Chapter 7
The next morning, Marlin opened his eyes—only to find Dory snoring loudly by his side. As he looked around, Marlin realized that they were hanging on top of the submarine by a strap, over a huge pit. And they were sleeping on the diver’s mask.
The mask! They still had it!
Marlin peered down. The pit seemed bottomless.
“Dory, wake up,” Marlin said, shaking her gently.
Dory mumbled something about a bad haircut but continued to sleep.
Marlin was getting frustrated. “Get up!” he said forcefully.
“Aagh!” Dory screamed and jumped, waking up.
At that moment, the submarine began to slide off the cliff. Dory and Marlin raced away from it just in time. They barely missed being crushed by the falling sub.
Marlin looked around frantically. “The mask,” he said. “Where’s the mask?”
Dory and Marlin both looked down and saw the mask disappear into the blackness of the deep water.
“No! No! Get it! Get the mask!” Marlin yelled. He swam after it, followed by Dory.
Blackness swallowed the two fish up. They couldn’t even see their own fins.
Marlin swam up to the lighter-colored water, panting with fear.
“It just keeps going on, doesn’t it?” Dory said.
She swam a little deeper, then popped back up next to Marlin. She looked surprised to see him. “Hey! What are you doing?”
“It’s gone. I’ve lost the mask,” Marlin said.
“What, did you drop it?” asked Dory innocently.
“You dropped it!” Marlin cried. “That was my only chance of finding my son. And now it’s gone.”
“Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills,” Dory sang out. “When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do?”
“I don’t want to know what you gotta do,” Marlin said crossly.
“Just keep swimming,” Dory told him. “What do we do? We swim, swim.”
Slowly, he swam down with Dory. Farther… farther… farther… into the deep. “Dory,” he said after a while. “Do you see anything?”
Dory gasped, unable to see in the total darkness. “Who’s that?”
“Who could it be? It’s me!” Marlin replied.
“Are you my conscience?” asked Dory.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m your conscience. Now, I want you to tell me—do you see anything?” Marlin asked.
“I see a light! Over there!” Dory exclaimed.
“I see it, too!” Marlin cried.
A small glowing ball of light floated in the distance. Marlin couldn’t look away. It had him under some kind of spell. It made him feel happy.
It apparently had the same effect on Dory. “It’s so pretty. I want to touch it,” she said.
The light danced in the water.
Dory and Marlin followed the light. Marlin thought it was strange that the light made him feel happy. But then he had a funny feeling. Like something was watching him. He turned around. A deadly anglerfish with huge fangs floated right behind them! The light dangled from its antenna, like bait. “Good feeling’s gone,” he said to Dory.
Marlin and Dory raced into the darkness. The anglerfish chased them. Its glowing orb gave them their only light.
“I can’t see! I don’t know where I’m going!” Marlin cried.
Suddenly, the light fell on something familiar. The diver’s mask! But the anglerfish was gaining on them—its jaws ready to snap!
Marlin pulled Dory down deeper. The anglerfish shot past, missing them in the darkness.
But they were safe only for a moment. The anglerfish came back, searching for them. It swung close to Marlin, lighting the water nearby.
“Hey, look, a mask!” Dory exclaimed. “Read it!” Marlin said as he launched himself forward in the water, leading the anglerfish away.
“Uh… I’m sorry, but if you could just bring him a little closer?” Dory asked. “I kinda need the light.”
Marlin swam all around Dory with the anglerfish right on his tail. He ducked between two rocks, safe for a second. He grabbed the antenna light and directed it toward Dory.
“The first line is ‘P. Sherman,’ ” Dory said. “Second line… ‘42 Waaa—’ ”
Marlin was yanked up and away from the rocks. The anglerfish swallowed him and its own antenna whole.
In the sudden darkness, Dory said, “Light, please.”
Inside the anglerfish, Marlin screamed. The anglerfish opened its mouth and Marlin shot out—along with the light.
“The second line is ‘42 Wallaby Way,’ ” Dory said.
“That’s great,” Marlin said anxiously. “Just finish up here. Speed-read.”
