我床上的恐龙

张恒

Andrew lay shivering in his bed. The sky was alive with booming sounds and brilliant flashes just outside his window.

安德鲁颤抖着躺在床上。天空中传来轰隆声，耀眼的闪电就在他的窗外。

Fifteen minutes ago he asked， “Mom， will the storm last long？”

十五分钟前，他问道：“妈妈，风暴会持续很久吗？”

“Please， dont worry，” she said. “The weatherman promised it would pass over Truro quickly. Now get some sleep.”

“求你了，别担心，”她说。“天气预报员保证，特鲁罗的风暴会很快过去的。现在好好睡觉。”

Andrew listened to his alarm clock. “Tick...Tick...Tock.” The night seemed to go on forever. Seconds turned into minutes. Then into what seemed like hours.

安德鲁听着他的闹钟“嘀嗒……嘀嗒……嘀嗒”一直响，夜晚似乎会永远持续下去。几秒钟变成了几分钟，然后似乎變成几个小时。

Above the house， loud lightning crashes made him duck further under the blankets. Outside thunder even rattled1 his window.

在房子的上空，轰隆的闪电让他往毯子下躲得更严实。外面的雷声甚至震响了他的窗户。

Should he go into his parents room？ But then he was a big boy now. And he had to be brave. Dad even helped him prepare for this bad weather.

他应该去父母的房间吗？但是他现在是一个大男孩了，他必须勇敢。爸爸甚至帮他为这种恶劣天气做好了准备。

Just in case it lasted all night.

只是为了以防万一，怕暴风会持续一整夜。

Now his backpack was hidden under the blankets. It was filled with favorite toys， games and comic books. Even “Panda” bear he had since the age of two.

现在他的背包藏在毯子下面，装满了他最喜欢的玩具、游戏和漫画书，甚至是他从两岁开始就有的“熊猫”熊。

Mom made sure Andrew also had a few goodies. A huge bag of popcorn was close to his right side. And a bag of rippled chips was on the other.

妈妈确保安德鲁还有一些好吃的零食，一大袋爆米花放在他的右边，还有一袋波纹的薯片在另一边。

His family had gone tenting in Cape Breton， last weekend. So he was now a boy with camping experience. And he knew how to be brave.

上周末，他全家人在布雷顿角搭过帐篷。所以他现在是一个有露营经验的男孩，他知道该如何勇敢起来。

What was moving around his toes？ “Ouch， that hurt，” his trembling voice， whispered. The noise outside was so loud Andrew could hardly think.

是什么东西在他的脚趾周围移动？“哎哟，好痛，”他用颤抖的声音悄声说。外面的噪音很大，让安德鲁难以思考。

Through the window， a dark sky blocked out the stars.

透过窗户，他看到黑暗的天空遮住了星星。

The boy was suddenly nervous. What was under the blanket？ He was curious and rummaged2 through his backpack.

男孩突然紧张起来。毯子下面是什么？他很好奇，然后翻遍了他的背包。

“Oh， gosh，” Andrew said. “I forgot my flashlight.”

“哦，天哪，”安德鲁说。“我忘记了带手电筒。”

He slid out of bed and hurled3 himself across the floor. Andrew hunted around until he found it in the top dresser drawer.

他从床上滑下来，摔到了地板上。安德鲁一直找，直到他在梳妆台顶的抽屉里才找到它。 Quickly jumping back into bed， he forced cold feet down to the very end. Bare toes rested on something rough and sharp. Now it seemed to be crawling around his ankles.

他迅速跳回床上，最终压下了心里的恐惧。光着的脚丫踏在了一个粗糙而尖锐的东西上。现在它似乎在他的脚踝周围爬。

Yikes！He wasnt alone in bed！

哎呀！他并不是独自在床上！

Roaring came from behind his left leg.

咆哮声从他的左腿后面传来。

Andrew chewed on his left thumb and turned on the flashlight. “That terrifying sound couldnt be...？” he hesitated4.

安德鲁咬了咬左手拇指，并打开了手电筒。“那可怕的声音不会是……？”他犹豫了一下。 Yes， a dinosaur！But that was impossible， wasnt it？ Dinosaurs couldnt fit under bed covers belonging to a little boy， living inside his house. Right？

是的，恐龙！但这不可能，不是吗？恐龙无法待在属于一个小男孩的床罩下，还住在他家里，对不对？

Wrong. Staring back at him was a Stegosaurus. And it tasted his vinegar chips， the one small bag with a few morsels left.

錯。盯着他看的是一只剑龙。它品尝了他的一个小袋子里剩下的几块醋味薯片。

“Get away， you！” Andrew bellowed5， trying to be brave. The animal rumbled6 something back under the blanket-sky and hurried into a shadowy corner.

“你走开！”安德鲁咆哮道，试图勇敢一点。这只动物在毯子下面移动，匆匆跑到一个黑暗的角落里。

New noises caught the boys attention. His flashlight helped pick out moving shadows. What was going on？ He wondered. There was a Triceratops and a Deinonychus.

新的声音引起了男孩的注意。他的手电筒帮助他辨认出了移动的阴影。发生了什么事？他想知道。那儿还有一只三角龙和恐爪龙。

And a Tyranosaurus！

还有一只暴龙！

“Run！” Andrew yelled. Suddenly he felt like he was the only one alive on the planet. But he was still under his blanket that seemed to expand in the distance and even high above him.

