17

Dad said that when the plow tried to get up the hill, it got STUCK. And when the snowplow drivergot ambushed by the neighborhood kids, he ran off and left the truck sitting in the street. That meant we could sled all DAY if we wanted to. But sledding is for KIDS, and I had OTHER plans in mind. I'd been up all night looking through Dad's books to learn everything I could about castle warfare and battle strategies. And by the morning, I was READY.

爸爸说，铲雪车爬山坡的时候，卡在半路上动不了了。 结果铲雪车司机被街坊小孩埋伏了，他干脆丢下车子跑掉，把车扔在了街上。 也就是说，我们想滑多久雪都没问题了。 可滑雪橇是小孩子玩的，我心里另有打算。 我熬了一整夜翻爸爸的书，学遍了所有关于城堡战和作战策略的知识。 到天亮的时候，我已经准备就绪了。

I wanted to get started making a fort with Rowley right away, but I knew that the second we put up WALLS, we were gonna be under ATTACK. The only way we could fight back was if we had AMMUNITION. I figured we could buy a big supply of premade snowballs from Mitchell Pickett, so we went down to his shed, which was open for business. But I guess things must've gone well for Mitchell last winter, because THIS year he EXPANDED his operations. I'd borrowed enough money from Manny's change jar to pay for three dozen snowballs, but now that I saw all this OTHER stuff, I had to make some tough choices.

我本来想马上拉着罗利一起搭堡垒，但我清楚，我们刚建好城墙，马上就会遭到进攻。 我们得有弹药，才能反击。 我想着可以从米切尔·皮克特那儿买一大堆预做好的雪球，于是我们去了他开门营业的小棚屋。 不过看来米切尔去年冬天生意做得不错，今年他扩大经营规模了。 我从曼尼的零钱罐借的钱够买三打雪球，但看到还有这么多别的玩意儿，我得做出艰难的选择了。

The Sloppy Specials looked like regular snowballs to me, so I asked Mitchell why they were five times more expensive. He said that each one was a regular snowball with SLUSH on the inside, and don't even ask me how he pulled THAT off. We ended up buying two dozen premade snowballs and one snowball launcher, which I figured we could use if we needed to nail somebody from long distance. But I wish I'd brought the whole jar of change, because Mitchell was selling a snow catapult that looked like it could REALLY do some damage. I'd have to get that another time, though. We loaded up my sled with our purchases and went back to the empty lot.

我看“邋遢特供款”和普通雪球没区别，就问米切尔为什么它贵了五倍。 他说每个雪球都是外面普通雪球、里面包着泥雪，我都不想问他是怎么做到的。 最后我们买了两打预做雪球和一个雪球发射器，我想着远距离击中对手的时候能用得上。 真后悔我没把整罐零钱都带来，米切尔还卖雪球投石机，那玩意儿看起来破坏力超强。 不过只能下次再买了。 我们把买的东西都装上雪橇，返回了空地。

But when we got closer, we were SHOCKED by what we saw. There were a BUNCH of snow forts in the empty lot now, and there were kids inside each one. These kids copied our idea, right down to the FLAGS. The Marlee sisters had a spear on their flag, and Evelyn Trimble had a bat on hers. The Garza twins had a two-headed ogre, which actually looked pretty cool.

可我们走近一看，眼前的景象把我们惊呆了。 空地上现在已经有好多雪堡垒了，每个堡垒里都藏着小朋友。 这些小孩抄了我们的点子，连旗子都想到了。 玛莉姐妹的旗子上画着长矛，伊芙琳·特林布尔的旗子上画着球棒。 加尔扎双胞胎的旗子上画了双头怪物，其实看起来还挺酷的。

There were some really LAME flags, too. Marcus Marconi's dad owned the sub shop in the center of town that went out of business, and Marcus used the flag that used to hang in front of the restaurant I wanted to get closer to see who ELSE made a fort, but when we got near the empty lot, Ernesto, Gabriel, and a bunch of OTHER kids opened FIRE on us.

不过也有一些真的很无聊的旗子。 马库斯·马可尼爸爸开在镇中心的潜艇堡店倒闭了，马库斯就把原来挂在店门口的旗子拿来用了。我想走近点看看还有谁建了堡垒，可我们刚靠近空地，厄内斯托、加布里埃尔还有一帮别的小孩就向我们开火了。

The empty lot was totally overcrowded, and I knew there was no WAY we could build a snow fort on the lot now. So our only chance was to take over someone ELSE'S. I got some old binoculars from my garage so we could scope things out without having to get too CLOSE. Things had gotten a lot CRAZIER in the five minutes we were gone, though. Gabriel and Ernesto were in a battle with the Marlee sisters, and a bunch of homeschooled kids were going at it with the Garza twins.

这块空地已经挤得满满当当，我知道我们现在根本不可能在这儿搭新堡垒了。 所以我们唯一的机会就是抢走别人 的堡垒。我从车库拿了旧望远镜，这样我们不用靠太近就能观察情况。 可就在我们离开的这五分钟里，战况已经变得更疯狂了。 加布里埃尔和厄内斯托跟玛莉姐妹打了起来，一群在家上学的小孩正和加尔扎双胞胎对战。