Chapter 10
A little while later, Marlin was swimming along the ocean floor. Dory trailed close behind.
All at once, Marlin stopped short. They were at the edge of a long, dark, spooky-looking trench.
“Okay, let’s go!” Dory cried.
“Bad trench. Come on,” he told Dory. “We’re gonna swim over this thing.”
Dory shook her head. “Whoa, partner. Little red flag goin’ up. Something’s telling me we should swim through it, not over it.”
Marlin’s jaw dropped. “Are you even looking at this thing? It’s got death written all over it!”
“I’m sorry. But I really, really, really think we should swim through. Come on, trust me on this.”
“Trust you?” Marlin asked.
“Yes. Trust. It’s what friends do,” Dory said.
“Look!” Marlin said, trying to distract Dory. “Something shiny.” “Where?” said Dory.
“Oh, it just swam over the trench. Come on, we’ll follow it,” Marlin said.
“Okay!” Dory happily agreed, forgetting about the moonfish’s warning.
The two fish swam over the trench to clear blue water. In the distance they could see the fast-moving East Australian Current.
“We should be there in no time,” said Marlin.
Dory wasn’t listening. She was staring at a tiny jellyfish floating just in front of her. She moved closer. “Hey, little guy.”
“You wanted to go through the trench,” Marlin said with a laugh.
Dory reached for the jellyfish. “I shall call him Squishy. And he shall be my Squishy. Come here, little Squishy!”
But as Dory tried to touch the jellyfish, it stung her. “Ow!” she shouted.
“Dory!” Marlin gasped. “That’s a jellyfish!”
“Bad Squishy!” Dory said as Marlin pushed the jellyfish away from her.
“Shoo! Get away!” he said. Then he turned to Dory.
“Come here. Let me see that.” Marlin held Dory’s fin to examine the sting. Neither of them noticed more and more jellyfish swimming closer. The jellyfish were floating down from above.
“Hey, how come it didn’t sting you?” Dory asked.
“It did,” Marlin answered. “It’s just that I live in this anemone and I’m used to these kinds of stings. It doesn’t look too bad,” he told Dory. “You’re gonna be fine. But now we know, don’t we, that we don’t want to touch these again. Let’s be thankful this time it was just a little one.”
As they turned to go, hundreds of jellyfish blocked their path. Marlin couldn’t believe his eyes. This was seriously dangerous.
“Don’t move!” he ordered.
More and more jellyfish were coming. There were jellyfish as far as he could see!
“This is bad, Dory.” Marlin looked around. Dory was bouncing on top of a large jellyfish like it was a trampoline.
“Hey, watch this! Boing! Boing!” She laughed. “You can’t catch me,” she called to Marlin.
Oh, no, Marlin thought. She thinks this is fun.
He reached for her, but she bounced onto another jellyfish. Marlin closed his eyes, not wanting to see his friend get hurt again. But Dory didn’t scream. Marlin opened his eyes and saw her happily bouncing along. Then he remembered that the tops of jellyfish don’t sting.
“All right, listen to me!” he said to Dory. “I have an idea—a game.”
“I love games!” Dory cried.
“All right. Here’s the game: whoever can hop the fastest out of these jellyfish wins,” Marlin said.
“Okay! Okay!” Dory exclaimed.
“Rules, rules, rules! You can’t touch the tentacles. Only the tops,” Marlin ordered.
“Something about tentacles. Got it,” Dory said. “On your mark. Get set. Go!”
Dory took off jumping. Marlin followed slowly behind. “Now, be careful,” he told himself.
“Wheeeeee!” Dory giggled, leaping from one jellyfish to the next.
Marlin moved faster, trying to keep up. Boing! This was… kind of fun! He was actually having a good time!
“Dory, are you hungry?” asked Marlin. “Huh? Hungry?” Dory said.
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re about to eat my bubbles!” Marlin cried.
Then he bounded out of the jellyfish forest, feeling the pull of the East Australian Current nearby. “The clownfish is the winner!” he shouted to Dory. “We did it!”
But Dory wasn’t there.
“Oh, no!” Marlin groaned. He darted back to find her.
“Dory?” he called, peering through the jellyfish. Then he spotted her—wrapped up tight in a jellyfish’s tentacles.
Without even thinking, Marlin pushed through the other jellyfish. He shot straight through the giant tentacles and grabbed Dory.
Marlin was a fish on a mission—to save Dory. “Am I disqualified?” she asked, barely able to speak.
“You’re actually winning. But you’ve got to stay awake!” Marlin said.
Marlin held Dory with one fin. He paddled with the other. The water was thick with jellyfish. He could see one small patch of blue ahead. He had to reach it!
Barreling through the jellyfish, he shielded Dory with his body. As he went, he was stung again and again. With each new sting, he slowed down. He grew weaker. “Stay awake!” he kept saying—to Dory and to himself.
“Stay…” With his last bit of strength, Marlin pushed past a gigantic jellyfish. “…awake.”
He floated into the safety of the clear open water.
Weary, he saw something up ahead. Something big and green and moving very slowly… and then everything went black.
第 10 章
過了一會兒,馬林在海底游著。多莉緊隨其后。
突然,馬林猛地停下。他們來到一處狹長、黑暗而且陰森森的海溝的邊緣。
“好了,我們走吧!”多莉喊。
“這海溝很危險??禳c(diǎn),”他告訴多莉,“我們還是從它上面游過去吧。”
多莉搖了搖頭。“喔,伙伴。有點(diǎn)不對勁。有人說過,我們應(yīng)該穿過去,不能從上面游過去。”
馬林驚訝極了,問道:“你都不打算察看一下這里的情況嗎?這地方到處都陰森森的!”
