Arlo and the boy were walking along the river when they heard a strange voice call to them from behind the trees. “Hello.”
Arlo looked around, timidly. “Hello?”
“We’ve been watching you,” the voice said.
Arlo walked toward the voice and saw a collection of creatures perched on the branches of a tree. They were all staring directly at Arlo.
“We thought you were going to die,” the voice said.
Arlo still couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from. He searched the animals in the branches, trying to figure it out.
“But then you didn’t,” the voice said.
Finally, two eyes appeared, revealing a Styracosaurus with big branch-like horns. Small creatures of all sorts perched on the outstretched horns. The dinosaur took a step forward, abandoning the camouflage created by the woods.
His name was Forrest Woodbush and the animals sitting in his horns were his collection.
“That creature protected you,” Forrest said. “Why?”
“I-I don’t know. I’m going home,” Arlo said. “Do you know how far Clawtooth Mountain is?”
The red bird sitting in Forrest’s horn chirped and he responded. “Good idea...” He said, turning back to Arlo. “We want him.”
“W-why?” Arlo asked.
“WHY? Cause it’s terrifying out here. He can protect me, like my friends.” Forrest introduced all the creatures to Arlo, explaining how each one helped to keep him safe in the wilderness. The red bird, whose name was Debbie, chirped again and Forrest nodded. He said firmly to Arlo, “We need him.”
“W-wait,” Arlo said. “He—he’s with me.”
“If he’s with you, what is his name?”
“His name? I-I don’t know,” Arlo answered.
“Hmmm... then I will meditate on this.” Forrest calmly closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opened one and quickly blurted, “I name him. I keep him.”
Forrest continued to hum, closing his eyes and shouting out names as they came to him. “Mmm... Killer!”
All eyes darted toward the boy. He gave no response.
“Mmm... Beast!”
The boy still didn’t answer.
“Mmm... Murderer!”
Arlo was all of a sudden nervous. He started throwing names out, too. He had no idea what he was doing. But Arlo couldn’t lose him again.
“Uh... Grubby!” Arlo said, trying to get the boy’s attention.
The boy sniffed around in the dirt, ignoring them.
Arlo and Forrest continued to blurt out names, but nothing seemed to stick.
“Violet!”
“Spike!”
“Lunatic!”
Finally, Arlo cried out, “Spot!”
The boy stopped, turned, and looked up. A big smile grew across Arlo’s face. “C-come here, Spot! Come here!”
The boy happily trotted over to Arlo and Forrest sighed. “He is named. You clearly are connected... Good for you. On your path to Clawtooth Mountain, that creature will keep you safe. Don’t ever lose him.”
Then the red bird began to chirp loudly and angrily. “No. No...no! You—you can’t have him Debbie!” Forrest scolded the bird. She took off and flew at Arlo, chirping wildly, scaring him. Spot jumped at her, growling. Then the two ran as the bird continued to follow.
“Debbie!” They heard Forrest call. “Stop! You’re better than this!”
Arlo and Spot hid behind a boulder to escape. As Debbie flew by with Forrest chasing behind her, the two unlikely friends looked at each other and laughed.
阿樂(lè)和小男孩正沿河走著,突然聽(tīng)到樹(shù)林后面?zhèn)鱽?lái)一道奇怪的聲音:“你們好?!?
阿樂(lè)環(huán)顧四周,怯生生地問(wèn):“是誰(shuí)?”
“我們已經(jīng)觀察你們很久了?!边@個(gè)聲音說(shuō)道。
阿樂(lè)循聲走去,看到一群棲息在樹(shù)干上的動(dòng)物,他們的眼睛直勾勾地盯著阿樂(lè)。
“我們?cè)詾槟銜?huì)死?!边@個(gè)聲音說(shuō)道。
阿樂(lè)仍然分辨不出這個(gè)聲音來(lái)自哪里,他探查起樹(shù)干上的動(dòng)物,想找出答案。
“但是,后來(lái)你沒(méi)死?!边@個(gè)聲音又說(shuō)道。
終于,阿樂(lè)看到一雙眼睛,才發(fā)現(xiàn)這是一只戟龍。他頭上長(zhǎng)滿了像樹(shù)枝一樣的大角,各種小動(dòng)物都棲息在他向外突出的角上。這只戟龍向前走了一步,不再用樹(shù)木打掩護(hù)。
他的名字叫福里斯特·伍德布什,坐在他角上的動(dòng)物是他的部下。
“那個(gè)小東西保護(hù)了你,”福里斯特說(shuō),“他為什么救你呢?”
