Unit 10 Little Green Bean Looked for Mother
Author: Cheng-Yun Wang(王正芸)Ruei-Hua-Shen(沈瑞華) Translator: Nikki Wang(王月玲)
Ⅰ. The Birth
One dark night, on the quiet sandy beach, a sudden commotion broke the lonely atmosphere. Crack! Crack! Crack! The sounds were coming from under the sands. One, two, three…Oh! Five lovely baby green turtles had broken through the eggs and appeared. These five little new lives leaned out their heads to look at the new world. They were looking around curiously, and, at the same time crawling closer together to sing happily, “In the dark, dark night, many green turtles are there, gathering together in groups, marching on towards the large ocean. Be careful, green turtles! Don’t follow the wrong light and the wrong road. You will get lost. Don’t lose your lives! “
The youngest baby green turtle was attracted by the bright light at the roadside. It crawled forward without knowing what it was doing.
“Wow! How bright! What is that place up there?”
The small baby green turtle totally ignored the singing of her other companions. It just advanced alone and hardly realized that disaster was coming.
The baby Green turtle's eldest brother said’” Why? Strange! Where is little sister? “
He glimpsed to find that his little sister had crawled to the road ahead.
He shouted nervously,
”Little sister! Little sister! Come back quickly! Come back quickly! “
But little sister was too far away to hear the call of the eldest brother.
“What should I do? What should I do? Little sister is in danger. She should not have crawled away from our team, and now she can not hear my call at all.” said the eldest green turtle brother anxiously.
The second elder brother of the green turtle said,” Oh! She must have been attracted by the light on the road. That’s why she’s going in the wrong direction.”
Before he finished his sentence, there came the sound of a car braking suddenly, “Crash!”
“Ouch! This is terrible!”
“Little sister! Little sister! Sob…“All the green turtles screamed. Everybody was crying amid the disorder.
The green turtle's eldest brother tried to calm down everybody,
“Don’t cry! Don't cry. Now, everybody should stay calm. All of you just listen to me, your big brother Green Bean Paste, every one of you is forbidden to take action alone and everybody should pay attention to his own security.”
The other three baby green turtles who were in a panic nodded and promised to follow the instruction of their eldest brother Green Bean Paste to keep moving in a group.
The green turtle's eldest brother looked in distance place and said,
“Let me see… Oh! I see it! I see it! Look at the light at the horizon! It will indicate our direction. Let’s follow the light and move ahead, and then we won’t go in the wrong direction. Come on! Let's go!” (He waved and called everybody.)
Reassured, the green turtles continued their journey, singing in a loud voice,
“In the dark, dark night, many green turtles are there, gathering together in groups, marching towards the big ocean. Be careful, green turtles! Don’t follow the wrong light, and the wrong road. You will get lost. Don’t lose your lives! “
Ⅱ. The Growth
Under the soft and graceful moonlight, there are two happy ghost crabs on the sandy beach, singing heartily, dancing in joy, enjoying the happy moment in the moonlight.
The first ghost crab said, “Look! Tonight's moonlight is good! “
The second ghost crab said, “Yes! We should enjoy a romantic sumptuous meal in the beautiful moonlight.”
“Sure! I’m really a little bit hungry! Let’s look for dinner! “The first ghost crab rubbed his belly and said.
The first ghost crab began to look around him for food.
“I’ve found it! I’ve found it! “
“Hey! That is a PET bottle! “The second ghost crab said sulkily.
“Why! Can’t we eat PET bottle? Let me check to see if there is anything else to eat… Hello! Look! Here is the famous product of Penghu! Dried squid! ”
“Oh! Please! That is a slipper! “
At this moment, from the other end of the sandy beach, a group of green turtles were creeping closer slowly but happily.
The second ghost crab got an idea and patted his companion, with a gluttonous look in his eyes. It looked like he was eager for a fight.
“Hey! Look! Look! Our dinner had delivered itself to us!”
The two ghost crabs looked with covetous eyes and got ready to attack the group of green turtles.
“Ouch!” The sudden appearance of the two ghost crabs frightened the green turtles, and their fierce look made the green turtles shiver and feel as if their souls had left their bodies.
“Oops! Everybody run! “The green turtle's eldest brother told his sisters and brothers to escape.