As the furious anglerfish barreled straight toward them, Dory shouted out, “ ‘Sydney’! It’s ‘Sydney’!”
“Duck!” Marlin cried.
Dory dove as Marlin lifted the mask.
The anglerfish crashed into the mask, sending them into a spin.
Then all was quiet. Marlin squinted. He thought for sure he had been eaten. The anglerfish was now wedged between the mask and a rock. It flapped around helplessly, stuck.
“Ha, ha!” Marlin laughed as he and Dory swam toward the surface.
“No eating here tonight!” the two fish sang together.
Then Marlin turned to Dory. “So what did the mask say?”
“ ‘P. Sherman. 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney.’ ” She gasped, not believing it herself. “I remembered what it said! I usually forget things, but I remembered it that time. P. Sherman, 42—”
“Wait!” Marlin interrupted. “Now, where is that?”
“I don’t know,” Dory replied. “But who cares? I remembered!”
第 7 章
第二天早上,馬林睜開(kāi)眼睛——竟然發(fā)現(xiàn)多莉在他旁邊大聲地打著呼嚕。他向周?chē)戳丝?,意識(shí)到他們被一根帶子吊著掛在了潛水艇的頂部,下面就是巨大的洞。他們正睡在潛水員的面罩上。
面罩!面罩還在他們手上!
馬林瞇著眼睛向下仔細(xì)看了看。這個(gè)洞似乎深不見(jiàn)底。
“多莉,醒醒。”馬林說(shuō)著,輕輕地晃動(dòng)她。
多莉含糊不清地說(shuō)著什么難看的發(fā)型,但是繼續(xù)呼呼大睡。
馬林此刻覺(jué)得很失望。“快起來(lái)!”他狠狠地叫道。
“啊!”多莉醒過(guò)來(lái),尖叫一聲跳了起來(lái)。
就在這時(shí),潛水艇開(kāi)始滑下懸崖。馬林和多莉及時(shí)地逃離了潛水艇。他們差一點(diǎn)就被墜落的潛水艇壓扁。
馬林拼命地東張西望。“面罩,”他說(shuō),“面罩呢?”
多莉和馬林都往下看,看見(jiàn)面罩消失在深海處的一片黑暗之中。
“不!不!抓住它!抓住面罩!”馬林大喊。他游著追尋著面罩,多莉緊跟其后。
黑暗把這兩條魚(yú)吞沒(méi)了。他們甚至連自己的鰭都看不見(jiàn)。
馬林游到亮一點(diǎn)的地方,因?yàn)閼n慮而喘息著。
“它就那么掉下去了,是不是?”多莉說(shuō)。
她游得更深了一點(diǎn),然后突然折回到馬林旁邊。她吃驚地看著他。“喂!你在干什么?”
“它不見(jiàn)了。我丟了那個(gè)面罩。”馬林說(shuō)。
“什么,你把它弄掉了?”多莉無(wú)辜地問(wèn)。
“是你弄掉的!”馬林大叫起來(lái),“那是找到我兒子的唯一機(jī)會(huì)?,F(xiàn)在它丟了。”
“嘿,壞脾氣先生,”多莉大聲喊道,“當(dāng)生活讓你失望的時(shí)候,知道你該做什么嗎?”
“我不想知道你該做什么。”馬林生氣地說(shuō)。
“只要游泳,”多莉告訴他,“我們做什么?只要游泳,只要游泳。”
慢慢地,他和多莉一起往深處游。越來(lái)越深……越來(lái)越深……“多莉,”過(guò)了一會(huì)兒他說(shuō),“你看到什么東西了嗎?”
多莉喘著氣,在一片漆黑中什么也看不見(jiàn)。“是誰(shuí)?”