“對不起。但是我真的,真的,真的認(rèn)為我們應(yīng)該穿過去。好了,這事就相信我吧。”
“相信你?”馬林問。
“是的。信任。朋友之間就該互相信任。”多莉說。
“瞧!”馬林說道,想要分散多莉的注意力,“有東西在發(fā)光。”“哪兒?”多莉說。
“哦,它從海溝上面游過去了??禳c(diǎn)兒,我們跟上去。”馬林說。
“好的!”多莉高興地同意了,把翻車魚的提醒忘得一干二凈。
兩條魚從海溝上面游到了清澈湛藍(lán)的海域。在遠(yuǎn)處,他們可以看到快速流動的東澳大利亞洋流。
“我們應(yīng)該馬上趕過去。”馬林說。
多莉沒在聽。她盯著一只正好在她面前漂浮的小水母。她游得靠近了些:“嘿,小家伙。”
“你還想穿過海溝呢。”馬林大笑著說。
多莉伸手去摸這只水母。“我要叫他柔柔。他就是我的柔柔。過來,小柔柔!”
但是,當(dāng)多莉想要摸這只水母的時候,他蜇了她。“哎喲!”她大叫起來。
“多莉!”馬林倒抽了一口氣,大叫道,“那是水母!”
“壞柔柔!”馬林把水母從多莉身邊推開時,多莉說道。
“噓!走開!”他說。然后他轉(zhuǎn)向多莉。
“過來。讓我瞧瞧。”馬林握住多莉的鰭,檢查蜇傷的地方。他們都沒有注意到越來越多的水母游過來了。成群的水母正從上面往下游。
“嘿,它怎么不蜇你呢?”多莉問。
“它也蜇的,”馬林回答,“只不過因為我住在???,對這樣的蜇傷習(xí)慣了??瓷先ゲ惶珖?yán)重,”他告訴多莉:“你會好起來的。但是,現(xiàn)在我們知道了,對不對,我們不要再碰到這些東西了。我們要慶幸,這次只是一只小水母。”
他們正想轉(zhuǎn)身離開時,成百上千只水母擋住了他們的路。馬林覺得難以置信。這極其危險。
“別動!”他命令道。
越來越多的水母過來了。在他的視線范圍內(nèi)全是水母!
“這下糟了,多莉。”馬林環(huán)顧四周。多莉正在一只大水母的頂部跳上跳下,好像它是一個蹦床。
“喂,瞧?。∴?!嘣!”她大笑著。“你抓不到我。”她向馬林大喊。
哦,不,馬林想。她還覺得這很好玩。
他伸手去抓她,可是她跳到另一只水母上了。馬林閉上眼睛,不想看到他的朋友再次受傷。但是,多莉并沒有尖叫。馬林睜開眼睛,看見她快樂地向前跳著。這時他想起來,水母的頂部不蜇人。
“好吧,聽我說!”他對多莉說,“我有個主意——我們來玩?zhèn)€游戲。”
“我喜歡游戲!”多莉喊道。
“好吧。游戲是這樣的:誰能最快從這些水母當(dāng)中跳出去,誰就贏了。”馬林說。
“好的!好的!”多莉大喊。
“規(guī)則,規(guī)則,規(guī)則!不能摸這些觸須。只能碰上面。”馬林下令道。
“有關(guān)觸須的。知道了,”多莉說,“各就各位。預(yù)備,跳!”
多莉開始跳了。馬林慢慢地跟在后面。“現(xiàn)在,要小心。”他喃喃自語。
“喲……喲!”多莉咯咯地笑著,從一只水母跳到下一只水母。
馬林加快了速度,想要趕上她。嘣!這是……有點(diǎn)好玩!他其實(shí)玩得很開心!
“多莉,你餓嗎?”馬林問。“?。筐I?”多莉說。
“是的,因為你要吃到我的泡泡了!”馬林喊道。
然后,他跳出了水母森林,感受到了附近東澳大利亞洋流的牽引。“小丑魚贏了!”他對著多莉大叫。“我們成功了!”
但是,多莉不在那里。
“哦,不!”馬林呻吟道。他趕緊沖回去找她。
“多莉?”他大喊,在水母中仔細(xì)地搜尋。接著,他發(fā)現(xiàn)了她——被一只水母的觸須緊緊地纏繞著。
馬林不假思索地從其他水母中間擠過去。他直接從巨大的觸須中沖過去,抓住了多莉。
馬林要執(zhí)行一項任務(wù)——營救多莉。“我輸了嗎?”她問,幾乎不能說話。
“其實(shí)你贏了。但是你得保持清醒!”馬林說。
馬林用一只鰭抱住多莉。他用另一只鰭劃水。水里到處都是水母。他只能看見前方一小塊藍(lán)色。他必須到那兒!
他用自己的身體護(hù)住多莉,在水母中飛奔。他前進(jìn)時,被蜇了一次又一次。他每次被蜇時,都會慢下來。他越來越虛弱。“保持清醒!”他一直說著——對多莉說,也是對他自己說。
“保持……”馬林用他最后一點(diǎn)兒力氣,從一只巨大的水母身邊擠過去,“……清醒。”
他漂到了清澈開闊的安全海域。
他筋疲力盡,看見前面有某種東西。某種很大、移動得很慢的綠色東西……接著,眼前一片漆黑。