The giant shark bared row upon row of razor-sharp white teeth as its mouth spread into a wide, hungry grin.

"Hello!" said the shark.

"Well, hi!" Dory said cheerfully.

"Name's Bruce." The shark held out a fin¹. Marlin shivered, too frightened to do anything.

"That's all right," Bruce told Marlin. "I understand. Why trust a shark—right?"

Bruce studied the two smaller fish. "How would you morsels² like to come to a little get-together³ I'm having?"

Dory smiled. "You mean like a party?"

"Yeah, right—a party. What do you say?" Bruce asked.

Dory looked over at Marlin and said, "Ooh, I love parties. That sounds like fun."

Marlin couldn't believe his ears. A shark party? He was sure they wanted to eat him.

"You know," said Marlin, "parties are fun, and it's tempting⁴. But we can't because—" Bruce wrapped a fin around each fish.

They were trapped! "Aw, come on," he said. "I insist."

"Oookay," Marlin said nervously⁵, "that's all that matters..."

Bruce led Marlin and Dory over a rocky ridge⁶ into an undersea crater⁷. The giant hole was littered with floating sea mines. Heavy iron chains moored⁸ them in place.

"Hey, look!" said Dory, pointing to the mines. "Balloons! It is a party!"

Bruce laughed. "Mind your distance, though. Those ‘balloons' can be a bit dodgy. You wouldn't want one of them to pop!"

Bruce weaved safely through the mines, taking Dory and Marlin with him. They drew closer to a shipwreck—a sunken submarine. They peered inside through a hole blasted in its middle.

"Anchor! Chum!" Bruce called out. "We've got company!"

A hammerhead shark and a mako shark circled below. "Well, it's about time, mate," said Anchor, the hammerhead, anxiously.

Chum agreed. "We've already gone through the snacks. And I'm still starving."

Bruce pushed Marlin and Dory down into the sub. More sharks! Marlin thought. And they were all snapping their jaws¹⁰ hungrily.

Brrring! A diving bell rang.

"Right, then, the meeting has officially come to order," Bruce said, ushering¹¹ them into the group. Then he swam to a rusted¹² makeshift podium.

All the sharks turned to him, listening closely.

It is a meeting! Marlin thought.

"Let us all say the pledge," Bruce continued.

Together, all the sharks recited, "I am a nice shark. Not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends. Not food."

Bruce nodded. "Today's meeting is Step Five: Bring a Fish Friend. Now, do you all have your friends?"

"Got mine!" Anchor said proudly. He lifted a fin. A scared, shaking fish peeked¹³ out.

"Hey there!" Dory said, waving.

"How 'bout⁹ you, Chum?" Bruce asked. "Oh, well… I, um… seem to have misplaced my… uh… friend," Chum said, embarrassed. He smiled just enough to reveal the skeletal remains¹⁴ of a fish tail stuck between his teeth.

"That's all right, Chum," said Bruce. "I had a feeling this would be a difficult step. You can help yourself to one of my friends." "Aw, thanks, mate," Chum said, hugging Marlin tightly. "A little chum for Chum, eh?"

Marlin sighed nervously.

"I'll start the testimonies¹⁵. It's been three weeks since my last fish, on my honor, or may I be chopped up and made into soup."

The other sharks clapped. "You're an inspiration to all of us!"

Bruce looked around. "Who's next?" Dory swam up to the podium. Marlin groaned¹⁶. What was she doing?

"Hi, I'm Dory. And, uh, well… I don't think I've ever eaten a fish!" she said.

Everyone applauded. "Good on ya, mate," said one shark.

"That's incredible," said another.

While the sharks were distracted, Marlin freed himself. He tried to get Dory's attention at the podium.

Then Bruce spotted¹⁷ Marlin out of the corner of his eye. "How 'bout you, mate? What's your problem?" he asked.

Nervously, Marlin answered, "Me? I don't have a problem."

Bruce didn't believe Marlin and pushed him up to the podium. Excited to see that he was a clownfish, the sharks asked Marlin to tell them a joke.

"So the sea mollusk¹⁸ says to the sea cucumber…" Marlin was struggling to entertain the sharks when he spied a hole in the roof. And there, dangling¹⁹ from a piece of metal, was a diver's mask!

 

巨大的鲨鱼露出一排排像刀片一样锋利的白色牙齿，咧着嘴贪婪地大笑。

“你好!”鲨鱼说。

“嗯，你好!”多莉高高兴兴地说。

“我叫布鲁斯。”鲨鱼伸出一只鳍。马林吓得发抖，什么都不敢做。

“没关系，”布鲁斯告诉马林，“我理解。为什么要相信鲨鱼——对吧?”

