The Cave Flashlight Fades

Berk and Amina had joined their scout troop's caving trip mostly out of curiosity. Neither of them had ever gone further underground than a basement. Their guide led a group of six through a wide limestone cave. He pointed out strange rock formations along the way.

贝尔克和阿米娜参加童子军的洞穴探险，主要是出于好奇。他们俩谁也没去过比地下室更深的地方。向导带着六个人的小队穿过一个宽阔的石灰岩洞穴，一路上指给他们看各种奇特的岩石造型。

About an hour in, deep inside a narrower passage, the guide's main lantern started flickering. He tapped it a few times, but the light kept dimming, weaker each time it came back. "The battery's dying faster than it should," he admitted. "We'll switch to backup lights and head back the way we came."

大约一个小时后，在一条较窄的通道深处，向导的主灯开始闪烁。他拍了几下，可灯光还是越来越暗，每次亮起来都比上一次更弱。“电池耗得比正常情况快，”他承认道，“我们换成备用灯，沿原路返回。”

Everyone pulled out the small backup flashlights they had been given at the entrance. The lights were clipped to their helmets for exactly this reason. Berk's worked fine, but Amina's produced only a faint, orange glow. It was barely enough to see her own hand.

大家都拿出了入口处发的小备用手电。这些灯就是为这种时候夹在头盔上的。贝尔克的灯很正常，可阿米娜的只发出微弱的橙色光，勉强够看清自己的手。

"Stay close to me," Berk said, angling his light so it covered both of them. "We'll count the turns together, like the guide showed us."

“紧跟着我，”贝尔克说，一边调整灯的角度，让光能同时照到两个人，“我们一起数拐弯，就像向导教的那样。”

Before entering, they had learned to count and remember each fork in the passage. It went: three lefts, then a right, then a long straight stretch. That stretch passed a rock shaped like a sleeping animal. Amina repeated the sequence under her breath as they walked. Berk checked it against his own memory at each turn.

进洞之前，他们学过要数清并记住通道里的每一个岔路。顺序是：三次左拐，然后一次右拐，再走一段长长的直路。那段直路会经过一块形状像沉睡动物的岩石。阿米娜一边走一边低声重复着这个顺序，贝尔克则在每个拐弯处对照自己的记忆。

The guide's main lantern gave one last weak flash and died completely. This happened just as they reached the rock shaped like a sleeping animal. Nobody panicked. They had already reached the long straight stretch. Daylight was visible as a small gray circle far ahead.

向导的主灯最后微弱地闪了一下，彻底熄灭了。这恰好发生在他们走到那块像沉睡动物的岩石的时候。没有人惊慌。他们已经走到了那段长长的直路上。远处能看见白天的光，像一个灰色的小圆圈。

They walked the rest of the way by backup light and memory alone. They emerged into bright afternoon sun that made everyone blink and laugh with relief. The guide promised to replace both batteries before the next trip, apologizing more than anyone thought necessary.

剩下的路，他们只靠备用灯和记忆走完。他们走出洞口，迎来明亮的午后阳光，晃得每个人都眨着眼，又因如释重负而笑了起来。向导保证下次出发前会把两块电池都换掉，道歉的次数比谁都觉得有必要的还多。

Amina decided something, right there at the cave entrance. She would bring her own backup flashlight from home next time, just in case.

阿米娜就在洞口做了一个决定。下次她要从家里带上自己的备用手电，以防万一。