“跑！”安德鲁喊道。突然间，他觉得自己是这个星球上唯一活着的人。但他仍然在毯子下面，毯子似乎向远处伸展，甚至在比他还高的上方。

He searched for somewhere to hide.

他要寻找躲藏的地方。

Cold feet could barely move. It was like a different world under the blankets. His heart marched to the beat of a drum.

他害怕到几乎无法移动。在毯子下面，似乎有一个不同的世界。他的心脏如擂鼓般跳动。 Large animals began to chase smaller ones.

大型动物开始追逐较小的动物。

Racing toward him was a Dicraeosaurus. This was a peaceful plant eater and would not hurt him. But， Andrew couldnt take any chances.

向他跑来的是一只叉龙。这是一个和平的食草动物，不会伤害他。但是，安德鲁不能冒任何险。

He pulled a fire engine from his backpack. Jumping into the front seat， Andrew turned the siren on full velocity7. All it did was hurt his ears.

他从背包里拿出一个消防车。安德鲁跳进前座，全速启动警报器，所有这一切都刺痛了他的耳朵。

A Ceratosaurus and Albertosaurus bounded8 after him. They were like large friendly dogs wanting to play. But Andrew didnt wish to get crushed.

角鼻龙和阿尔伯特龙跟在他身后。它们就像是想一起玩耍的大型友善的狗狗。但安德鲁不想被压垮。

He stepped on the gas pedal. And the fire engine leaped forward.

他一踩油门踏板，消防车向前猛冲出去。

Soon， the road became a narrow path， aiming straight for the forest. Andrew quickly parked. Then he laced on new sneakers from his backpack. One arm held tightly to “Panda”.

不久，这条路变成了一条狭窄的小路，直接通向森林。安德鲁很快停了下来。然后他穿上背包里的新运动鞋，一只手紧紧抓住“熊猫”。

The wind blew off his cap sending it into the distance. Branches snatched at his face. He didnt want to get squashed9 or eaten by those dinosaurs.

风吹走了他的帽子，将它送到远方。树枝掠过他的脸，他不想被那些恐龙压扁或吃掉。 The storm outside was nothing compared to wild animals chasing him under his blanket. How did all of this happen anyhow？

与在他的毯子下追逐他的野生动物相比，外面的风暴不算什么。不管怎样，这一切是如何发生的呢？

Growls and speeding feet kept pace behind him. Reaching into his backpack Andrew grabbed his roller blades. Now， he thought， it should be easy to skate away safely.

咆哮和飞快的脚步声跟在他身后。安德鲁拿上他的背包，抓起他的旱冰鞋。现在，他想应该很容易安全地滑走。

That is， until a sneaky10 tree root sent him headfirst into the mud.

直到一个突然冒出来的树根让他一头扎进泥里。

Now it was hurry-up time to climb a tree.

现在很快就到爬树时间了。

“Mom， where are you？” Andrew shouted. “Daddd！” Skinny legs scrambled11 up the trunk. And like a monkey climbed higher from branch to branch.

“媽妈，你在哪里？”安德鲁喊道。“爸爸！”他的瘦腿爬上树干，就像一只猴子从一个树枝爬到另一个树枝。

Suddenly between two limbs was the head of a Brontosaurus. It smiled as it chewed a mouthful of leaves. “Whats your problem？” it seemed to say.

突然间，两个枝干之间出现雷龙的头。它微笑着嚼着一口叶子。“你怎么啦？”它似乎在问。 “Andrew！ANDREWWW！” someone called. Voices seemed to move back and forth and around like echoes. Yes， people were shouting his name！

“安德鲁！安德鲁鲁鲁鲁鲁鲁！”有人打来电话，声音似乎像回声一样来回震动。是的，有人在喊他的名字！

The boy hastily threw off his blankets， sat up， and stared at Mom and Dad. He blinked as mornings sun peeked between Venetian blinds.

男孩匆匆扔掉毯子，坐了起来，盯着妈妈和爸爸。当清晨的阳光从百叶窗帘间透进来时，他眨了眨眼睛。

“Panda” was still tucked securely12 under his arm.

“熊猫”仍然安全地藏在他的胳膊下。

“I see you found our surprises under your blankets，” Mom said.

“我看到你发现了我们放在毯子下的惊喜，”妈妈说。

Andrew looked blankly at his mom.

安德鲁一脸茫然地看着他的妈妈。

“You know. Remember the dinosaur models you asked for last week？”

“你知道的。还记得你上周你想要的恐龙模型吗？”

“And Im proud of you，” Dad said. “Look how neatly you stacked13 them on your dresser.”

“我为你感到骄傲，”爸爸说。“看看你把它们放在你的梳妆台上摆得多整齐。”

Andrew felt weird as dad pointed.

爸爸的话让安德鲁觉得很奇怪。

In a neat row was a parade of colorful dinosaurs. They were following a friendly Dicraeosaurus， with a ferocious looking Tyrannosaurus Rex at the end of the line.

一排五颜六色的恐龙整齐地排列着，它们跟在友好的叉龙身后，在队尾有一只凶猛的霸王龙。

Leading the whole group was a figure of a little boy. And he was holding tightly to a teddy bear.

领导整个队伍的是一个小男孩，他紧紧地抱着一只泰迪熊。