“我,我不知道。我要回家了,”阿樂(lè)說(shuō),“你知道這里離爪牙山有多遠(yuǎn)嗎?”
坐在福里斯特角上的紅鳥(niǎo)唧唧叫了幾聲,福里斯特回答:“好主意……”他回過(guò)身,面向阿樂(lè)說(shuō):“把他交給我們?!?
“為……為什么啊?”阿樂(lè)問(wèn)。
“為什么?因?yàn)檫@外面危險(xiǎn)重重,他能像我的那些朋友一樣保護(hù)我?!备@锼固叵虬?lè)一一介紹他的部下,解釋了每一只動(dòng)物如何在荒野里保護(hù)他的安全。名叫黛比的那只紅鳥(niǎo)又唧唧叫了叫,福里斯特點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭,然后堅(jiān)定地對(duì)阿樂(lè)說(shuō):“我們需要他?!?
“等……等等,”阿樂(lè)說(shuō),“他跟我是一起的?!?
“如果他跟你是一起的,他叫什么名字呢?”
“他的名字?我……我不知道?!卑?lè)回答道。
“嗯……那我得好好想想這件事了?!备@锼固仄届o地閉目沉思了一會(huì)兒,然后睜開(kāi)一只眼,脫口而出道:“我給他起了名字,他就歸我了?!?
福里斯特繼續(xù)哼哼。他閉著眼睛,一想到名字就喊出來(lái):“嗯……殺手!”
所有的眼睛齊刷刷看向小男孩,但他毫無(wú)反應(yīng)。
“嗯……猛獸!”
小男孩仍不作聲。
“嗯……兇手!”
阿樂(lè)突然緊張起來(lái),也開(kāi)始起名字了。他不知道自己在做什么,只知道他不能再失去小男孩了。
“額……矮子!”阿樂(lè)說(shuō)著,設(shè)法引起小男孩的注意。
小男孩嗅了嗅周?chē)哪嗤?,沒(méi)理他們。
阿樂(lè)和福里斯特繼續(xù)說(shuō)出了一些名字,但看似都沒(méi)能沾邊。
“小羞羞!”
“釘釘!”
“小瘋子!”
最后,阿樂(lè)喊出:“小不點(diǎn)!”
小男孩停下來(lái),轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身,抬頭看著他。一抹大大的微笑出現(xiàn)在了阿樂(lè)臉上?!斑^(guò)……過(guò)來(lái),小不點(diǎn)!到這兒來(lái)!”
小男孩高興地小跑到阿樂(lè)面前,福里斯特嘆氣道:“他有名字了。很明顯你們兩個(gè)很投緣……好樣的。在你回爪牙山的路上,這個(gè)小家伙會(huì)保護(hù)你的安全,永遠(yuǎn)不要把他弄丟了?!?
紅鳥(niǎo)又開(kāi)始憤怒地大聲唧唧叫著:“不,不,不!你……你不能要他了,黛比!”福里斯特責(zé)罵了這只鳥(niǎo)。鳥(niǎo)飛向阿樂(lè),瘋狂地唧唧叫著,想要嚇唬他。小不點(diǎn)跳向她,大吼。然后,他倆跑起來(lái),紅鳥(niǎo)在后面一直追。
“黛比!”他們聽(tīng)到福里斯特在叫她,“停!你不該這樣!”
阿樂(lè)和小不點(diǎn)躲到一塊巨石后面,想要逃跑,黛比直接飛了過(guò)去,福里斯特還在后面追著她。兩個(gè)不可能成為朋友的朋友互相看著對(duì)方,笑了。
瘋狂英語(yǔ) 英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)法 新概念英語(yǔ) 走遍美國(guó) 四級(jí)聽(tīng)力 英語(yǔ)音標(biāo) 英語(yǔ)入門(mén) 發(fā)音 美語(yǔ) 四級(jí) 新東方 七年級(jí) 賴世雄 zero是什么意思襄陽(yáng)市濱江花園(B區(qū))英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流群