Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Everyone had a good laugh—everyone except Josh. Then Pa asked Ed Getz to do a magic trick. Ed stood up and showed his audience that his hands were empty. Next, he draped his napkin over one hand and mumbled a few magic words. When he yanked the napkin away, an egg was sitting in his hand. Everybody clapped, and then Thumbs stood up. "Fine breakfast, Lulu," he said. "Those of you who want to, we're gonna pan for gold."

每个人都哈哈大笑——除了乔希。 然后爸爸让埃德·盖兹表演一个魔术。 艾德站了起来，向观众展示他的双手是空的。 接着，他把餐巾搭在一只手上，咕哝了几句咒语。 当他把餐巾拉开时，一个鸡蛋正坐在他的手里。 大家都鼓掌，然后大拇指站了起来。 “早餐不错，露露，”他说。 “想要的人，我们来淘金。”

Twenty minutes later, all seven guests hiked with Thumbs and Jud along a gravel path on the other side of the pond. A stream followed the path, splashing and gurgling over rocks. Before leaving the main house, Jud had given everyone a wide, flat pan. "This is it," Thumbs said a few minutes later, stopping at a sandy bank on the stream. "I don't see any gold," Josh observed, peering into the water. Jud laughed. "You won't see it," he said. He pointed farther upstream, toward the mountains. "There's gold in those hills," he explained. "Every time it storms, nuggets get washed downstream. Show 'em how to find gold, Thumbs." Thumbs squatted and dipped his pan into the water. "Don't step in the stream or you'll disturb the mud," he said. With a flick of his wrist, he brought up a panful of water and gravel. "Gold is heavier than the gravel," Thumbs went on, "so it'll settle on the bottom of my pan." Thumbs shook his pan gently back and forth, swishing the gravel and water. Then he tipped the

二十分钟后，七位客人带着拇指和朱迪沿着池塘另一边的一条砾石小路徒步旅行。 一条小溪沿路而行，在岩石上溅起水花，潺潺作响。 在离开主屋之前，朱迪给了每个人一个又宽又平的平底锅。 “就是这里了。”几分钟后，大拇指在河边的一个沙洲边说。 “我没看见金子。”乔希看着水说。 Jud笑了。“你不会看到的，”他说。 他指着更远的上游，指向群山。 “那些山上有金子，”他解释说。 “每次暴风雨，金块都会被冲到下游。 拇指指头，教他们怎么找金子。” 拇指蹲下来，把他的锅浸在水里。 “别踩到小溪里去，不然会搅乱泥浆的。”他说。 他轻轻一挥手腕，端上来一盆水和砾石。 “金子比沙砾重，”拇指继续说，“所以金子会沉在我的平底锅的底部。” 大拇指轻轻地来回摇动着他的平底锅，搅动着沙砾和水。 然后他给了她小费。

pan and let the water and gravel slide over the edge. "Lookee here," Thumbs said, holding his pan up. In the bottom lay a few dull pebbles. But among the pebbles was a shiny golden nugget the size of a pea. "Is that gold?" Dink asked. "Sure is," Thumbs said. He picked out the nugget and let everyone have a look at it. "How much is it worth?" Josh asked. Thumbs dropped the nugget into his shirt pocket. "This size? Not much." He pointed his chin toward the distant hills. "To find the real gold, you'd have to go up there." "Can we try panning now?" Ruth Rose asked. Thumbs backed away from the stream. "Pick yourself a spot, and remember, don't get in the water." The seven guests knelt along the stream. Jud joined the kids and dipped his pan into the water. "I've been doing this since I was a kid," he said. "One year a guest found a nugget the size of a golf ball. I heard he sold it and bought himself a new Jeep!"

平底锅，让水和砾石滑过边缘。 “看这里，”大拇指说，举起他的锅。 底部放着几颗暗淡的鹅卵石。 但是在鹅卵石中间有一块豌豆大小的金块。 “那是金子吗?”丁克问道。 “当然是，”拇指说。他把金块拿出来，让大家看一看。 “它值多少钱?”杰克问。 拇指把那块金块放进他的衬衫口袋里。 “这尺寸?不太多。”他把下巴指向远处的群山。 “要找到真正的黄金，你必须到那里去。” “我们现在可以试试平移吗?”露丝·罗斯问。 拇指从小溪边往后退。 “给自己找个地方，记住，不要下水。” 七位客人沿着小溪跪了下来。 裘德和孩子们一起把他的锅浸在水里。 “我从小就开始做这个，”他说。 “有一年，一位客人发现了一块高尔夫球大小的金块。 我听说他把它卖了，给自己买了一辆新的吉普车!”

