一口涼氣。

天哪!安妮總是試圖與動物們交朋友。不過這次也太過火了。

“不要太靠近它，安妮!”杰克大聲喊道。

但是安妮摸了摸無齒翼龍的冠，摸了摸它的脖子。她正在同它交談。

她究竟在說些什么?

杰克深深地吸了一口氣。好吧，他得下去。這正是考察這個遠古動物的好機會。

做好記錄，像科學家那樣。

杰克開始爬下繩梯。

當他到達地面時，那動物離他只有幾英尺遠。

它瞪著杰克，雙眼亮晶晶的，機靈靈的。

“它很柔軟，杰克。”安妮說，“摸上去就像亨利一樣。”

杰克高聲大笑說：“它不是狗，安妮。”

“摸摸它，杰克。”安妮說。

杰克沒有動。

“別多慮了，杰克，摸一摸吧!”

杰克走上前來，他小心翼翼地伸出自己的胳膊。他順著這動物的脖子從上到下?lián)崦艘槐椤?/p>

太有趣了。薄薄的一層茸毛覆蓋在無齒翼龍的皮膚上。

“柔軟吧，嗯?”安妮說。

杰克把手伸進背包里，抽出一支鉛筆和一個筆記本。他寫道：

毛茸茸的皮膚

“你在干什么呢?”安妮問。

“做記錄。”杰克說，“我們也許是世界上見過活生生的無齒翼龍的第一人。”

杰克又看了看無齒翼龍。這種動物頭頂上長著一個骨質(zhì)的冠。這個冠比杰克的胳膊還要長。

“不知道它聰明不聰明。”杰克說。

“非常聰明。”安妮說。

“可別作指望。”杰克說，“它的腦袋也許只有一顆豆子那么大。”

“不，它非常聰明。我能感覺得到。”安妮說，“我打算叫它亨利。”

杰克在筆記本上寫著：

小腦仁?

杰克又看了看這只動物。“它也許是只突變了的異種。”他說。

這只動物翹起它的頭。

安妮笑了起來。“它不是異種，杰克。”

“好吧，那它在這兒干些什么呢?這個地方是哪兒呢?”杰克說。

安妮緊緊地挨著無齒翼龍。

“你知道我們在什么地方嗎，亨利?”安妮輕言細語地問。

這只動物眼睛一眨也不眨地盯著安妮。它的嘴巴忽而張開，忽而閉攏，像一把巨型剪刀。

“你想同我說話吧，亨利?”安妮問。

“算了吧，安妮。”杰克在筆記本上寫著：

嘴巴像剪刀?

“我們是不是回到了很久很久以前，亨利?”安妮問，“這是很久很久以前的某個地方嗎?”突然間她氣喘起來。“杰克!”

杰克抬頭一看。

安妮手正指著小山。山頂上站著一只巨大的恐龍!

4 Henry

Jack gasped as Annie held out her hand.

Oh,brother.She was always trying to make friends with animals. But this was going too far.

“Don’t get too close to him，Annie!”　Jack shouted.

But Annie touched the Pteranodon’s crest. She stroked his neck. She was talking to him.

What in the world was she saying?

Jack took a deep breath.Okay.　He would go down too. It would be good to examine the creature. Take notes. Like a scientist.

Jack started down the rope ladder.

When he got to the ground， Jack was only a few feet away from the creature.

The creature stared at Jack. His eyes were bright and alert.

“He’　s soft，　Jack，”　said Annie.　“He feels like Henry.”

Jack snorted. “He’s no dog，　Annie.”

“Feel him，Jack，”　said Annie.

Jack didn’t move.

“Don’t think，Jack. Just do it.”

Jack stepped forward. He put out his arm. Very cautiously.He brushed his hand down the creature’s neck.

Interesting. A thim layer of fuzz covered the Pteranodon’s skin.

“Soft，huh?”　said Annie.

Jack reached into his backpack and pulled out a pencil and a notebook.

He wrote:fuzzy skin

“What are you doing?”　asked Annie.

“Taking notes，”said Jack.“We’re probably the first people in the whole world to ever see a real live Pteranodon.”

Jack looked at the Pteranodon again. The creature had a bony crest on top of his head. The crest was longer than Jack’s arm.

“I wonder how smart he is，”　Jack said.

“Very smart，”　said Annie.

“Don’t count on it，”　said Jack.“His brain’s probably no bigger than a bean.”

“No，　he’　s very smart. I can feel it，”　said Annie.“I’m goint to call him Henry.”

Jack wrote in his notebook：

small brain?

Jack looked at the creature again. “Maybe he’s a mutant，”　he said.

The creature tilted his head.

Annie laughed. “He’s no mutant, Jack.”

“Well, what’s he doing here then?Where is this place?”　said Jack.

Annie leaned close to the Pteranodon.

“Do you know where we are，Henry?”she asked softly.

The creature fixed his eyes on Annie. His long jaws were opening and closing.　Like a giant pair of scissors.

“Are you trying to talk to me, Henry?”　asked Annie.

“Forget it，　Annie.”Jack wrote in his notebook:mouth like scissors?

“Did we come to a time long ago, Henry?” asked Annie.“Is this a place from long ago?” Suddenly she gasped. “Jack!”

He looked up.

Annie was pointing toward the hill. On top stood a huge dinosaur!