Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 "Okay, gang, let's go grab our seats," Forest said. To get to Forest's private box, they had to climb up three flights of stairs. Throngs of people filled the grandstand. Music was playing, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The viewing box had a row of seats under a little roof. On both sides were other private boxes. Straight ahead was a perfect view of the starting gate and oval racetrack. "How long is the race?" Josh asked. "Twice around the track," Forest said.

“好了，伙计们，我们去找座位吧，”福雷斯特说。 为了到达福里斯特的私人包厢，他们必须爬上三层楼梯。 大看台上挤满了人群。 音乐在播放，每个人似乎都玩得很开心。 观看包厢在一个小屋顶下有一排座位。 两边是其他的私人包厢。 正前方是起跑门和椭圆形跑道的完美视野。 “比赛要多长时间?”杰克问。 “绕着跑道跑了两圈，”福里斯特说。

A stack of race programs was on one seat. Forest handed them out. "Whirlaway's on page two," he said. The kids quickly checked and found Whirlaway's name. Sunny was listed as Whirlaway's jockey. "This is so exciting!" Ruth Rose said. She set her camera on the floor under her chair. A waiter wearing a white jacket came and took their lunch order. They made it simple for him: five cheeseburgers, five lemonades. "Where do the horses end up?" Josh asked. "At the finish line," Uncle Warren said, "down there behind the starting gate." The waiter brought their food. As they ate, they watched a group of horses and their riders come out onto the track. Some of the horses were bucking and prancing. The jockeys were outfitted in bright colors. Each rider wore goggles like Sunny's. The horses were white, gray black, and several shades of brown. One was a golden palomino.

一个座位上放着一叠比赛节目。 福雷斯特把它们发了出去。“旋风在第二页，”他说。 孩子们很快查了一下，找到了惠拉韦的名字。 桑尼被列为Whirlaway的骑师。 “这太令人兴奋了!”露丝·罗斯说。 她把照相机放在椅子下面的地板上。 一位身穿白色夹克的服务员走过来，为他们点了午餐。 他们让他吃得很简单:五个芝士汉堡，五个柠檬水。 “马最后到哪里去了?”杰克问。 “在终点线，”沃伦叔叔说，“就在起跑门后面。” 服务员端来了他们的食物。 吃饭的时候，他们看到一群马和骑手走到跑道上。 有些马在跃起跳跃。 骑师们穿着鲜艳的衣服。 每个骑手都戴着和桑尼一样的护目镜。 马有白的，灰的，黑的，还有深浅不一的棕色。 一辆是金色的帕洛米诺。

Down below the owners' boxes, people were lined up along the track fence. They began cheering when they saw the horses at the starting gate. Suddenly a man's voice came over the speakers. "GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" he cried. "THE FIRST RACE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!" While he called out the names of the horses and jockeys, the riders moved their horses up to the starting gate. Then a loud bell sounded, and the horses burst onto the track. The jockeys stood in the stirrups, their heads bent low over the horses' necks.

在业主的包厢下面，人们沿着轨道围栏排着队。 当他们看到起跑线门前的马匹时，他们开始欢呼起来。 突然，一个男人的声音从扬声器里传出来。 “下午好，女士们，先生们!”他喊道。 “第一场比赛就要开始了!”当他喊出马匹和骑师的名字时，骑手们把他们的马移到起跑门前。 接着，一声响亮的铃声响起，马儿们奔上了跑道。 骑师们站在马镫上，低着头在马脖子上。

The crowd shouted and cheered. Even above the noise, the kids could hear the thunder of the horses' hooves on the track. Clumps of dirt flew into the air behind each horse. "AND IT'S MERRY MARY IN THE LEAD!" the announcer exclaimed. "STARBURST IS A LENGTH BEHIND! CRANBERRY SAUCE IS THIRD!" Then it was over. A white horse had rocketed across the finish line first. "AND IT'S MERRY MARY BY HALF A LENGTH!" yelled the announcer. As the kids watched, the jockey pranced Merry Mary to the winner's circle. A woman wearing a dress and a wide hat presented the jockey with a trophy. A man in a suit beamed and posed for a picture. "That's the horse's owner," Forest informed the kids. "Is our race next?" Dink asked, checking his program.

人群大声欢呼。 即使在嘈杂声中，孩子们也能听到马蹄声。 每匹马后面都有一片片尘土飞扬。 “现在是欢乐玛丽领先!”播音员大声说。 “星爆在后面一段距离!”蔓越莓酱排第三!”然后一切都结束了。 一匹白马率先冲过了终点线。 “而且是《欢乐玛丽》，快了一半!”播音员喊道。 在孩子们的注视下，骑师欢蹦喜跳地向冠军圈走去。 一位身穿连衣裙、头戴宽边帽的妇女向骑师颁发了奖杯。 一个西装革履的男人微笑着摆姿势拍照。 “那是马的主人，”福雷斯特告诉孩子们。 “接下来是我们的比赛吗?”丁克检查着他的节目单，问道。

"Yes, in just a few minutes," Forest' said. He pointed to the track. "The horses are coming out already." The three kids stood up. "Which one is Whirlaway?" Ruth Rose said, getting her camera ready. "There are a lot of dark horses with white marks on their foreheads." Forest pointed over her shoulder. "In front of the white horse," he said. "See Sunny's yellow hat? And you can see the big twenty-one on Whirlaway's saddle blanket."

“是的，就几分钟。”福雷斯特说。 他指了指铁轨。“马已经出来了。” 三个孩子站了起来。“哪一个是旋风?”露丝·罗斯说着，准备好了相机。 “有很多黑马的额头上都有白色的痕迹。” 福雷斯特指了指她的肩膀。 “在白马前面，”他说。 “看到桑尼的黄色帽子了吗?”你可以在惠拉韦的马鞍毯上看到那个大大的21。”