27 Majority Rules

Chapter 27 MAJORITY RULES When Dr. and Mrs. McDonald got back to the hotel later that night, they were in a much better frame of mind. They even brought back a souvenir—a KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD refrigerator magnet. But Coke and Pep were asleep. Escaping from a swarm of bats does tend to sap your energy. In the morning, the family set out for San Antonio, which is eighty miles south of Austin on I-35. The angry feelings of the night before were gone, or at least pushed below the surface for the time being. "What's in San Antonio?" Pep asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer. "The Alamo, of course," her father replied. "Isn't that a rental car place?" Coke asked.

第二十七章多数决定 和麦克唐纳太太那天晚上回到旅馆时，他们的心情好多了。 他们甚至还带回了一件纪念品——KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD冰箱贴。 但是可口可乐和佩普都睡着了。 逃离一群蝙蝠确实会消耗你的能量。 早上，一家人出发前往圣安东尼奥，它位于奥斯汀以南80英里的I-35公路上。 前一天晚上的愤怒情绪消失了，或者至少暂时被压在了表面之下。 “圣安东尼奥有什么？”佩普问，不确定她是否想知道答案。 “当然是阿拉莫了，”她父亲回答。 “那不是租车的地方吗？”可口可乐问道。

"Why would we want to go there?" Coke knew what the Alamo was. He just felt like giving his dad a hard time. "The Alamo is not a rental car place!" his exasperated father replied. "It's an eighteenth- century mission church where the pivotal battle in the fight for the independence of Texas took place. Don't they teach you kids anything in school?" "Texas is independent?" Pep asked. Mrs. McDonald laughed. The Ferrari almost drove off the road. "Look," Dr. McDonald said, "in the early 1800s, Texas belonged to Mexico. The Texans fought a war for independence in 1836. There was a thirteen-day siege, and a few hundred Texans were badly outnumbered at the Alamo. Finally, fifteen hundred Mexican troops launched an assault and wiped them out. Guys like James Bowie, Davy Crockett, and William Travis died. And ever since that day, the Alamo has symbolized courage and sacrifice for the

“我们为什么要去那里？”可口可乐知道阿拉莫是什么。 他只是想让他爸爸难堪一下。 “阿拉莫不是一个租车的地方！”他父亲恼怒地回答。 “这是一座18世纪的教会教堂，在这里发生了德克萨斯独立战争的关键战役。 你们这些孩子在学校里什么都不教吗？”“德克萨斯独立了？”Pep问道。 麦克唐纳太太笑了。那辆法拉利几乎驶离公路。 “听着，”麦克唐纳博士说，“在19世纪初，德克萨斯属于墨西哥。 德克萨斯人在1836年打了一场独立战争。 这是一场为期13天的围攻，几百名德克萨斯人在阿拉莫处于劣势。 最后，1500名墨西哥军队发起进攻，将他们歼灭。 像詹姆斯·鲍伊、戴维·克罗克特和威廉·特拉维斯这样的人都死了。 从那天起，阿拉莫就象征着勇气和牺牲精神

cause of liberty. You've heard the phrase 'Remember the Alamo.' That was Sam Houston's battle cry when he defeated General Santa Anna a few weeks later. Texas became an independent republic and then joined the United States as the twenty-eighth state. Won't it be interesting to go to the Alamo and see where this all happened?" "I guess," the twins mumbled, which, translated into the language of Teenager, means "No." "Everybody goes to the Alamo, Ben," Mrs. McDonald said. "Do you want to be just another sheep following the herd?" Dr. McDonald was getting progressively more steamed. Now he had to take guff from his wife too. "Everybody goes to the Alamo because it's an important part of American history! It's a part of our democracy we all should know," he said, a little too loud. "Actually," Mrs. McDonald said, "there's

自由的事业。你一定听过“记住阿拉莫”这句话。这是萨姆·休斯顿在几周后击败桑塔·安纳将军时发出的战斗口号。 德克萨斯成为一个独立的共和国，然后加入美国成为第28个州。 去阿拉莫看看这一切是在哪里发生的，不是很有趣吗？”“我猜，”双胞胎喃喃自语，翻译成少年的语言，意思是“不”。 “每个人都去阿拉莫，本，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “你想成为随大流的另一只羊吗？”博士。 麦克唐纳越来越生气了。 现在他还得听妻子的胡言乱语。 “每个人都去阿拉莫，因为它是美国历史上重要的一部分！这是我们民主的一部分，我们都应该知道，”他说，声音有点太大了。 “事实上，”麦克唐纳太太说，“有

another place I'd like to go that's right near San Antonio." "Where?" "You're just going to laugh." "We won't laugh, Mom," promised Pep. "The Toilet Seat Art Museum," she said. Everybody laughed. "That's a joke, right, Bridge?" asked Dr. McDonald. "No, it's not." "You gotta be kidding me," Coke said. "There's a museum devoted to toilet seats?" "It's not devoted to toilet seats," Mrs. McDonald replied. "It's devoted to toilet seat art." Dr. McDonald had just about reached his limit. "Another tourist trap?" he said. "Bridge, just because some guy collected a bunch of junk in his garage and calls it a museum doesn't mean we have to go look at it." "Oh, come on, Ben," Mrs. McDonald said. "It

