《恐龙当家》第1章

16次大中小

65 million years ago—on a day very much like many before it—all was quiet on Earth as a group of dinosaurs peacefully ate in a lush green field. A big moon cast a gentle glow from above as they lazily chewed on fern fronds, twigs, and leaves.

But in the deepest, darkest depths of outer space—way beyond the dinosaurs—things were not so calm. A giant space rock was hovering millions of miles above the earth, moving more quickly than the others in the asteroid belt. It nudged into a larger rock, sending an even bigger rock on its path. The asteroid began descending toward Earth. It burned as it entered the atmosphere, gaining momentum and on track to smack right into the blue planet. It raced faster and faster, getting closer and closer and closer, until ...

Whooooosh!

The raging fireball darted right past Earth—just missing it.

Down below, the dinosaurs stopped chewing for a brief moment as they watched the bright, silver streak of light shoot across the night sky.

Then they went back to chomping on their leafy greens.

Millions of years later, the world had changed. The Earth and the dinosaurs that roamed it had become very different. Two Apatosauruses were busy cultivating a farm alongside a river at the base of a three-point mountain range called Clawtooth Mountain. Henry and Ida worked hard tending to their fields and produced enough food to get them through every winter. Their farm was flourishing and soon, they'd have a family.

Early one morning, Henry was outside doing his chores, using his mouth and long neck to spray streams of water across the cornfields, when he heard Ida's voice ring out. "Henry!" called Ida. "It's time!"

Ida and Henry gazed at the eggs cozily sitting together in their large nest. All three were smooth and white, but one of them was quite a bit larger than the other two. Naturally, they assumed that would be their biggest and strongest. Ida and Henry had been dreaming about the little dinosaurs growing inside those beautiful eggs for so long. It was hard to believe the waiting was about to be over. They watched with hopeful eyes as one of the smaller ones wobbled just a bit. Then it wobbled a bit more. And finally… a tiny crack formed.

Crack!

The shell cracked open and, like a little ray of sunshine, a girl dinosaur cheerfully bounced out. "Our first girl," said Poppa with a smile. "Let's call her Libby, after your momma."

Momma's eyes welled up with tears of joy as she and Poppa watched Libby smile and then vanish. In a flash, she reappeared, popping out of her hiding place, her long, thin tail whipping behind her. The silly little trickster made Momma and Poppa laugh, disappearing and reemerging from unexpected places.

Then the other small egg began to wobble.

Crack!

A tiny crack appeared at the top of its shell. It wobbled and pushed a bit more until… Pop! A foot came out!

Pop! Pop! Pop!

One by one, three more feet pierced through, sticking straight out. The egg rolled over and its four thick legs stomped around until it bashed into a tree trunk. The shell crumbled away and a tough little male dinosaur—built like a tank—stood and looked at them. Even his head was big for a baby apatosaurus and looked as if it were balancing on top of his long neck.

"Hello, Buck," Poppa said proudly. The little dinosaur picked up a stick and started beating his father's leg with it. "He's got your eyes."

Finally, the largest egg began to wobble and quiver. Momma and Poppa leaned in, excitedly, waiting to see their third child. "Looks like it's going to be a big one!" Poppa exclaimed anxiously. The egg wiggled… and wobbled some more. Henry and Ida continued to sit and stare.

Crack!

The egg cracked open and the top popped off. The parents gasped in excitement, but nothing happened. No little dinosaur emerged. They leaned forward, peering in, and curled up inside the bottom of the egg, was the tiniest dinosaur either of them had ever seen!

Poppa pulled off the top half of the shell and the tiny dinosaur peeked out at them timidly.

"Hello, Arlo," Poppa said, trying to coax the little apatosaurus out of the egg. But Arlo didn't move. His arms and legs were splayed, gripping the inside of the shell tightly. He was not interested in leaving.

"It's alright. Come on out," Poppa encouraged.

Arlo nervously inched forward, and seemed to quiver with fear.

"Look at you," said Poppa, smiling adoringly.

Then Arlo tipped over and fell flat on his face with his backside sticking straight up in the air. Seeing a golden opportunity, Buck lumbered over and smacked Arlo on the butt with his stick.

"Get out of there! You little prickle bush!" scolded Poppa.

Buck scurried off and ran around with Libby, bouncing and romping about. Arlo watched them for a moment and then tried to join the fun. He was nervous at first; but as he picked up speed, he began to enjoy running with his brother and sister.

Eventually, the three little dinosaurs ran all the way to the door, where the view stopped them in their tracks. Their eyes opened wide as they gazed out at the bright, big world outside.

