見見老鼠凱薩琳和大象馬克。 凱薩琳非常勇敢又喜歡冒險, 但馬克的個性十分害羞,對許多事情都感到害怕。不過,朋友都喜歡黏在一塊兒,所以凱薩琳走到哪兒,馬克就會跟到哪兒。有時候,他們也會碰上非常棘手的情況...
Mark’s airport blues
馬克的機場恐懼症
It was Mark and Kathleen’s annual vacation, and they were at the airport waiting for their flight. The airport was very noisy and full of passengers carrying luggage and checking the departure schedule. Mark had never flown before and he was very nervous. “I can’t believe you booked us on a plane. You know I’m scared of flying. Why can’t we go on a cruise instead?” he asked. But Kathleen was adamant. “Taking a plane is safer than getting in a car. Just relax. You have to get over this fear sooner or later,” she replied.
After waiting in line for an hour, they finally got to the check-in desk. Mark checked his pockets. “Oh no. I’ve left my passport at home. It looks like we can’t fly. What a pity!” he said, as he picked up his bags and got ready to leave. “Not so fast! I know that you’re a forgetful elephant so I brought your passport.” She handed it to the assistant, and they went through to the departure lounge.
As they sat and waited, Mark read a newspaper. There was an article about how unhealthy airline food was. There was another article about somebody who lost all their luggage. He really didn’t want to fly. When it was time to board, all the passengers lined up and slowly entered the plane. Mark was sweating. “Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine,” said Kathleen.
Mark sat down in his seat. As he stared out the window watching planes taking off, he turned to Kathleen and said, “Kathleen, there’s something really weird happening…” (john phillips, staff writer)
又到了馬克和凱薩琳度年假的時候,他們此時正在機場候機。機場內人聲鼎沸,擠滿了拖著行李查看班機起飛時刻表的乘客。馬克從沒搭過飛機,所以非常緊張。馬克問:「我不敢相信妳幫我們訂了機位,妳知道我怕坐飛機。難道不能改搭船嗎?」但凱薩琳毫不動搖地回答:「搭飛機比搭車還要安全,所以你儘管放輕鬆。你遲早得克服這種恐懼。」
排隊等了一個小時後,終於輪到他們到櫃台登記。馬克摸了摸口袋說:「噢,不。我把護照忘在家裡了。看來我們沒辦法搭飛機了。真是可惜!」他拎起袋子準備走人。「等一等!我知道你健忘,所以我幫你把護照帶來了。」凱薩琳把馬克的護照交給櫃員,然後他們就前往候機室。
他們坐下來等的同時,馬克看了一份報紙。裡面有一篇關於機上餐點多不健康,以及一篇旅客行李全弄丟的報導。馬克真的不想搭飛機。到了登機的時候,所有乘客排成一列陸續上機,馬克則顯得焦躁不安。凱薩琳對他說:「別擔心,一切都不會有問題的。」
馬克坐上他的位子。飛機起飛時他盯著窗外看,然後轉身向凱薩琳說:「凱薩琳,事情真的很不對勁…」(翻譯:袁星塵)
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