A Girl with a Seal
To 17-year-old Katrine Berge, the round silhouette1 atop the barren2 islet3 off Norway’s west coast looked like just another sea-scrubbed rock. Then it moved. “Go closer,” she urged her father, who was piloting their small boat.
Grabbing binoculars4, Katrine focused on a baby seal, no bigger than a puppy. “Why is it alone, Papa?” she asked. “It might have been abandoned,” 43-year-old Trygve Berge answered. “I’ll call the Alesund Aquarium5 and ask if there’s anything we can do.”
While her father telephoned, Katrine continued to peer through binoculars at the helpless pup, and her heart went out to it. Her father interrupted her thoughts. “The aquarium director said to leave the seal there for two days in case the mother returns. If she doesn’t, we’re to bring it to him so he can examine it.”
Katrine could hardly sleep the next two nights. When she and her father finally returned to the islet, the seal did not stir. Crawling on hands and knees, Katrine inched forward. “Don’t be afraid,” she whispered. “We’re going to help you.”
The seal’s dark-gray fur was covered with large, light-brown spots. The dark liquid eyes were oversized, the ears barely visible as two little holes. Beside the right ear was a distinctive white mark, shaped like a star. The seal’s nose was rubbery, with a bristle6 of stiff whiskers.
When Katrine held out her hand, the pup licked her fingers. The girl scooped7 the furry bundle into her arms, and it settled against her like a sleepy child while they made their way to the aquarium.
There director Jan Einarsen told them the pup could neither feed nor defend itself, so returning it to the sea would mean certain death. Someone would have to take its mother’s place for the three months a young seal needs to become self-sufficient.
“Why can’t we raise the pup, Papa?” Katrine asked. Berge thought for a moment, then told his daughter, “If we take him on, it would be only until he’s able to go back to his own kind. We’re not going to turn a wild animal into a pet.” Katrine answered without hesitation: “I’m willing to try, no matter how hard it will be.”
Einarsen showed Katrine how to mix in a blender8 a thick, oily gruel of herring chunks and seawater as a substitute for mother’s milk. Then they worked a flexible rubber tube down the pup’s gullet9 and fed some of the gruel into it. The seal settled back as his stomach filled with food. Katrine named him Selik. “It’s important that you are the main one to do the rearing,” Berge told his daughter on the way home. “That way the process will be closest to a wild upbringing.”
“This is your home for now,” Katrine told Selik as she carried him into their summer house on the island. He nosed at her hands, and she nuzzled10 his smooth head. He smelled like the sea: salty and fishlike. When Katrine crawled into bed, Selik was soon sound asleep on the floor beside her.
By the end of the first week, Katrine was exhausted. She had to feed Selik four times a day; she had to put salve11 on his stomach when it got infected; she had to clean up his dung12 off the floor and scrub him down with soap and water. But Selik seemed to thrive, eagerly exploring his new environment, using his flippers13 to propel himself into a gallop14. When Katrine finally penned him in the boat shed, Selik protested, barking indignantly. But each morning thereafter, when Katrine went to the shed, Selik greeted her happily. His voice sounded like a cross between a foghorn15 and a rusty hinge.
Selik was always hungry. At the sound of the blender, he lumbered16 into the kitchen and opened his mouth wide so Katrine could push the feeding tube down his throat. In the house, Selik followed her everywhere, his front flippers slapping loudly as he pulled himself awkwardly along the wooden floors. Anything that moved fascinated him. He chased his tail like a puppy and batted at strings like a kitten. When Katrine scratched him under the chin he arched his back with ecstasy, almost touching it with his nose. Then, suddenly, he’d rest his chin in her cupped hand and fall asleep.
Outside, Selik rolled in the tall grass, nibbled17 the wildflowers and chased after butterflies. When Berge mowed the lawn, the pup lurched18 back and forth in front of the mower as if challenging a rival.
Getting Selik to take his first swimming lesson was a different story. Katrine had to wade19 into the cove20 and pull him in. Selik immediately scrambled21 ashore and bounded for the house. Just my luck, Katrine thought. A seal that’s afraid of the water!
Katrine persisted, taking Selik to the cove every day. “The ocean will be your home one day,” she told him. Bit by bit, he began to enjoy his daily swims.
When Selik was three weeks old, Katrine figured he was ready for an excursion22 in the open ocean. “You’ve seen my world,” she told Selik as she assembled her scuba23 gear. “Now it’s time to explore yours.”
(to be continued)
注释：
1. silhouette [7silu:5et] n. （浅色背景上的）黑色轮廓像，剪影
2. barren [5bArEn] a. （土地等）贫瘠的，荒芜的，不毛的
3. islet [5ailit] n. 小岛
4. binocular [bai5nCkjJlE(r)] n. [~s]双目镜，双筒镜（如双筒望远镜、观剧用的小望远镜等）
5. aquarium [E5kweEriEm] n. 水族馆
6. bristle [5brisl] n. （动物身上粗短的）刚毛
7. scoop [sku:p] vt. [口]急速地（或挥动着）捡起，抱起，拾起
8. blender [5blendE(r)] n. 搅和器
9. gullet [5gQlit] n. [解]食管，咽喉
10. nuzzle [5nQzl] vt. （用鼻、口等）挨擦
11. salve [sAlv] n. 软膏，药膏
12. dung [dQN] n. （尤指牲畜的）粪，粪肥
13. flipper [5flipE(r)] n. （鲸、海豹、海龟等的）鳍（状）肢，前肢，鳍足
14. gallop [5gAlEp] n. （马等的）飞跑，疾驰
15. foghorn [5fCghC:n] n. [海]（向雾中的船只发警告的）雾角，雾喇叭
16. lumber [5lQmbE(r)] vi. 笨拙地移动
17. nibble [5nibl] vt. 啃，一点一点地咬（或吃）
18. lurch [l\:tF] vi. 突然急动
19. wade [weid] vi. （通过水、雪、泥沙等妨碍物）艰难地行进，涉，蹚
20. cove [kEJv] n. 小海湾，小湾
21. scramble [5skrAmbl] vi. 爬，攀登
22. excursion [ik5sk\:FEn] n. 远足，短途旅行
23. scuba [5skju:bE] a. （使用）自携式水下呼吸器（或水肺）的