"That's our farm," said Poppa contentedly. "And you're all gonna help take care of it."

Libby and Buck already seemed excited by the farm and the possibilities ahead of them. But Arlo was overwhelmed and unsettled by all of its newness and unfamiliarity.

6500万年前的一天——一如往日——地球上静悄悄的，一群恐龙在一片茂盛、葱绿的田野里安静地进食。一轮明月高挂，在温柔月光的照耀下，这些恐龙悠闲地吃着蕨菜、嫩枝和草叶。

但是，在外太空的最深、最黑暗处——恐龙们远远企及不到的地方——一切并不是那么安定。一块巨大的太空岩石正在地球上方几百万英里的小行星带上盘旋，移动速度比其他的岩石快得多。它撞上了一颗比自身体积更大的小行星，两颗小行星在轨道上合成了一颗更大的，并开始朝地球坠落。在进入大气层的瞬间，它燃烧起来，借着这股动力，它冲进了地球的轨道，不偏不倚地撞向这颗蓝色的星球。它坠落的速度越来越快，距离地球也越来越近，越来越近，直到……

嗖的一声！

这个熊熊燃烧的火球正好与地球擦肩而过——差一点就撞上了。

天幕下，恐龙们看到一道银白色的亮光掠过夜空，他们暂时停下了咀嚼。

接着，他们又开始咀嚼那些草叶。

几百万年后，世界发生了改变。地球和生存在地球上的恐龙都大变了样。在一座三脉相连名叫爪牙山的山脚下，两只雷龙正在河边的农场里忙碌地劳作。亨利和艾达辛勤耕作，悉心照料田地，每年都能收获足够多的食物帮助他们度过寒冬。他们的农场收成一年好过一年，很快，他们就会有自己的孩子。

一天清晨，亨利正在外干活，用他的嘴巴和长长的脖子浇灌玉米地。突然，艾达大声喊道：“亨利！时间到了！”

艾达和亨利盯着舒适地躺在大巢里的蛋，三个蛋都洁白光滑，但其中一个却比另外两个大得多。他们理所当然地以为这个蛋里面的孩子会是最大、最强健的。很长一段时间以来，艾达和亨利一直憧憬着在美丽蛋壳下慢慢长成的小恐龙。孩子们就要破壳而出了，他们都有点不敢相信。当一只小一点的蛋开始晃动的时候，他们盯着它，眼中充满了期待。接着，它晃动的幅度大了，最后……蛋壳上出现了一条小裂缝。

噼啪！

蛋壳裂开了，恐龙女儿像一缕细小的阳光，欢快地从壳里跳了出来。龙爸爸面带微笑地说：“我们的第一个女儿，叫她莉比吧，跟她外婆一个名字。”

莉比笑了笑，然后溜不见了，龙爸爸和龙妈妈看着这一切，龙妈妈的眼里满是喜悦的泪水。一眨眼的工夫，小莉比又从藏身的地方跳了出来，身后细长的尾巴还在乱舞。这个可爱的小淘气一会儿消失，一会儿又从意想不到的地方窜出，逗得爸妈哈哈大笑。

紧接着，另一只较小的蛋开始晃起来。

噼啪！

蛋壳上方出现了一条小裂缝，蛋不停晃动，幅度越来越大，直到……砰！一只脚出来了！

砰！砰！砰！

一只接一只，另外三只脚穿破蛋壳，直直地伸了出来。蛋翻滚起来，四条粗壮的腿在周围乱蹬，最终撞上了一根树干。蛋壳碎了一地，一只强壮的男性小恐龙——体形像坦克一样——站了起来，望着他们。他的头比一般雷龙宝宝都大，看似在长长的脖子上保持着平衡。

“你好，巴克。”龙爸爸自豪地说。这只小恐龙拾起一根棍子，开始打他爸爸的腿。“他的眼睛像你。”

最后，最大的那个蛋也开始摇晃颤动起来。龙爸爸和龙妈妈身体前倾，心里激动不已，等着看他们的第三个孩子。“看起来这会是一个大家伙！”龙爸爸兴奋地喊道。蛋还在晃动……幅度越来越大。亨利和艾达坐在那里，眼睛一动不动地盯着这一切。

噼啪！

这只蛋裂开了，突然，上端的蛋壳掉落了。这对父母激动地屏息凝神，但是什么也没发生，一直不见小恐龙出来。于是，他们探着身子朝里看，发现蛋的底部蜷缩着一只非常小的恐龙，这是他们见过的最小的恐龙！