另一个我想去的地方就在圣安东尼奥附近。” “在哪里?”“你只会笑。” “我们不会笑的，妈妈，”佩普保证。 “马桶盖艺术博物馆，”她说。 每个人都笑了。“这是个玩笑，对吧，布里奇？” 麦当劳。“不，不是。”“你在开玩笑吧，”科克说。 “有个马桶盖博物馆？”“它不是专门用来做马桶盖的，”麦克唐纳太太回答。 “它致力于马桶盖艺术。” 麦克唐纳医生几乎到了他的极限。 “又是一个旅游陷阱？”他说。 “布里奇，仅仅因为有人在他的车库里收集了一堆垃圾，并称之为博物馆，并不意味着我们必须去看它。” “哦，别这样，本，”麦克唐纳太太说。 “这

will be great for Amazing but True." "How about we take a vote on it?" Coke suggested. "That's the way democracy works, right? What do you vote for, Dad, the Alamo or the toilet seat place?" "The Alamo." "How about you, Mom?" "The toilet seat art museum." "What about you, Pep?" "The toilet seat art museum." "I vote for the toilet museum too," Coke said. "That's three to one. Majority rules. Woohoo! We're going to look at toilet seats! Isn't democracy wonderful?" Pep peeked at her father's face in the rearview mirror. It looked like he might have a seizure. "Why can't we go to both places?" Pep suggested. "We can spend the morning at the toilet seat art museum and the afternoon at the Alamo. Everybody will be happy. Democracy is all about compromises, right?"

《惊人但真实》会很棒。” “我们来投票表决怎么样？”可口可乐提出。 “这就是民主的运作方式，对吗？” 爸爸，你选哪一个，阿拉莫还是马桶盖？”“白杨”。 “你呢，妈妈？”“马桶盖艺术博物馆。” “你呢，佩普？”“马桶盖艺术博物馆。” “我也赞成建厕所博物馆，”科克说。 “是三比一。多数规则。 哦吼!我们要去看马桶盖！民主不是很棒吗？”佩普从后视镜里偷看了她父亲的脸。 看起来他好像要癫痫发作了。 “为什么我们不能两个地方都去呢？”Pep。 “我们可以上午去马桶盖艺术博物馆，下午去阿拉莫。 每个人都会很高兴。民主就是妥协，对吧？”

Dr. McDonald abruptly swerved the car and pulled off onto the shoulder of the highway. He took off his seat belt so he could turn around to address the whole family. "Look," he said, trying his best to remain calm. "I went along with the yo-yo museum and the Spam museum. I went to the mustard museum and the Waffle House museum. I even went with you to that stupid washing machine museum. But life is short. I'm not going to waste half a day looking at toilet seats. And that's final!" "So much for your compromises," Coke mumbled to his sister. "How about this idea, Dad?" Pep suggested. "You drop the three of us off at the toilet seat art museum and then you can go visit the Alamo on your own. We can meet up later." Dr. McDonald thought it over. Part of him didn't like Pep's idea. They were a family. The whole idea of driving cross-country was to explore America together. If they were to split

麦克唐纳医生突然急转弯，把车开到高速公路的肩膀上。 他解下安全带，这样他就可以转身向全家人讲话了。 “看，”他说，尽量保持冷静。 “我去了溜溜球博物馆和午餐肉博物馆。 我去了芥末博物馆和华夫饼馆博物馆。 我甚至和你一起去了那个愚蠢的洗衣机博物馆。 但人生苦短。我可不想浪费半天时间去看马桶座圈。 就这么定了！”“你的妥协到此为止了，”可口可乐咕哝着对妹妹说。 “爸爸，这个主意怎么样？”Pep。 “你把我们三个人送到马桶盖艺术博物馆，然后你可以自己去参观阿拉莫。 我们可以晚点见。”博士。 麦克唐纳想了想。他有点不喜欢佩普的主意。 他们是一家人。驾车穿越美国的初衷是一起探索美国。 如果他们分开