A short time later, little Dory swam through the big, blue open water ... alone. She called out, searching for someone who might be able to help her. “Hello ... ? Hello?”
“Did you hear that?” a fish asked her husband.
“Hellooooo!” young Dory’s voice rang out again.
The wife followed the sound of Dory’s voice. “Oh! There — right there!” She pointed her fin at the shape of a tiny fish in the distance. “I see a fish!”
“Well, it’s the ocean,” said her husband, Stan. “There are fish everywhere.”
“Why do I swim with you?” the wife asked, exasperated. “HELLO?” she called again.
“Hello?” said Dory, pursuing the voices.
When they finally found each other, the couple was shocked to see the little fish swimming all by herself. “Oh my goodness,” said the wife. “It’s a child!”
Dory was thrilled to see them. “Hi! I’m Dory! Can you please help me?” she asked.
“Well, hello, Dory,” the wife answered. “Are you lost?”
“Where are your parents?” Stan asked.
“Um. I can’t remember,” said Dory.
“Okay,” said Stan. “Well, we’ll look around. Are any of these fish your parents?”
Dory slowly turned around, looking at the surrounding fish. She turned back to the couple and blinked her eyes. “Hi. I’m Dory. Can you please help me?”
The couple exchanged a look. “Dear, you told us that already,” said the wife.
“I did?” asked Dory. “I’m sorry. I suffer from short-term memory loss.”
“Oh, how awful,” said the wife. She pulled her husband aside and asked him what he thought they should do. But when she turned back, Dory was gone! The couple swam around calling her name, trying to find her, but she had vanished.
Dory had already swum on and forgotten about the couple she had just met.
★★★
Alone and scared, Dory continued to search the strange waters. As the sun went down, the water became darker and scarier. Dory’s eyes welled with tears as she settled down under a rocky overhang. She softly sang, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming” until she drifted off to sleep.
★★★
Years went by, and Dory continued to ask for help from anyone who would listen. Most of the fish she ran into were sympathetic. They’d say things like “Really sorry we can’t help you,” or “Hope you find what you’re looking for,” or “Good luck.” But how could anyone help her when she couldn’t remember where she had come from? Or what she had lost in the first place? Dory searched and searched, but she’d completely forgotten everything. “I was looking for something,” she said to one friendly fish. “I ... I just can’t remember what.” Dory patted her fins to her temples, hoping it would jogsomething into place. But nothing seemed to help.
Then one day, a boat streaked past overhead. The noisy engine caused other fish to scramble, but Dory stayed, curiously watching as it went by. Suddenly, she heard a muffled, panicked voice in the distance and slowly swam toward it.
“A white boat!” the voice cried. “It’s a — They took my son! My son! My son! Help me! Please!”
Out of nowhere, an agitated clown fish appeared.
“Look out!” Dory screamed, and then she smacked into him. He bounced off her and landed hard on the ocean floor.
“Sorry!” said Dory, concerned. “I didn’t see you!”
Marlin groaned as Dory inspected him. “Are you okay?”
“He’s gone,” the clownfish cried. He quickly introduced himself as Marlin. He continued to dash back and forth, worried out of his mind about his son.
Dory tried to comfort him again and again, but it didn’t seem to help.
“No, no — they took him away. I have to find the boat!” Marlin said, swimming off.
“A boat? Hey, I’ve seen a boat!” said Dory.
“You have?” Marlin stopped and swam back to Dory.
“Uh-huh. This way. It went this way! Follow me!” Dory sped off, and Marlin followed.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!” said Marlin, and they swam away together.
此后不久,小多莉游過(guò)了蔚藍(lán)遼闊的開(kāi)放水域……孤零零地。她大聲叫喊,想要尋求他人幫助。“有人嗎?有人嗎?”
“你聽(tīng)到什么了嗎?”一條魚(yú)向她丈夫問(wèn)道。
“有人嗎?”小多莉的聲音又響了起來(lái)。
這位魚(yú)太太順著多莉的聲音找尋起來(lái)。“啊!在那兒——就在那里!”她用魚(yú)鰭指著遠(yuǎn)處的一個(gè)小魚(yú)形狀的東西。“我看見(jiàn)一條魚(yú)!”
“唔,這是海洋,”她的丈夫斯坦說(shuō)道,“到處都是魚(yú)。”
“我怎么就跟你游到一塊兒去了?”魚(yú)太太惱怒地問(wèn)道。“有人嗎?”她又喊了起來(lái)。
“有人嗎?”多莉一邊說(shuō)一邊追尋著他們的聲音。
當(dāng)他們終于找到彼此時(shí),這對(duì)夫婦震驚地發(fā)現(xiàn)這條小魚(yú)居然是在獨(dú)自游行。“噢,我的天啊,”魚(yú)太太說(shuō),“她還是個(gè)孩子!”
