15 Pepsi World

Chapter 15 PEPSI WORLD The McDonalds only had to drive about forty minutes on Route 70 heading west to reach New Bern, the second-oldest city in North Carolina. At the mouth of the Neuse River, it's just miles from the Atlantic Ocean. "Hey, y'know what else is in New Bern?" asked Mrs. McDonald as she leafed through her guidebook. "The stuffed head of the horse that used to pull the town fire truck. His name was Firehouse Fred. We could go see him afterward." "Do we have to?" Pep asked. "I don't want to look at some dead stuffed horse's head." Dr. McDonald pulled off the highway at the New Bern exit, made a right on Pollock Street, and drove less than a mile, taking a right on

麦当劳家沿着70号公路向西开了大约40分钟的车，就到了北卡罗来纳州第二古老的城市新伯尔尼。 在纽泽河的入海口，它距离大西洋只有几英里。 “嘿，你知道在新伯尔尼还有什么吗？”麦克唐纳太太一边翻阅她的旅游指南一边问。 “以前拉镇上消防车的那匹马的填充头。 他的名字叫消防队弗雷德。 之后我们可以去看他。” “我们必须这么做吗？”Pep问道。 “我可不想看什么死马头毛绒玩具。” 麦克唐纳博士在新伯尔尼出口下了高速公路，在波洛克街右转，开了不到一英里，然后右转

Middle Street. And there it was—an unassuming little corner store with a blue awning. Just down the street, there was an open parking spot big enough for the RV. "So this is where Pepsi was invented?" Pep asked. There was a plaque on the wall. As she got closer, she could read the words … This building marks the site of Bradham's Pharmacy where Caleb D. Bradham created

中间的街道。它就在那儿——一家不起眼的街角小店，顶着蓝色的遮阳篷。 就在这条街上，有一个开放的停车位，足够停放房车。 “所以百事可乐就是在这里发明的？”Pep问道。 墙上有一块匾。 当她走近时，她看到了上面的字：“这座建筑是布拉德姆药房的旧址，凯勒·D。” Bradham创建

Pepsi-Cola in 1898. "Pharmacy?" Pep said. "Back in those days," her brother told her, "pharmacies had soda fountains in them, and the pharmacist would mix up his own drinks. So this guy named Caleb Bradham began experimenting, and he hit on a formula of carbonated water, sugar, kola nut extract, vanilla, pepsin, and rare oils. In the beginning, he called the stuff 'Brad's Drink.'" "How can you possibly know all that?" Pep asked her brother. "I just do, okay?" he replied. "Bradham renamed the stuff Pepsi-Cola in 1903 after the two main ingredients, pepsin and kola nuts." "Who cares?" Pep said, refusing to be impressed by her brother's encyclopedic knowledge of useless information. The McDonalds went inside. The Birthplace of Pepsi was empty, or at least it was empty when it came to people. It was filled, however, with just about every Pepsi product in existence.

1898年的百事可乐。“药房吗?”Pep说。 “那时候，”她哥哥告诉她，“药店里有饮料机，药剂师会自己调制饮料。 于是这个叫Caleb Bradham的人开始做实验，他偶然发现了一种由碳酸水、糖、可乐果提取物、香草、胃蛋白酶和稀有油组成的配方。 一开始，他称这种饮料为“布拉德的饮料”。’”“你怎么可能知道这些呢？”佩普问她的哥哥。 “我就是喜欢，好吗？”他回答。 “1903年，布拉德汉姆根据两种主要成分——胃蛋白酶和可乐果——将这种东西重新命名为百事可乐。” “谁在乎?”佩普说，她拒绝被她哥哥对无用信息的广博知识所打动。 麦当劳的人进去了。 百事可乐的诞生地是空的，至少对人来说是空的。 然而，里面几乎装满了所有百事可乐的产品。

There were Pepsi teddy bears, baseball caps, clocks, cookie jars, and earrings. Pepsi salt and pepper shakers, key chains, umbrellas, coffee mugs, and mouse pads. Pepsi zipper pulls, belt buckles, and T-shirts that read FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRINK COKE. "This place is just a store that sells Pepsi stuff," said Coke. "It's not like it's a museum or anything." "It's just a big commercial for Pepsi." Dr. McDonald scoffed. "It's like all these tourist traps." "Well, what did you expect?" Mrs. McDonald asked. "The Louvre? You're not going to find the Mona Lisa at a place like this." "I don't even like Pepsi," said Coke, who always insisted that Coca-Cola tasted better than Pepsi-Cola. "I say we blow this pop stand." "I want to look around a little," said Pep. "We came so far to get here." "I'll be in the RV," muttered Dr. McDonald. "Me too," said Coke.

