13

Mom wanted us all to swim, but I was still pretty scarred from my LAST experience in a lake. Plus, I don't trust any water I can't see through. There was something weird sticking up in the middle of the lake, and I pointed it out to Dad. He said it was probably just a branch, but it didn't look like a branch to ME. And, when you can only see a part of something, it could be ANYTHING.

妈妈想让我们全都去游泳，可我上次在湖里的经历还给我留下好大阴影。 再说了，我可不信任任何看不清底的水。 湖中间露出个奇怪的东西，我指给爸爸看了。 爸爸说那大概就是根树枝，可我看着根本不像树枝。 而且，当你只能看见某个东西的一部分时，它说不定会是任何东西呢。

Nobody else was in the mood to swim, either, so we put our stuff down on the ground. But it turned out a lake shore isn't the same as a BEACH shore, and within a few seconds we were sinking in the muck. Mom said we weren't going back to our pitch until we did something FUN. There was a canoe tied up to the dock, and she said we should take it out on the water. I was fine with being on top of the water, so long as we didn't have to go IN it. We took turns getting into the canoe, which wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

其他人也都没心情游泳，所以我们把东西放在了地上。 可我们发现湖岸和沙滩不一样，没几秒钟我们就陷进淤泥里了。 妈妈说不玩点开心的项目我们就不回营地。 码头拴着一艘独木舟，她说我们可以划着它去水上玩。 只要不用下到水里，只待在水面上我没问题。 我们轮流上独木舟，这可比我想象的要难多了。

I stayed low, just like Dad told me to. Rodrick DIDN'T, though, and we almost capsized while we were still tied to the dock. After we were all in the canoe, we put on life jackets and paddled out on the water. But some people swimming nearby seemed like they were in a hurry to get out of our WAY.

我按着爸爸说的，一直猫着腰蹲得很低。 可罗德里克偏不，我们还拴在码头呢，船就差点翻了。 所有人都上船后，我们穿上救生桨，划着桨往湖中心去了。 不过附近游泳的人看起来都急急忙忙给我们让路。

Then we found out WHY. As soon as we got to the middle of the lake, something BIG landed right next to our canoe. And a second later there was ANOTHER splash. SPLOOSH Some teenagers up on the hill had turned a hammock into a giant SLINGSHOT, and they were using us for TARGET practice.

很快我们就知道原因了。 我们刚到湖中心，就有个大家伙重重砸在我们独木舟边上。 一秒钟之后，又溅起一片水花。 哗啦！原来是山上的几个少年把吊床改成了巨型弹弓，把我们当靶子呢。

I guess that explained why no one was using the canoe. We tried to paddle back to the dock, but the guys on the hill were getting more and more accurate with each shot. I guess Rodrick didn't wanna get hit, so he decided to abandon ship. And that was a problem for the REST of us, because now we were unbalanced.

这下我明白为什么没人用这艘独木舟了。 我们拼命划回码头，可山上的家伙每投一次准头就变好一点。 罗德里克不想被砸中，所以他直接弃船跳走了。 这可给我们剩下的人添了大麻烦，因为现在船身失去平衡了。

Our canoe capsized, and somehow me and Dad ended up UNDERNEATH it. At first I thought it wasa a GOOD thing, since we were protected from those watermelons. But I changed my mind when we took a direct hit, because it was like being on the inside of a drum

我们的独木舟翻了，我和爸爸莫名其妙就被罩在了船底下。 一开始我还觉得这挺不错，我们能躲那些西瓜不被砸到。 可当我们被直接命中时，我立马改主意了，感觉就像待在鼓里面一样。