多莉看到他們,很激動(dòng)。“嗨!我是多莉!請(qǐng)問(wèn)你能幫幫我嗎?”她問(wèn)道。
“啊,你好,多莉,”魚(yú)太太答道,“你迷路了嗎?”
“你父母在哪里?”斯坦問(wèn)道。
“嗯,我不記得了。”多莉說(shuō)。
“好吧,”斯坦說(shuō),“這樣,我們先四處看看。這些魚(yú)群之中有你的父母嗎?”
多莉緩緩地轉(zhuǎn)了一圈,看了看周?chē)聂~(yú)群。她回轉(zhuǎn)身,面向這對(duì)夫婦,眨了眨眼睛。“嗨。我是多莉。請(qǐng)問(wèn)你能幫幫我嗎?”
夫婦倆交換了一下眼色。“親愛(ài)的,剛才你已經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)這話了。”魚(yú)太太說(shuō)。
“我說(shuō)了嗎?”多莉問(wèn)道。“對(duì)不起。我有短時(shí)記憶喪失癥。”
“噢,這可太糟糕了。”魚(yú)太太說(shuō)。她把丈夫拉到一旁,問(wèn)他覺(jué)得他們應(yīng)該怎么辦??傻人D(zhuǎn)過(guò)身來(lái),多莉卻走了!夫婦倆四處游動(dòng),呼喊著她的名字,想要找到她,可她卻消失不見(jiàn)了。
多莉早已游了出去,忘記了剛才碰見(jiàn)的那對(duì)夫婦。
★★★
多莉孤身只影、驚恐不安地繼續(xù)探尋著這片陌生的水域。太陽(yáng)西下,海水變得越來(lái)越暗,也讓人更加害怕。多莉在一處突出的巖石之下落腳,滿眼含淚。她輕聲唱著“不停地游啊游,不停地游啊游”,直到迷迷糊糊地進(jìn)入夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)。
★★★
多年之后,多莉繼續(xù)向那些樂(lè)意傾聽(tīng)的魚(yú)兒們尋求幫助。她遇見(jiàn)的魚(yú)兒大都是深表同情。通常他們會(huì)說(shuō)“真是抱歉,我們沒(méi)法幫你”,或是“希望你能找到你所尋覓的東西”,或是“祝你好運(yùn)”??墒侨绻疾挥浀米约簛?lái)自何方,大家又怎么幫助她呢?或者她最初丟失了什么?多莉不停地尋找著,卻將一切都忘得一干二凈。“我正在找某個(gè)東西,”她對(duì)一條友善的魚(yú)兒說(shuō),“我……我只是不記得要找什么了。”多莉用雙鰭拍了拍太陽(yáng)穴,希望能喚醒點(diǎn)記憶??蛇@似乎沒(méi)什么用。
后來(lái),有一天,一艘小船從上方疾馳而過(guò)。吵鬧的引擎聲嚇得其他魚(yú)兒四處逃竄,可多莉卻原地待著不動(dòng),好奇地望著那艘船駛過(guò)去。突然,她聽(tīng)到遠(yuǎn)處傳來(lái)一個(gè)沉悶而驚慌的聲音,于是緩緩地朝那里游了過(guò)去。
“一艘白色的船!”那聲音喊道。“是一艘——他們把我的兒子帶走了!我的兒子!我的兒子!幫幫我吧!求你們了!”
一條狂躁不安的小丑魚(yú)不知從何處突然冒了出來(lái)。
“當(dāng)心!”多莉大喊道,接著就猛地撞上了他。他被她彈了出去,重重地落在海底上。
“對(duì)不起!”多莉關(guān)切地說(shuō)道。“我沒(méi)看見(jiàn)你!”
在多莉查看他的傷勢(shì)時(shí),馬林在呻吟著。“你還好嗎?”
“他不見(jiàn)了,”這條小丑魚(yú)大聲說(shuō)道。他匆忙地介紹自己名叫馬林,接著就繼續(xù)沖來(lái)撞去,發(fā)瘋似的憂心他的兒子。
多莉試著一遍又一遍地安撫他,可卻似乎沒(méi)什么用。
“不,不——他們把他帶走了。我必須找到那艘船!”馬林說(shuō)著游了出去。
“船?嘿,我剛看到了一艘船!”多莉說(shuō)。
“你看到過(guò)?”馬林停住,又朝多莉游了回來(lái)。
“是的。這邊。它是朝這邊走的!跟我來(lái)!”多莉加快速度,馬林也跟了上去。
“謝謝你!萬(wàn)分感謝!”馬林說(shuō),然后他們一起游走了。