有百事可乐的泰迪熊、棒球帽、钟表、饼干罐和耳环。 百事盐和胡椒瓶、钥匙链、雨伞、咖啡杯和鼠标垫。 百事可乐的拉链、皮带扣和t恤上都写着“朋友不让朋友喝可乐”。 “这个地方只是一个销售百事可乐产品的商店，”可口可乐说。 “这又不是什么博物馆之类的地方。” “这只是百事可乐的一个大广告。” 麦克唐纳博士嘲笑道。“就像所有这些旅游陷阱一样。” “那么，你还指望什么呢？”麦克唐纳太太问。 “罗浮宫吗?在这样的地方你是找不到《蒙娜丽莎》的。” “我甚至不喜欢百事可乐，”可口可乐说，他一直坚持可口可乐比百事可乐味道更好。 “我说我们炸了这个汽水摊。” “我想四处看看，”佩普说。 “我们千里迢迢来到这里。” “我在房车里。” 麦当劳。“我也是，”可口可乐说。

Mrs. McDonald snapped a few photos and picked up a brochure. "Come on out when you're finished, honey," she told Pep. "Don't listen to those boys. You take your time in here." Now Pep was alone. She didn't even see anybody behind the cash register. She wandered around the aisles, looking at the Pepsi hooded sweatshirts, the Pepsi bottle Christmas tree ornaments, the earrings made out of Pepsi bottle caps. It was a Pepsi world! Growing up, Pep had always felt a little left out when she'd go into stores with her friends. Girls with names like Melissa and Ashley and Rachel could always find personalized souvenirs with their names on them. There was never anything for kids who had an unusual name. But here, everything in the store had Pep's name on it. It was almost like the whole place was devoted to her. She was mesmerized. "Don't be sad, little lady." The husky voice came from behind her. Pep,

麦克唐纳太太拍了几张照片，拿起一本小册子。 “你吃完了就出来吧，亲爱的，”她对佩普说。 “别听那些男孩子的话。 你在这里慢慢来。” 现在只有佩普一个人了。她甚至没看到收银机后面有人。 她在过道里转来转去，看着百事可乐的连帽运动衫，百事可乐瓶子的圣诞树装饰品，百事可乐瓶盖做的耳环。 那是一个百事可乐的世界！在成长过程中，当佩普和朋友们一起去商店时，她总是觉得自己被冷落了。 像梅丽莎、阿什利和瑞秋这样的女孩总能找到写着她们名字的个性化纪念品。 从来没有为那些有不寻常名字的孩子提供任何服务。 但在这里，店里的所有东西都有佩普的名字。 好像整个地方都是她的。 她被迷住了。“别难过，小姑娘。” 沙哑的声音从她身后传来。 鼓舞士气,

taken by surprise, wheeled around to see … Elvis Presley. Well, an Elvis Presley impersonator, anyway. There he was, in all his Elvis glory, decked out in a white spandex jumpsuit, a ridiculously wide macramé belt with metal studs, a white scarf, and a red velvet cape with elaborate embroidered designs all over it. This guy wasn't just some casual fake Elvis. He was a real fake Elvis. He even wore an Elvis mask, which completely covered his face. "Do you work here?" Pep asked innocently. "You might say that, darlin'." He was even putting on a fake Elvis voice. "Why are you dressed up like Elvis Presley?" Pep asked. "Today is Elvis Day at the Birthplace of Pepsi," Elvis replied. "The King loved Pepsi. Say, are you here all by yourself, young lady?" "The rest of my family got bored," Pep told him, "so they're waiting in the RV. But my name is Pepsi, so this place is pretty cool to me."

被吓了一跳，转过头去看猫王。 反正是猫王的模仿者。 他穿着一身白色弹力连衣裤，系着一条宽得可笑的带金属钉的流苏花边腰带，围着一条白色围巾，披着一件绣满精美图案的红色天鹅绒斗篷。 这家伙可不是随便的假猫王。 他是真正的假猫王。他甚至戴着猫王的面具，完全遮住了他的脸。 “你在这里工作吗？”佩普天真地问。 “你可以这么说，亲爱的。” 他甚至模仿猫王的声音。 “你为什么穿得像猫王？”Pep问道。 “今天是百事可乐诞生地的埃尔维斯日，”埃尔维斯回答说。 “国王喜欢百事可乐。喂，小姐，你一个人在这儿吗？”“我的家人都很无聊，”佩普告诉他，“所以他们在房车里等着。 但我的名字是百事，所以这个地方对我来说很酷。”