Ch8-A Terrible Story

CHAPTER EIGHT A Terrible Story "What do you think is wrong with him?" said Annie. "I don't know," said Jack. He put the wallet in his bag. "But so far our mission's been a disaster." "Well, we can't give up now," said Annie. "Come on, let's follow him."

第八章一个可怕的故事“你觉得他怎么了？”安妮说。 “我不知道，”杰克说。 他把钱包放进包里。 “但到目前为止，我们的任务是一场灾难。” “嗯，我们现在不能放弃，”安妮说。 “来吧，我们跟着他。”

As Jack and Annie started after Charles, the street was quiet and empty. It seemed the blinding fog and damp drizzle had driven everyone inside. They hadn't gone far before Charles looked back and saw them. "Don't follow me, children!" he called. "Please! I want to be alone now! I must be alone." Jack and Annie watched Charles vanish into the mist. "Maybe we should go back," Jack said. "We could find our way to his house and wait for him there." "Something tells me he's not going home soon," said Annie. "I feel like he really needs our help now."

当杰克和安妮开始追赶查尔斯时，街上静悄悄的，空无一人。 似乎眩目的雾和潮湿的毛毛雨把所有人都赶了进去。 他们没走多远，查尔斯就回头看见了他们。 “孩子们，别跟着我！”他喊道。 “请!我现在想一个人呆着！我必须一个人呆着。” 杰克和安妮看着查尔斯消失在雾中。 “也许我们应该回去，”杰克说。 “我们可以找到去他家的路，在那里等他。” “我感觉他不会很快回家，”安妮说。 “我觉得他现在真的需要我们的帮助。”

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I feel that way, too," he said. "So let's follow him. But we'd better keep a safe distance from him, so he doesn't see us." As Jack and Annie followed Charles through the fog, they could hear the tapping of his walking stick on the cobblestones. They followed the sound down a sloping street lined with shacks. In the dingy light of the gas streetlamps, Jack could see garbage in the gutters—cabbage leaves, moldy bread, rotten fish. The poor neighborhood frightened him. But he and Annie kept going, following the sounds of Charles's footsteps and the tapping of his walking stick. Then the sounds stopped. "Wait," Jack whispered.

杰克叹了口气。“是的，我也有这种感觉，”他说。 “那我们跟着他走吧。但是我们最好和他保持一段安全的距离，这样他就看不到我们了。” 当杰克和安妮跟着查尔斯穿过浓雾时，他们可以听到他的手杖在鹅卵石上的敲门声。 他们顺着声音走下了一条两旁都是棚屋的倾斜街道。 在煤气灯昏暗的灯光下，杰克可以看到排水沟里的垃圾——卷心菜叶、发霉的面包、腐烂的鱼。 贫穷的邻居使他害怕。 但他和安妮跟着查尔斯的脚步声和手杖的敲门声继续往前走。 然后声音停止了。“等等，”杰克小声说。

Jack and Annie froze. They couldn't see Charles through the fog, but they could hear the sound of sobbing. "Oh, no!" whispered Annie. Jack and Annie moved closer to the sound. Charles was sitting under a streetlamp at the bottom of the hill. His head was resting in the crook of his arm. "Charles?" said Annie. She stepped closer to Charles. "Are you okay?" Annie sat on the curb next to him. Jack sat on the other side of Charles. "You want to talk about it?" he asked. Charles lifted his head. "I'm sorry. I've never told anyone this story before," he said. "Not even

杰克和安妮僵住了。透过雾，他们看不见查尔斯，但他们能听到啜泣的声音。 “哦，不！”安妮小声说。 杰克和安妮靠近声音的地方。 查尔斯正坐在山脚下的一盏路灯下。 他的头枕在臂弯里。 “查尔斯？”安妮说。她向查尔斯走近了一步。 “你还好吗？”安妮坐在他旁边的路边。 杰克坐在查尔斯的另一边。 “你想谈谈吗？”他问。 查尔斯抬起头。“我很抱歉。 我以前从来没有告诉过任何人这个故事，”他说。 “即使

my wife or my closest friends." "You can tell us," said Jack. Charles looked at Jack, then at Annie. He stood and motioned for them to join him. Then he pointed into the fog. "Over there, near the river, was once a shoe polish factory. It was a tumbledown old building, filled with river rats. I went to work there when I was twelve. I sat at a table, pasting labels onto pots of black polish. I worked eleven hours a day, six days a week, yet I barely earned enough to keep alive." "You were only twelve?" said Jack.

我的妻子或我最亲密的朋友。” “你可以告诉我们，”杰克说。 查尔斯看看杰克，又看看安妮。 他站起来，示意他们跟他一起去。 然后他指着雾。 “那边，靠近河的地方，曾经是一家鞋油厂。 那是一栋摇摇晃晃的老房子，里面挤满了河鼠。 我十二岁的时候就去那里工作了。 我坐在桌旁，把标签贴在黑色上光剂的罐子上。 我每天工作11个小时，每周工作6天，但我挣的钱几乎不足以维持生计。” “你那时才十二岁？”杰克说。

"Yes. And I lived alone. I had lost everything— my family, my school, my dignity," said Charles. "Were you an orphan?" asked Annie. "No. I had parents," said Charles. "Why did they make you work in such a bad place?" asked Jack.

“是的。我一个人住。我失去了一切，我的家庭，我的学校，我的尊严。” “你是孤儿吗？”安妮问。 “没有。我有父母，”查尔斯说。 “他们为什么让你在这么糟糕的地方工作？”杰克问。