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8 The wedding day
8 婚禮
The disease among the seals got worse．Three more baby seals died，and one was born without a tail．Scientists came from London to look at them，and there were long articles in the newspapers，but no one was sure what the reasons were．Some people said that it was a disease that was always in the water；some people said the seals were eating diseased fish；and some people said that it was the paint factory near the river．
海豹的疾病日趨嚴重。又有3只幼豹死亡，有一只生出來就沒有尾巴。從倫敦來的科學家們察看了它們，報紙上也登載了長篇文章，但是沒有人能肯定是什么原因。有些人說水中本來就有這種疾病。有些人說海豹是吃了有病的魚。還有些人說是河附近的油漆廠。
There was a sewage works near the river too．The sewage from another small town came to it．One day，in the factory，John Duncan found two young chemists testing samples of water from the river．The water came from two kilometres up-stream，near the sewage works．
河附近還有一個污水處理廠。污水來自另一個小鎮。一天，在工廠里，約翰·鄧肯發現兩名年青的化學師在測試從河里提取的水樣。水來自兩公里以外的上游，靠近污水處理廠。
'Why are you doing that？'he asked，surprised．
“你們為什么做這事？”他驚奇地問。
'It's a special experiment，'one of them answered．'David Wilson asked us to do it himself．Didn't he tell you，sir？'
“這是一項特殊實驗。”其中一個答道。“是大衛·威爾遜親自讓我們做的，他沒告訴你嗎，先生？”
John didn't answer．He watched them quietly for several minutes．'What are the results？'he asked．
約翰沒有回答。他靜靜地望著他們有幾分鐘。“結果怎樣？”他問。
'They're bad，sir，'said the young man．But he didn't look worried；he looked pleased，proud of himself．
“非常糟糕，先生，”年青人說。但他看上去并不擔憂。他顯得很高興，很自豪。
'That sewage works is putting a lot of nasty things into the river，you know．I think the newspapers will be very interested．'
“那個污水處理廠正在往河里放一些臟東西，你知道。我想報紙對此會非常感興趣。”
'The newspapers？'John asked．The young man smiled．
“報紙嗎？”約翰問。年青人笑了。
'Yes，Mr Duncan，of course．Our company cares about the environment，doesn't it？That's why we're doing this．We want to help those poor seals，if we can．'
“是的，鄧肯先生，當然。我們公司關心環境，是吧？這就是我們為什么要做實驗。如果能夠的話，我們想幫助那些可憐的海豹。”
As John walked away，he listened for the sound of quiet laughter behind him．But he heard nothing．Perhaps the young man really believed what he said．
當約翰走開時，他等著聽背后輕輕的笑聲。但是他什么也沒聽到。也許年青人真的相信他所說的。
Christine and Simon were married on a fine day in June．When they came back from the church，they had a party in the garden at John's house．Everyone seemed very happy．John liked Simon's parents，and talked to them a lot．
克里斯汀和西蒙在6月一個明媚的日子里結了婚。當他們從教堂回來后，在約翰家的花園里舉行了宴會。每個人好像都很快樂。約翰喜歡西蒙的父母，跟他們聊了很多。
