地球也会发烧和打冷颤 / Why Earth Gets Fever and Chills

第 1 章　地球也会发烧和打冷颤

Chapter 1: Earth Gets Fever and Chills

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一个寒冷的早晨 / A Cold Morning

清晨的森林里，霜霜打了一个大大的喷嚏。

*Early in the morning, deep in the forest, Frost let out a great big sneeze.*

"阿——嚏！"她揉了揉鼻尖，鼻尖冻得通红，像一颗刚从冰箱里拿出来的小樱桃。霜霜的整个身体都是淡蓝色的，头发像清晨的雾气，眼睛里仿佛藏着冬天早晨结在窗户上的冰花。她穿着一件毛茸茸的白色披风，披风上绣满了闪闪发光的雪花图案——每一片雪花都是她的小徽章。

*"Ah-choo!" She rubbed her nose tip, which was frozen red as a little cherry just taken out of the refrigerator. Frost's whole body was pale blue, her hair like morning mist, her eyes seeming to hold the ice flowers that form on windows in winter mornings. She wore a fluffy white cape embroidered with sparkling snowflake patterns—each snowflake was her little badge.*

"谁在念叨我呀？"霜霜吸了吸鼻子，自言自语地说。

*"Who's talking about me?" Frost sniffed to herself.*

就在这时，她听到一阵"嗒嗒嗒"的脚步声。抬头一看，是她的好朋友暖暖跑过来了。暖暖和霜霜完全不一样——她是橙红色的，像一颗小小的太阳，头发卷卷的、热热的，走到哪里都像带着一束阳光。她的裙子是金黄色的，上面有暖洋洋的火焰纹样，走起路来裙摆轻轻飘动，就像秋天麦田里翻滚的金色波浪。

*Just then, she heard a "tap-tap-tap" of footsteps. Looking up, she saw her good friend Warmth running over. Warmth was completely different from Frost—she was orange-red, like a little sun, with curly, warm hair, and wherever she went, she seemed to bring a beam of sunlight. Her dress was golden yellow with warm flame patterns, and as she walked, the hem fluttered gently, like the golden waves rolling in an autumn wheat field.*

"霜霜！霜霜！你快来看！"暖暖一边跑一边喊，橙色的围巾在风里飘得老高。

*"Frost! Frost! Come quick and look!" Warmth shouted as she ran, her orange scarf flying high in the wind.*

"什么事呀，这么着急？"霜霜哈出一口白气，那白气在冷空气里变成了一团小小的云朵。

*"What's the rush?" Frost breathed out a puff of white air, which turned into a little cloud in the cold.*

"你听我说，"暖暖弯下腰，小声说，"刚才我在那棵大松树下面，看到一只小松鼠！可是它……它一动也不动！"

*"Listen," Warmth bent down and whispered, "just now under that big pine tree, I saw a little squirrel! But it... it wasn't moving at all!"*

霜霜的眼睛一下子瞪大了。她是掌管"冷"的小精灵，最怕看到小动物受冻。"快带我去！"

*Frost's eyes widened at once. She was the little spirit who ruled "cold," and she feared most seeing small animals suffer from the cold. "Take me there, quick!"*

两位小向导——是的，她们就是本书的向导，将陪伴小读者走完这段奇妙的地球温度探索之旅——一起跑向森林深处那棵最古老的大松树。松树的名字叫"老爷爷松"，据说已经在这片森林里站了三百多年，树干粗得三个小朋友手拉手都抱不过来。

*The two little guides—yes, they are the guides of this book, who will accompany the young readers through this wonderful journey of exploring Earth's temperature—ran together to the oldest big pine tree deep in the forest. The pine tree was called "Grandpa Pine," and it was said to have stood in this forest for over three hundred years, its trunk so thick that three children holding hands couldn't wrap their arms around it.*

在大松树根部的一个小洞里，她们看到了那只小松鼠。它蜷缩成一团，灰色的小尾巴紧紧贴着身体，眼睛闭着，鼻子一动也不动。周围的草叶上结了一层薄薄的白霜，那白霜在清晨的光线里闪着细碎的光。

*In a small hole at the base of the big pine tree, they saw the little squirrel. It was curled up in a ball, its little gray tail pressed tight against its body, eyes closed, nose motionless. A thin layer of white frost had formed on the surrounding grass blades, sparkling with fine light in the morning rays.*

"它……它是不是死了？"暖暖的声音有点发抖。

*"Is it... is it dead?" Warmth's voice trembled a little.*

霜霜蹲下来，小心翼翼地把手放在小松鼠的肚子上。冰凉冰凉的，可是——"嘘！我感觉到它的心跳了！只是非常非常慢。"霜霜抬起头说，"它是被冻僵了，需要暖和过来。"

*Frost squatted down and carefully put her hand on the squirrel's belly. It was icy cold, but—*"Shh! I can feel its heartbeat! Just very, very slow."* Frost looked up and said, "It's frozen stiff, it needs to warm up."*

暖暖立刻张开双手，一股温暖的气息从她手心流淌出来。那气息不是热得烫人，而是像春天早晨第一缕阳光那样，柔和而充满生机。小松鼠的灰色毛发开始变得蓬松，鼻尖微微动了一下，眼睛慢慢地睁开了——黑亮黑亮的眼珠里，先是茫然，然后是惊喜。

*Warmth immediately spread her hands, and a warm breath flowed from her palms. The breath wasn't burning hot, but like the first ray of sunlight on a spring morning, gentle and full of life. The squirrel's gray fur began to fluff up, its nose twitched slightly, and its eyes slowly opened—inside the bright black pupils was first confusion, then delight.*

"吱吱！"小松鼠叫了一声，蹦了起来。它围着暖暖和霜霜转了三圈，然后一溜烟地跑进了森林深处。跑的时候，它还回头看了一眼，仿佛在说："谢谢你们！"