布鲁斯打量着这两条小鱼。“你们这两个小不点愿意参加我的小聚会吗?”

多莉笑了。“你是说聚会吗?”

“是啊，对的——聚会。怎么样?”布鲁斯问。

多莉朝马林看了一眼，说：“哦，我喜欢聚会。听着很好玩。”

马林觉得难以置信。鲨鱼聚会？他确定他们想吃了他。

“你知道，”马林说，“聚会很好玩，很诱人。但是我们去不了，因为——” 布鲁斯用双鳍把这两条小鱼围住。

他们被困住了！“呀，来吧，”他说，“我坚持让你们参加。”

“好……好吧，”马林紧张地说，“既然这么要紧……”

布鲁斯领着马林和多莉经过崎岖的海底山脉，来到一个水下的大坑。巨大的洞里到处都是漂浮的水雷。沉重的铁链把它们固定住。

“喂，看啊!”多莉指着那些水雷说。“气球！真是聚会!”

布鲁斯大笑。“不过，要保持距离。那些气球有点危险。你可不会想让任何一个爆炸。”

布鲁斯带着多莉和马林，在水雷之间安全地迂回穿行。他们靠近了一艘沉船——一艘沉没的潜水艇。船中间炸出了一个洞，他们从这个洞口往里看。

“安安！阿沈!”布鲁斯叫喊着，“我们来客人了!”

一头锤头鲨和一头灰鲭鲨在下面转圈。“嗯，来得正好，兄弟。”锤头鲨安安急切地说。

阿沈表示同意。“我们已经吃过点心。可我还是饿得发慌。”

布鲁斯把马林和多莉往下推进了潜水艇。更多的鲨鱼！马林心想。他们都饥肠辘辘地吧唧着嘴巴。

丁零零！潜水铃响了。

“好了，那么，会议正式开始。”布鲁斯一边说，一边把他们带到队伍里。然后，他游到一个生锈的临时讲台上。

所有的鲨鱼都转向他，认真地听着。

这是个会议！马林想。

“让我们一起宣誓。”布鲁斯继续说道。

所有的鲨鱼一起朗诵：“我是一头好鲨鱼。不是没有脑子只会吃的机器。如果我要改变这个形象，我必须先改变自己。鱼类是朋友。不是食物。”

布鲁斯点了点头。“今天进行大会的第五项议程：带一位鱼类朋友回来。那么，你们都把朋友带来了吗?”

“我带来了!”安安骄傲地说。他举起一只鱼鳍。一条吓得发抖的鱼向外偷看。

“喂，你好!”多莉说着挥了挥手。

“你呢，阿沈?”布鲁斯问。“哦，嗯……我，呃……好像把我的……呃……朋友放错地方了。”阿沈不好意思地说。他笑了，正好露出嵌在牙缝里鱼尾巴的残骸。

“没关系，阿沈，”布鲁斯说，“我觉得和鱼类做朋友确实很难。我的朋友你就随便选一个吧。”“呀，谢谢了，老兄。”阿沈说着，紧紧地拥抱马林，“做阿沈的小伙伴，嗯?”

马林紧张地叹了口气。

“我先开始陈述。我以自己的名誉发誓，我已经三个星期没吃鱼了，否则就把我剁碎了做汤。”

其他鲨鱼鼓掌。“你是我们所有鱼的精神领袖!”

布鲁斯向四周看看，问道：“接下来该谁了?”多莉游到讲台上。马林叹息着。她在干什么？

“大家好，我是多莉。呃，嗯……我认为，我从来没吃过鱼!”她说。

大家都热烈鼓掌。“你太棒了，伙计。”一头鲨鱼说。

“太不可思议了。”另一头鲨鱼说。

趁着鲨鱼们都被吸引住了，马林挣脱了出来。他试图引起讲台上多莉的注意。

于是，布鲁斯用眼角的余光看到了马林。“你呢，兄弟？你有什么问题?”他问道。

马林紧张地回答：“我？我没什么问题。”

布鲁斯不相信马林的话，把他推上了讲台。鲨鱼们看到他是小丑鱼都很兴奋，让马林给他们讲笑话。

“所以这个软体动物对海参说……”马林努力地逗乐鲨鱼们，这时他发现船舱顶上有个洞。就在那儿，一块金属制品摇摇晃晃地悬挂在上面，那是潜水员的面罩！

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