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The Enormous Egg{{/B}} Dr. Ziemer arrived while we were still staring at the thing in the nest. He jumped out his car and came running out to in the backyard. He was wearing a red coat over his pajamas, and he looked pretty excited. He ran up to the nest and looked in. His eyes opened up wide and he knelt down on the ground and stared and stared. After long while he said softly, "That's it. By George, that's just what it is. "Then he stared for another long time and finally he shook his head and said, "It can't be true, but there it is." He got up off his knees and looked around at us. His eyes were just sparking, he was so excited. He put his hand on my shoulder, and I could feel he was quivering. "An amazing thing's happened, "he said, in a kind of whisper." I don't know how to account for it. It must be some sort of freak biological mix-up that might happen once a thousand years. " "But what is it?" I asked. Dr. Ziemer turned and pointed a trembling finger at the nest. "Believe it or not, you people have hatched out a dinosaur. (恐龙)" We just looked at him. "Sounds incredible, I know," he said, "and I can't explain it, but there it is. I've seen too many Triceratops (三角恐龙)skulls to be mistaken about this one. " "But—but how could it be a dinosaur?" Pop asked. "Goodness gracious!" Morn spluttered. "And right here in our backyard. It doesn't seem hardly right. And on a Sunday, too." Cynthia was pretty interested by now, and kept pecking into the nest and making faces, the way she did when Pop brought a bowl of frogs' legs into the kitchen one time. I guess girls just naturally don't like crawly things too much. To tell the truth, I don't either sometimes but this thing that had just hatched out looked kind of cute to me. Maybe that was because I had taken care of the egg so long. I felt as if the little dinosaur was almost one of the family. We stood around for a long while looking at the strange new thing on the nest, trying to let the idea soak in that we had a dinosaur. After Dr. Ziemer calmed down a little he and Pop tightened up the chicken wire to make sure the little animal wasn't going to crawl out. Dr. Ziemer watched if perhaps she ought not to be taken out before she went out of her mind. Pop figured that it might be a good idea and he picked her up and cut her outside the pen. She acted a little dazed at first, but pretty soon she followed the other hens and began pen. She acted a little dazed at first, but pretty soon she followed the other hens and began scratching for worms like the rest of them. |