12.6 Flying Bears

MT英语（ID:mtkouyu）
专辑：【英文原版童话故事】
文本整理：Doris

The cubs whimpered louder.

小熊们呜咽得更响了。

"They want to go to her, but they're afraid of the ice," whispered Jack.

“他们想去找她，但是他们害怕冰。”杰克小声说。

Annie petted the cubs.

安妮抚摸着小熊们。

"Don't be afraid," she told them. "You'll get back toy our mother."The big polar bear growled. She paced back and forth, sniffing the air.

“不要害怕，”她告诉他们。“你会得到我们妈妈的玩具的。”大北极熊咆哮着。她来回踱步，嗅着空气。

Annie kept patting the two cubs and whispering to them.

安妮不停地拍着这两只小熊，小声对它们说话。

Jack looked in the book for anything that might help. Finally he found something:

杰克在书中寻找任何可能有用的东西。最后他发现了一些东西:

Even though a female polar bear can weigh as much as 750 pounds, she can walk on ice too thin to hold a person by balancing her weight and sliding her paws over the ice.

尽管一只母北极熊的体重可以达到750磅，但她可以在太薄的冰面上行走，通过平衡体重和在冰面上滑动爪子来支撑一个人。

"Oh, man, that's incredible," whispered Jack.

“哦，伙计，这太不可思议了。”杰克低声说。

He watched the mother polar bear walk down the snowbank.

他看着北极熊妈妈从雪堆上走下来。

On large silent feet, she crept about at the edge of the frozen sea.

她用无声的大脚在结冰的海边爬行。

She tried to step onto the ice. But each time she did, it cracked, and she had to retreat. At last, she found a firm spot.

她试图踩到冰上。但每一次她这样做，它破裂，她不得不撤退。最后，她找到了一个牢固的地方。

Then the polar bear stretched out her four legs and lay on the ice. Slowly she moved forward, pushing herself with her claws.

然后北极熊伸出她的四条腿躺在冰上。她慢慢地向前移动，用爪子推着自己。

"Is she coming for her babies?" said Jack. "Or is she coming to get us?""I don't know," said Annie. "Hey, let's put on the masks.""What for?" said Jack.

“她是来接孩子的吗?”杰克说。“或者她是来抓我们的?”“我不知道，”安妮说。“嘿，我们戴上面具吧。”“为什么?”杰克问。

"Maybe they'll protect us," said Annie. "Maybe she'll think we're polar bears, too.""Oh, brother," said Jack.

“也许他们会保护我们，”安妮说。“也许她也会认为我们是北极熊。”“哦，兄弟，”杰克说。

But Annie gave him a bear mask. He took off his glasses and slipped it on.

但是安妮给了他一个熊面具。他摘下眼镜，戴上了。

Jack peered through the mask holes. It was hard to see the huge white bear sliding over the frozen sea.

杰克透过面罩的洞往里看。很难看到巨大的白熊在冰冻的海面上滑行。

He squinted. That helped.

他眯起了双眼。帮助。

The polar bear looked at her cubs and let out a deep moan.

北极熊看着她的幼崽，发出一声深沉的呻吟。

The two little bears carefully went to their mother.

两只小熊小心翼翼地去找妈妈。

She licked the cubs and touched her nose against each of theirs. Then they crawled onto her back.

她舔着小熊，用鼻子碰了碰它们的鼻子。然后他们爬到她的背上。

"They're safe now," said Jack. "Even if the mother breaks through the ice, she can swim with them to the shore.""Yeah, I just wish she wouldn't leave us behind,"said Annie.

“他们现在安全了。”杰克说。“即使母企鹅冲破了冰面，她也可以和它们一起游到岸边。”“是啊，我真希望她不会把我们丢下。”安妮说。

The mother bear slowly turned her body around.

熊妈妈慢慢地转过身来。

Then she pushed off with her hind legs. With her cubs on her back, she began sliding away.

然后她用后腿蹬开。她的幼崽驮在背上，她开始溜开。

"Let's try moving like her " Annie said.

“让我们试着像她那样移动。”安妮说。

"But we could break through and freeze to death,"said Jack.

杰克说:“但我们可能会突围而死。”

"If we just stay here, we'll freeze, too," said Annie.

“如果我们呆在这里，我们也会冻僵的，”安妮说。

"Remember, the seal hunter said his people had learned from the polar bears."Jack took a deep breath.

“记住，海豹猎人说他的族人从北极熊那里学到了东西。”杰克深吸了一口气。

"Okay," he said. "Let's try it."He lay on his stomach. He spread out his arms and legs.

“好吧,”他说。“让我们试一试。”他俯卧着。他张开双臂和双腿。

Then he copied the bear. He pressed his mittens against the ice and pushed off, sliding his feet.

然后他模仿熊。他把他的拳击手套按在冰上，然后蹬开，他的脚滑开了。

Amazingly, there was no cracking sound.

令人惊讶的是，没有破裂的声音。

"Grrr," he growled. And he pushed off again.

“嗷……,”他咆哮道。他又离开了。

Jack heard Annie sliding behind him. He kept going. He pushed and slid. He pushed again and slid again.

杰克听见安妮从他身后溜了过去。他不停地走了。他推了推，滑了一下。他又推又滑。

He made the movements over and over, until something happened: He didn't feel like a boy anymore. He felt like a polar bear.

他一遍又一遍地做着这些动作，直到发生了一件事:他不再觉得自己像个男孩了。他觉得自己像只北极熊。

Then Jack felt something even stranger. He felt like a flying polar Bear.

这时，杰克感到更奇怪的事情发生了。他觉得自己就像一只会飞的北极熊。

Jack swirled along as if his arms and legs were giant wings--and the moonlit sea ice were a glassy sky.

杰克旋转着，好像他的胳膊和腿是一对巨大的翅膀——月光下的海冰是一片玻璃般的天空。

He remembered what the seal hunter had said:

他想起了猎海豹者说过的话:

Polar bears can fly.

北极熊会飞。