儿童英语读物《神奇树屋》 第六册 Afternoon on the Amazon 05

5 Pretty fish

Squeak.

Annie patted the little mouse in her pocket.

“It’s okay，Peanut. The ants can’t get us in the river. We’re safe，” she said.

“Maybe safe from the ants，” said Jack. “But where is this canoe going?”

Jack and Annie stared at the river. Branches spread over the water. Vines and mosses hung down from them.

“We’d better look this up，” said Jack. He pulled the rain forest book out of his backpack and flipped through it.

Soon he found a picture of a river. He read：

The Amazon River stretches over 4 000 miles from the mountains of Peru， across Brazil， to the Atlantic Ocean. The river basin contains over half of the rain forests in the world.

Jack looked at Annie. “We’re on the Amazon River，” he said. “It’s more than four thousand miles long!”

“Wow，” Annie whispered. She looked at the river. She trailed her hand through the water.

“I have to make some notes—” Jack said. He pulled his notebook out of his pack. He wrote：

The　Amazon　rain　forest　is

“Jack， look at those pretty fish with the teeth，” said Annie.

“What?” Jack glanced up from his writing.

Annie was pointing at some blue fish swimming near the boat. The fish had red bellies and razor-sharp teeth.

“Watch it!” cried Jack. “Those aren’t pretty fish. They’re piranhas! They’ll eat anything! Even people!”

“Yikes，” whispered Annie.

“We better get back on shore，”said Jack， putting the books in his backpack.

“How?” said Annie. “We can’t go in the water now. And we don’t have any paddles.”

Jack tried to stay calm. “We need a plan，” he said.

Jack stared at the river. The canoe would soon float under some vines.

“I’ll grab a vine，” said Jack. “And pull us to shore.”

“Good idea，” said Annie.

As they glided under the branches， Jack stood up.

The canoe rocked. He nearly fell out.

“Balance the canoe，” said Jack.

Annie leaned to one side. Jack reached—he missed!

The canoe floated under more branches.

Jack reached for another thick vine.

He grabbed it!

It was cold and scaly. It wiggled and jerked!

“Ahhh!” Jack screamed and fell back into the canoe.

The vine was alive!

It was a long green snake!

The snake fell from the tree. It splashed into the water and swam away.

“Oh， man，” said Jack.

He and Annie stared in horror at each other.

“What now?” said Annie， making a face.

“Well...” Jack looked at the river. There were no vines up ahead. But there was a big branch floating on the water.

“Grab that branch near you，”said Jack. “Maybe we can use it for a paddle.”

The canoe floated closer to the branch. Annie reached for it.

Suddenly the branch rose into the air!

It was a crocodile!

“Help!” screamed Annie， and she fell back into the canoe.

The crocodile opened and closed its huge， long jaws. Then it moved past the canoe and swam up the river.

“Oh， man，” whispered Jack.

A screeching sound split the air.

Jack and Annie jumped.

“Help!” said Jack.

He expected to see another terrible creature.

But all he saw was a small brown monkey， hanging by its tail from a tree.

5漂亮的鱼

吱吱。吱吱。

安妮拍了拍在她口袋里的小老鼠。

“没事了，花生。那些蚂蚁不会追到河里来的，我们安全了。”她说。

“我们也许是逃脱了蚂蚁。”杰克说，“可是这舟要漂到哪里去呢?”

他们盯着河面，树枝在河面上空四处伸展着，树藤和苔藓在树枝上垂挂着。

“我们最好查查书。”杰克说。他把书从背包里抽出来，在里面翻着，马上就发现了一张河流的图片。他读道：

亚马孙河蜿蜒4 000英里[注]，从秘鲁的山脉发源，贯穿巴西，一直汇聚到大西洋。该河流域范围内有着占全世界一半以上的热带雨林。

杰克看着安妮说：“我们在亚马孙河上呢!它有4 000多英里长呢!”

“哇塞!”安妮小声道。她看着河水，把手指伸进水里拖着。

“我得做点笔记。”杰克说。他从包里抽出他的笔记本，写道：

亚马逊热带雨林很

“杰克，你看那些漂亮的长着牙的鱼!”安妮说。

“什么?”杰克停下笔抬头瞥了一眼。

安妮正指着一些在船旁边游动的蓝色的鱼。那些鱼长着红色的腹部和像刀片一样锋利的牙齿。

“小心!”杰克喊道，“那可不是什么漂亮的鱼!它们是食人鱼!它们会吃任何东西，包括人!”

“我的妈呀!”安妮小声说。

“我们最好还是上岸去。”杰克边说边把书放回了背包。

“怎么上去?”安妮说，“我们现在不能下水，又没有桨!”

杰克努力让自己保持镇静，“我们需要有个计划。”他说。

杰克仔细观察着河面，独木舟很快就将漂到一些树藤的下面。

“我会抓住一根树藤。”杰克说，“然后把我们拖到岸边。”

“好主意!”安妮说。

当他们漂到树枝下面的时候，杰克站了起来。那独木舟晃动了一下，他差点掉到河里。

“保持平衡!”杰克说。

安妮把身体倾向了另一边，杰克伸出手去，他失手了!

独木舟漂到了更多树枝下面，杰克伸出手去抓另一个特别粗的树藤。

他抓住了!

那树藤冷冷的，还是鳞状，突然摇摆晃动了起来!

“啊!!”杰克尖叫着跌回到独木舟中。

那个树藤是活的!

那是一条绿色的长蛇!

那蛇从树上掉了下来，溅到水里游不见了。

“噢，我的老天!”杰克说。

他和安妮惊恐万状地盯着对方。

“现在该怎么办?”安妮做着鬼脸说。

“现在……”杰克看了看河水，前面已经没有树藤了，但是水面上漂着一根很大的树枝。

“抓住你身边的那个树枝。”杰克说，“没准儿我们可以拿它当桨。”

独木舟慢慢地漂向了那个树枝，安妮伸手去抓它。

突然间，那个树枝向空中腾升起来!

是一只鳄鱼!

“救命啊!”安妮尖叫着跌到舟里。

那鳄鱼张开又合上了它那又大又长的嘴，然后游过独木舟向河的上游游去了。

“噢，我的天。”杰克小声说。

一道尖叫声划破长空。杰克和安妮跳了起来。

“救命!”杰克喊道。他以为会再看到什么可怕的动物。

可是他看见的只是一只棕色的小猴子，用尾巴倒挂在树上。