Penguin(企鹅) Swims 5, 000 Miles Every Year
Joao, 71, lives on an island near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has retired(退休), but still works as a part-time fisherman. One day, about five years ago, when he was fishing, he found a tiny, sick penguin on the beach near his home. The penguin's feathers(羽毛) were covered in oil. The poor bird was dying. Joao felt sorry for the sick, little bird, and so he took him back to his home. He cleaned him and fed him fish, and he gave him the name Din dim. The penguin soon became strong and healthy again.
After a week or two, Joao went down to the coast and tried to put Din dim back into the water. The penguin didn't want to go. He stayed with Joao, getting bigger and bigger—beautiful new feathers grew on his back. Eight months passed. Joao was very happy because he was enjoying the company of his new friend. Then suddenly, one day in February, Din dim disappeared. Joao was sad to lose him, but hoped that the bird just wanted to return to his penguin family. Four more months passed, Joao was walking sadly home from the beach, when suddenly he heard a familiar (熟悉的) "honking " sound—Din dim was back.
Every year since then, Din dim spends eight months with Joao and then disappears for four months. Where does he go? It is thought that he swims 2, 500 miles to the coast of Argentina or Chile to start a penguin family and then swims 2, 500 miles to Joao. That's 5, 000 miles a year to be with the man who saved his life.