*"Squeak-squeak!" The little squirrel chirped and leaped up. It circled Warmth and Frost three times, then darted into the depths of the forest. As it ran, it looked back, as if to say, "Thank you!"*

暖暖松了一口气，霜霜也笑了。可是暖暖的眉头又皱了起来。

*Warmth breathed a sigh of relief, and Frost smiled too. But Warmth's brow furrowed again.*

"霜霜，"暖暖拉着她的白色披风说，"你看那边——"

*"Frost," Warmth pulled her white cape and said, "look over there—"*

她们顺着暖暖手指的方向看去。森林的另一边，靠近小溪的地方，有一小片野花。往常这个时候，那些野花应该精神抖擞地开着，黄色、紫色、白色的小花一朵朵像小太阳。可是今天——花茎都弯下了腰，花瓣卷曲着，颜色也淡了好多。整片花丛看起来蔫蔫的，像一群累了的小娃娃。

*They looked in the direction Warmth was pointing. On the other side of the forest, near a small stream, there was a patch of wildflowers. At this time normally, those wildflowers should be standing tall and lively, with yellow, purple, and white blossoms each like little suns. But today—the stems were all bent over, the petals were curled, and the colors had faded quite a bit. The whole flower patch looked wilted, like a group of tired little dolls.*

"它们怎么啦？"霜霜走过去，蹲下来用手指轻轻碰了碰一片花瓣。那花瓣薄薄的，边缘有点焦黄。

*"What's wrong with them?" Frost walked over, squatted down, and gently touched a petal with her finger. The petal was thin, with a slightly scorched-yellow edge.*

暖暖闭上眼睛，用心感受了一下空气，然后睁开眼睛，神情严肃地说：

*Warmth closed her eyes, felt the air with her heart, then opened her eyes and said with a serious expression:*

"它们被晒得太厉害了。最近几天太阳太烈，气温太高了，泥土里的水分都被蒸干了。它们渴了，也热坏了。"

*"They've been sunburned too much. The sun has been too fierce these past few days, the temperature too high, and the moisture in the soil has all been evaporated. They're thirsty, and they've been burned by the heat."*

霜霜把一只小杯子变出来，杯子里装着清晨的露水。她把露水一点一点地洒在花儿的根部。暖暖则轻轻地把暖意送到花瓣上，让它们不要那么干渴。慢慢地，花茎直起来了一点，花瓣也舒展了一点点。

*Frost conjured a small cup filled with morning dew. She sprinkled the dew bit by bit on the roots of the flowers. Warmth gently sent warmth to the petals so they wouldn't be so parched. Slowly, the stems stood up a little, and the petals unfolded a little.*

"好啦，"暖暖擦了擦额头——虽然她是"暖"的精灵，做了好事也会流汗的，"它们需要时间慢慢恢复。但是霜霜，你不觉得奇怪吗？"

*"Okay," Warmth wiped her forehead—even though she was the spirit of "warmth," she could sweat when she did good deeds—"they need time to recover slowly. But Frost, don't you think it's strange?"*

"奇怪什么？"

*"Strange about what?"*

"你管'冷'，我管'暖'，可是最近森林里又是结霜又是暴晒，"暖暖说，"我们两个使出全力的力气也比以前大，可是——可是我们好像都控制不住局面了。"

*"You rule 'cold,' I rule 'warmth,' but lately in the forest, there's been both frost and scorching sun," Warmth said, "the strength we both use with all our might is greater than before, but—but it seems we can't control the situation anymore."*

霜霜想了想，点点头："是呀。以前冬天就是冬天，春天就是春天，界限清清楚楚。可是现在……夏天有时候会突然冷一下，冬天有时候又热得不正常。我们俩都搞不懂。"

*Frost thought for a moment, then nodded: "Yes. Before, winter was winter, spring was spring, the boundaries were crystal clear. But now... sometimes summer suddenly gets cold, sometimes winter gets abnormally warm. Neither of us can figure it out."*

"那……"暖暖抬起头，望向森林上空。她的目光越过大松树的树梢，越过远处的小山丘，越过飘动的云层，一直望向更高更远的地方——望向那整个蓝色的、圆圆的、悬在宇宙中的巨大球体。

*"Then..." Warmth looked up, gazing above the forest. Her gaze passed over the treetops of the pines, over the distant hills, over the drifting clouds, all the way up to higher and farther places—toward that entire blue, round, huge sphere suspended in the universe.*

"霜霜，"暖暖轻声说，"会不会……不是我们两个变弱了？会不会是……地球生病了？"

*"Frost," Warmth said softly, "could it be... that it's not that the two of us have gotten weaker? Could it be... that Earth is sick?"*

霜霜顺着暖暖的目光，也望向那遥远的地球。她点了点头。

*Frost followed Warmth's gaze, also looking toward the distant Earth. She nodded.*

"暖暖，"霜霜说，"我想，我们应该一起去弄清楚，地球到底怎么了。它的'体温'是不是在变化？为什么会变化？我们要去问问那些有智慧的人——科学家们，看看他们是怎么说的。"

*"Warmth," Frost said, "I think we should go together and find out what's really happening to Earth. Is its 'body temperature' changing? Why is it changing? We should go ask those wise people—the scientists—and see what they have to say."*

"好！"暖暖握紧了霜霜的手。

*"Okay!" Warmth gripped Frost's hand tightly.*

"而且，"霜霜眯起眼睛，狡黠地笑了，"我还要找一些小小的'读者朋友'——就是正在看这本书的小朋友——和我们一起踏上这段旅程。我们可以一边走一边学，地球上为什么会有冷有热，为什么会发烧和打冷颤。"

*"And," Frost