Back in the fish tank, Nemo had been swimming every day with Gill, learning how to use his small injured fin¹. Already he was swimming faster, more smoothly².

Nemo knew he didn't have much time. Only two more days. Then Darla would come to take him away.

As Nemo swam past, Gill noticed Nemo's eyes on his withered³ fin.

"My first escape," said Gill grimly. "Landed on dental tools. I was aiming for the toilet."

"The toilet?" Nemo asked.

"All drains lead to the ocean, kid," Gill replied.

Nemo thought for a minute and then looked at Gill seriously. He knew he had to do everything he could to help them all escape.

It was finally time for the next step in the plan: jamming the filter so that the tank would get dirty.

The fish gathered by the bubbling filter. "Now, once you get in, you swim down to the bottom of the chamber⁴, and I'll talk you through the rest," Gill said to Nemo. It was up to the little fish to stop the machine.

Nemo held his breath and popped his head through the surface. He saw the water wheel.

Then he leaped into the air and onto the wheel. He flapped as the wheel spun⁵, then flipped⁶ himself through the gap. He landed in the bottom well of the filter. He was inside!

Gill was right outside the filter. He scooped⁷ up a pebble⁸ from the bottom of the tank and threw it to Nemo.

"Do you see a small opening?" Gill asked.

Nemo nodded.

"Inside it, you'll see a rotating rod. Wedge that pebble up against the rod to stop it turning. Careful, Shark Bait."

Nemo followed Gill's instructions. After one failed attempt, the whirring noise stopped. The filter was jammed!

"That's great, kid," Gill said. "Now go up the tube and out."

Nemo grinned. He began to swim out of the filter. But the pebble slipped out of place. Whirrrr! The filter started working again!

The giant blade jerked, then turned. It was pulling Nemo back into the filter. In seconds he'd be sucked inside, toward the rotating blade.

"Gill! Help me!" cried Nemo.

Gill raced over to a plastic plant. "Stay calm, kid. Just don't panic."

Together, the Tank Gang yanked on the plant. They managed to pull off a branch and shove it into the filter tube.

"Grab hold of this!" Gill called to Nemo. Nemo stretched his fin. Closer, closer… He had it! But he was still about to fall into the sharp, spinning blade!

Gill and the others held on to the branch and pulled—hard.

Nemo was suddenly free. He was outside the filter—safe, but shaken up pretty badly. The little fish began to cry.

"Gill, don't make him go back in there," Peach said.

"No. We're done," Gill said, unable to look any of the other fish in the eye.

 

在水族箱里，尼莫每天都跟吉哥游泳，学习如何使用他那受过伤的小小鱼鳍。他已经游得更快、更娴熟了。

尼莫知道他的时间不多。只有两天了。然后，达拉就会过来把他带走。

尼莫经过时，吉哥注意到尼莫在看着自己萎缩的鳍。

“我第一次逃跑时，”吉哥严肃地说，“掉到牙医的工具上。我本来想跳到马桶里的。”

“马桶?”尼莫问。

“条条水管通大海，孩子。”吉哥回答道。

尼莫想了一分钟，然后认真地看着吉哥。他知道他必须竭尽所能地帮助他们逃走。

终于，该实施计划的第二步了：堵住过滤器，让鱼缸变脏。

所有的鱼聚在冒着泡泡的过滤器旁边。“现在，你一旦进去就往下游，一直游到容器底部，我会告诉你接下来怎么做。”吉哥对尼莫说。让这台机器停止工作就靠这条小鱼了。

尼莫屏住呼吸，把头探出水面。他看见了水轮。

接着，他向空中一跳，跳到轮子上。轮子旋转的时候他摆动着，然后翻转着从缝隙处进去。他落在了过滤器的底部。他进去了！

吉哥就在过滤器外面。他从鱼缸底部捞起一块鹅卵石，把它扔给了尼莫。

“你看见一个很小的开口吗?”吉哥问。

尼莫点点头。

“你能看见里面有一根旋转棒。用那块鹅卵石卡住那根棒，让它不要再转。小心点，鲨鱼饵。”

尼莫按照吉哥的指示去做。失败了一次后，呼呼的噪声停止了。过滤器被堵住了！

“太棒了，孩子，”吉哥说，“现在沿着管子向上游出来。”

尼莫咧嘴笑了。他开始向过滤器外面游。但是，鹅卵石掉出来了。呼呼！过滤器又开始运转了！

巨大的叶片猛地一动，接着转了起来。它把尼莫往回拉向过滤器。几秒钟之后他就会被卷进旋转的叶片中。

“吉哥！救救我!”尼莫大叫。

吉哥迅速冲到一棵塑料植物前。“保持冷静，孩子。不要惊慌。”

鱼缸帮们一起猛拽着这棵植物。他们终于拉出一根树枝，把它塞进了过滤管。

“抓住这根枝条!”吉哥对尼莫大喊。尼莫伸出鱼鳍。越来越近……他抓到了！但是，他还是会掉进正在旋转的锋利叶片中！

吉哥和其他人抓住树枝，使劲地拉着。

尼莫突然自由了。他从过滤器里出来了——很安全，但是抖得很厉害。这条小鱼哭了起来。

“吉哥，不要让他再进去了。”小桃说。

“是的。我们完了。”吉哥说，无法再看着其他鱼的眼睛。

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