“還能是誰(shuí)?是我!”馬林回答。
“你是我的良心嗎?”多莉問(wèn)。
“是的,是的,是的。我是你的良心。現(xiàn)在,我想讓你告訴我——你看到什么東西了嗎?”馬林問(wèn)。
“我看到一道亮光!在那邊!”多莉大喊。
“我也看見(jiàn)了!”馬林大叫。
一個(gè)小小的閃爍的光球在遠(yuǎn)處漂動(dòng)。馬林的視線無(wú)法移動(dòng)。他好像著了魔。這東西讓他很高興。
這對(duì)多莉似乎也有同樣的效果。“它好漂亮。我想摸摸它。”她說(shuō)。
光在水里跳舞。
多莉和馬林追隨著亮光。馬林想,這亮光讓他感覺(jué)很高興,真奇怪。但是,接著他有一種奇怪的感覺(jué)。好像有什么東西在看著他。他轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身。一條長(zhǎng)著巨大尖牙的致命的琵琶魚(yú),就在他們身后!亮光懸掛在它的觸須上,就像誘餌。“好感覺(jué)沒(méi)了。”他對(duì)多莉說(shuō)。
馬林和多莉沖進(jìn)黑暗中。琵琶魚(yú)在他們身后追趕。只有他發(fā)光的觸須為他們照亮。
“我看不見(jiàn)了!我不知道我在往哪兒游!”馬林大叫。
突然,亮光照到某個(gè)熟悉的東西上。潛水員的面罩!但是琵琶魚(yú)正逼近他們——它的嘴正要咬住他們!
馬林拖著多莉往更深處游。琵琶魚(yú)沖了過(guò)去,因?yàn)樗锾?,沒(méi)有抓住他們。
但是他們只是安全了一會(huì)兒。琵琶魚(yú)又回來(lái)找他們了。他在馬林旁邊擺動(dòng)著,照亮了附近的海域。
“嘿,看,面罩!”多莉大喊。“快念!”馬林一邊說(shuō),一邊迅速往前游,把琵琶魚(yú)引開(kāi)。
“哦…… 對(duì)不起,你能讓他再靠近一點(diǎn)兒?jiǎn)?”多莉問(wèn),“我需要一點(diǎn)亮光。”
馬林在多莉周?chē)沃?,琵琶魚(yú)緊跟著它。他躲在兩塊巖石中間,有一會(huì)兒是安全的。他抓住了觸須燈,讓它對(duì)著多莉。
“第一行是‘P.謝爾曼’,”多莉說(shuō),“第二行……‘42號(hào)沃——’”
馬林被猛地從礁石那兒拽走。琵琶魚(yú)把他和他自己的整個(gè)觸須都吞了下去。
多莉身處一片突然降臨的漆黑中,說(shuō):“請(qǐng)來(lái)點(diǎn)亮光。”
馬林在琵琶魚(yú)的身體里尖叫。琵琶魚(yú)張開(kāi)嘴巴,馬林從里面鉆出來(lái)——和亮光一起。
“第二行是‘沃拉比路42號(hào)’。”多莉說(shuō)。
“太棒了,”馬林焦急地說(shuō),“快點(diǎn)讀完。讀快點(diǎn)兒。”
當(dāng)惱火的琵琶魚(yú)向他們迅速?zèng)_過(guò)來(lái)的時(shí)候,多莉大喊:“‘悉尼’!是‘悉尼’!”
“閃開(kāi)!”馬林大叫。
馬林舉起面罩時(shí),多莉趕緊下潛。
琵琶魚(yú)撞到了面罩,讓他們旋轉(zhuǎn)了起來(lái)。
然后,一片寂靜。馬林瞇著眼睛看。他認(rèn)為自己肯定被吃掉了。琵琶魚(yú)這會(huì)兒被夾在面罩和一塊巖石中間。它卡住了,無(wú)助地朝四周擺動(dòng)著。
“哈哈!”馬林一邊大笑,一邊和多莉朝水面游去。
“今晚沒(méi)得吃了!”兩條魚(yú)一起唱著。
接著,馬林轉(zhuǎn)向多莉。“那么,面罩上寫(xiě)的是什么?”
“‘悉尼沃拉比路42號(hào)。P.謝爾曼。’”她喘著氣,連自己都不敢相信,“我記住上面寫(xiě)的字了!我一般都忘事,但是這次我記住了。P.謝爾曼,42號(hào)——”
“等等!”馬林打斷她的話。“那么,那個(gè)地方在哪兒?”
“我不知道,”多莉回答,“但是誰(shuí)在乎呢?反正我記住了!”