雙語讀電影 《恐龍當家》第11章 :飛舞著的螢火蟲是那么美啊

After the strange experience with Forrest, things changed between Spot and Arlo. Now, they walked side-by-side. Instead of scowling and feeling angry at Spot, Arlo began to like the little guy. Spot helped Arlo forget about feeling afraid, even if just for a little bit. The wilderness was less scary with Spot around... and a lot more fun.

Arlo watched Spot as he stopped to sniff an insect wing on the ground, investigating it. Spot followed the scent, sniffing along the ground and winding through the wilderness with Arlo following behind. Finally, Spot stopped, quivering as he thumped his leg against the ground in excitement. He led Arlo toward a bush, grunted as he lifted up a giant leaf. Beneath it was a big, beautiful bug! Arlo smiled, checking out the amazing bug’s big eyes and incredible colors. Then Spot tore it apart! Arlo cringed, watching through squinted eyes as Spot ripped his meal to pieces.

A little while later, Arlo stepped on something small and hard, and crushed it with his weight. He lifted his foot and saw a delicious-looking nut split in half. Spot sniffed the ground curiously. Figuring Spot could find more, Arlo let him sniff his foot. Just as Arlo had hoped, Spot set out, sniffing along the ground in search of more nuts.

As they approached a tree, Spot’s leg started to shake against the ground and his whole body trembled with excitement. Arlo looked up. Spot had found them! There were dozens of nuts hanging from the branches of the tree. Arlo took some down and began to chew. They tasted a little funny, but he swallowed them down. Then he leaned in and took a closer look at the nuts in the tree. One of them moved! They weren’t nuts—they were BUGS! And the tree was home to a whole colony! Gagging, Arlo tried to spit them out. But the colony was already bothered, and they started to swarm. Arlo was terrified and could do nothing but run away! Spot followed and the two ran until they couldn’t hear the buzzing behind them. When they finally stopped, all Arlo and Spot could do was laugh.

SQUEAK! A strange, high-pitched noise startled Arlo. He looked down and saw a gopher peeking its furry head out of a hole in the ground. Surprised, Arlo backed away. A second gopher popped up. SQUEAK! Spot tried to pounce on it, but it quickly ducked back down into its hole.

Spot smiled then put his mouth over one of the holes and blew. The force of his breath caused a gopher to fly up into the air! When it fell down to the ground, it slipped back into its hole. Arlo laughed and joined in the fun, blowing and watching another gopher fly up. The two friends laughed as they orchestrated the airborne gophers.

The gophers were not pleased with being disturbed, and in frustration, one turned and bit Arlo. He and Spot were so surprised; they ran for safety and found themselves on a ledge above the lake. From there, Arlo and Spot turned and watched as the gophers slowly and mysteriously sank back into the ground. Arlo was just about to climb toward solid ground, when, out of nowhere, one of the gophers popped back out, startling him. Then it quickly dropped back down into its hole. It surprised him so much that he slipped—losing his footing and falling into the lake below.

Panicking and gasping for air, Arlo struggled to try and keep his head above water. Spot jumped in right after him and swam around, paddling his arms and kicking his legs. He continued to circle around Arlo, as if trying to teach him how to swim. Arlo tried to imitate him, paddling and kicking his way through the water. It was difficult for the big dinosaur at first, but slowly he got the hang of it. Soon Arlo wasn’t just keeping his head above water, he was swimming! Once he got a little more comfortable with his underwater moves, he followed Spot swiftly to shore.

Spot jumped out of the water, panting happily. Arlo proudly stepped out, then realized his body was covered in leeches! He screamed and ran, wiggling and flailing his body around, trying to shake off the blood-sucking worms! He had to dance around for quite a while to shake them off. Luckily, Spot was there to help peel off the ones that wouldn’t let go!

Later on, Arlo and Spot came upon some pieces of fruit scattered across the ground. Arlo ate as much as he could, then offered some to Spot. Laughing, the two stuffed their faces. It had been a long day. But after a while, they started to feel a little funny. Arlo looked at Spot and his face had started to grow in all kinds of crazy ways. Spot looked at Arlo and he suddenly looked like he had five eyes! Something strange must have been in that fruit. They laughed and laughed. In fact, it almost felt like they would laugh forever. But eventually they grew tired. And with their bellies pleasantly full, they finally fell asleep on the ground.

As night fell, Arlo and Spot walked through a meadow. Arlo saw a firefly and suddenly got an idea. He was reminded of that night with Poppa, back in the fields of their farm. “Spot, watch this!” he said.

Arlo brushed his tail through the tall meadow grass and hundreds of fireflies floated up. Spot loved it! He chased them excitedly, jumping and snapping at the air, trying to catch each one he saw. Arlo joined him; there were so many to chase.

Then Spot caught one with his hands and showed it to Arlo. The dinosaur smiled and gently blew on it, just like Poppa had. Spot and Arlo watched as the firefly lit up, glowing brightly inside Spot’s hands. Then Spot released it and the firefly opened its wings and rose up into the sky. They watched it flickering and flashing as it flew off and disappeared into the night.

Arlo’s smile soon faded as he thought about Poppa and his family at home. “I miss my family,” he said quietly.

Spot looked up at Arlo with his face twisted in a confused expression and tilted his head. He didn’t seem to understand.

“Family,” Arlo said, trying to think of a way to explain.

Arlo broke some sticks into dinosaur shapes. “That’s me,” he said, placing it on the ground in front of Spot. He continued, placing each one down as he spoke. “There’s Libby, and Buck, and Momma...” He placed the last one down. “And—and Poppa.” He drew a big circle in the dirt, around all the figures and said the word again: “Family.”

Spot sniffed the figures, curiously, but still didn’t seem to understand. “That’s okay,” Arlo said, trying to hide his feelings of disappointment.

Arlo rested on the ground as Spot scurried off, rummaging through some nearby bushes. He returned with some twigs, broke them, and set them down. They looked like three human shapes. Then Spot drew a big circle around his stick figures.

“Yes,” said Arlo, perking up. “That’s your family.”

Spot took two of the figures and laid them down, flat on the ground. He covered them with dirt and looked up at Arlo, sniffing sadly. Arlo understood what Spot was trying to say: his parents had died.

Arlo took the figure of Poppa and covered it with dirt, too. “I miss him,” Arlo said.

Spot reached over and patted Arlo’s leg, comforting him. Then he went toward his stick figures and howled at the moon.

“Arroooowah!”

Even though Spot didn’t talk, he had a way of communicating that he was sad. And that he was still hurting as he remembered painful things. Arlo had been hurting over Poppa for a long time. And until now, he’d never really tried to talk about it.

But this was as good a time as any. Arlo joined Spot and howled, too.

Under the giant sky and a million twinkling stars, the two friends howled at the moon, releasing their sadness into the night.

“Arrrroooooooowah...”