"Cool!" Josh said. "I need a Jeep!" He knelt in the sand and dipped his pan into the water. Everyone began dipping. For a while, all you could hear was the sound of gravel swishing against metal. Dink soon got the hang of it. He liked the feel of the sun on his back as he dipped his pan over and over. Suddenly, Fiona Nippit let out ayell. "I found one!" she said. Grinning, she held up a gold nugget a bit larger than the one Thumbs had found. "Great!" Jud said. "Now let's see if everyone else can find one." Over the next half hour, others began to shout and hold up small nuggets, even Jud. Eight nuggets were found. Finally, only Josh hadn't brought up any gold from the stream.

“酷!”杰克说。“我需要一辆吉普车!”他跪在沙滩上，把锅浸在水里。 每个人都开始蘸水。有一段时间，你能听到的只有沙砾撞击金属的声音。 丁克很快就掌握了窍门。 他喜欢把平底锅一遍又一遍地蘸着，太阳照在背上的感觉。 突然，菲奥娜·尼皮特大叫了一声。 “我找到一个了!”她说。她咧着嘴笑，举起一块金块，比大拇指找到的那块稍大一点。 “太好了!”Jud说。“现在让我们看看其他人能不能找到一个。” 在接下来的半个小时里，其他人开始大喊大叫，举起小块金块，包括贾德。 一共发现了8块金块。最后，只有乔希没有从小溪里捞到金子。

"Gotta pack up soon," Thumbs announced. "Lulu's a bear if we're late for her meals." "I'm gonna try a different place," Josh announced. "There are no more nuggets here." "Where are you going?" Ruth Rose asked. Josh pointed his pan upstream. "Up there," he said, "where the real gold is." Dink watched Josh pick his way along the stream, tramping over rocks and branches. "I hope he finds one," Ruth Rose said. "Otherwise, he'll be grumpy all week!" Dink held his nugget up to the sun. It was the size of an M&M. "Do you suppose I can get enough money for this to buy a bike?" he asked. Suddenly, they heard Josh yelling, then a big splash. They looked upstream and saw Josh sitting in the water! Dink and Ruth Rose ran to help, but Jud reached him first. "Are you okay?" Jud asked, reaching for Josh's hand. Josh grabbed Jud's hand and stumbled out of the stream. He was soaked from the waist down, but grinning. "Look what I found!" Josh said, sticking out his other hand.

“我得赶紧收拾行李了。”大拇指宣布。 “如果我们给露露吃饭迟到，她就会变成熊。” “我要去别的地方试试。”乔希宣布。 “这里没有更多的金块了。” “你要去哪儿?”露丝·罗斯问。 乔希把他的平底锅指向上游。 “在那里，”他说，“那里有真正的金子。” 丁克看着乔希沿着小溪走，踩过岩石和树枝。 “我希望他能找到一个，”露丝·罗斯说。 “否则，他整个星期都会脾气暴躁!”丁克把他的金块举起来对着太阳。 它有M&M豆那么大。 “你认为我能弄到足够的钱买一辆自行车吗?”他问。 突然，他们听到乔希大喊大叫，然后是一声巨大的水花声。 他们朝上游望去，看见乔希正坐在水里!丁克和露丝·罗斯跑过去帮忙，但裘德先找到了他。 “你还好吗?”裘德问，伸手去拉乔希的手。 乔希抓住朱迪的手，跌跌撞撞地走出了小溪。 他腰部以下都湿透了，但还是咧着嘴笑。 “看我找到了什么!”乔希说着，伸出了另一只手。

Dink's eyes bugged out. Josh was holding a chunk of gold the size of a potato.

丁克瞪大了眼睛。乔什手里拿着一块土豆大小的金子。