“Hey! Hey! Don’t run! Look at my fleeting foot! Ha! Ha! Got you! I caught you! Finally I’ve caught one of you!”
The first ghost crab said, “Very good! Let’s get ready to eat our sumptuous meal!”
In trying to protect his sisters and the brothers, the green turtle's eldest brother was unfortunately caught by the ghost crabs in.
Though the other green turtles had luckily escaped from the ghost crabs, they were trembling secretly, “What can we do? What can we do? Our elder brother has been caught by the hateful ghost crabs.”
“Well! We are really unlucky! There is nothing we can do. Now, as your second eldest brother, I, Green Been Cake, will have to lead the way. Everybody must be alert, and pay attention to one's own safety.”
The three green turtles sadly swam towards the sea; they kept looking back, thinking of the dangerous situations they had just met; everybody was both scared and sad.
As the herd of green turtles swam on, they saw a happy and warm scene. It was a mother ray and her son, happily playing together.
“Wow! How I envy you! Why can’t we have a mother to accompany us? Where is our mother? “The green turtles felt sad and sighed with regret.
At the moment, there came a big turtle, swimming towards them.
“Look! It’s Mother! She is our mother! ”The younger brother of green turtles Green Been Pastry shouted happily.
“No, I am not. Why? Are you children of the "green family "? “
“Yes! Yes!”
The turtle grandfather knitted his brows and asked, “How come there are only three of you?”
The second elder brother Green Bean Cake told the turtle grandfather about everything that had happened in detail.
The turtle grandfather comforted them and said, “O.K., kids! Listen carefully! Your mother told me that from May to October of this year, she had to return to your birthplace to lay eggs, but she would look forward to meeting you again. Go! Be careful on your way, and remember to look after each other all the time.”
“Excellent! We have a mother, too. Let's go to look for her quickly! “The green turtles were very excited. They thanked the turtle grandfather, and departed at once.
The turtle grandfather looked at their figures when they left, expecting that they will arrive at their birthplace safely and smoothly to have a reunion with their mother.
Ⅲ. The Reunion
Time slipped by, very soon there came the season for green turtles to lay eggs. On the white sandy beach, five green turtle mothers were swimming carefully to the bank, preparing for the eggs. They dug big holes with their front legs to hide their bodies, and dug with their back legs small holes to lay eggs. Some of them laid one nest; some of them laid two nests; some even laid nine nests. The diligent mothers tried hard to search for safe and comfortable places, and they hopes the eggs they laid would be able to grow up safely and be kept in safe places, and would not be eaten by their natural predators or stolen by the man.
In the sky, there was a gull gliding. It was Gull ‘Yue Fei’. He wanted to be like his father Jonathan, and he made great efforts to learn to fly, no matter day or night.
“Wow! The sandy beach of tonight is very busy; there are a lot of big green turtles… yes! There are also turtle's eggs! I can really glut myself with delicacies.” The gull 'Yue Fei' coveted the food in front of him and flew downward quickly.
“Everybody be careful!” a green turtle mother sniffed danger and she hurriedly warned everybody. The turtle mothers protected their eggs, kicking up the sand at their sides to prevent the gull 'Yue Fei' from robbing their eggs.
“Help me! I can not see anything! It hurts! “ Cried the gull 'Yue Fei'. He not only failed to have a delicious meal but also besieged by the green turtle mothers. So he begged for mercy at once and made his escape.
Meanwhile, the baby green turtles who had gone through innumerable trials and tribulations finally arrived at the sandy beach where they were born.
“Hey! Are you Green Beans? “
The green turtle babies wiped the sweat away, took a good look and said,
“Are you our mother? “
“Yes! Children! ”
“Mom! Mom! We really missed you! We’ve found you at last. ”
The green turtle babies gathered around their mother.
Other green turtle mothers were moved by this warm picture. They said, “Congratulations! You are reunited at last. It is not easy for you Mother and son to meet again!”
“Yes! Children, please remember, no matter we are separated or together, I love you forever. Now, let's get back to the sea! “
In the bright moonlight, a group of big and many small green turtles were moving across the sandy beach to return to the sea's embrace, continuing the samsara of lives and marched forward bravely.