5 The Dividing Line

Chapter 5 THE DIVIDING LINE At this point, you may be starting to wonder when Coke is going to be shoved into a spinning clothes dryer. Please! Have a little patience. Our story is just beginning, and the journey has not even begun. Stick with it, dear reader, and your unhealthy thirst for blood, gore, and tragedy will be satisfied. By the way, if you'd like to follow the McDonalds on their trip back home to California, it's easy. Get on the internet and go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com), MapQuest (www.mapquest.com), Rand McNally (www.randmcnally.com), or whatever

说到这里，你可能开始想知道可口可乐什么时候会被塞进旋转的干衣机。 拜托!有一点耐心。 我们的故事才刚刚开始，而旅程甚至还没有开始。 坚持下去，亲爱的读者，你对血腥、血腥和悲剧的病态渴望将得到满足。 顺便说一下，如果你想跟随麦当劳夫妇回到加州的旅程，这很容易。 上网访问谷歌Maps （http://maps.google.com）、MapQuest （www.mapquest.com）、Rand McNally （www.randmcnally.com）或其他网站

navigation website you like best. Go ahead, I'll wait. Okay, now type in 3717 Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis TN and click SEARCH MAPS. Click the little + or -sign on the screen to zoom in or out until you get a sense of where the twins are. Did you find Graceland? That's our starting point. Now click Get Directions. In the A box, type Graceland, Memphis TN. In the B box, type Little Rock AR. Then click Get Directions.

你最喜欢的导航网站。 去吧，我等你。好了，现在输入3717埃尔维斯普雷斯利大道，田纳西州孟菲斯市然后点击搜索地图。 点击屏幕上的小+或-符号来放大或缩小，直到你知道双胞胎在哪里。 你找到雅园了吗？这是我们的起点。 现在点击获取方向。在A框里，输入Graceland，田纳西州孟菲斯市。 在B框中，输入小石城AR。 然后点击“获取路线”。

Dr. McDonald made a left turn onto Elvis Presley Boulevard heading north and accelerated smoothly to merge onto I-55. He enjoyed the admiring glances he was getting from the drivers in the cars as he passed them. Especially the young female drivers. "Keep your eyes on the road, Ben," advised Mrs. McDonald. "This car totally kicks butt, Dad!" Coke said. "Stick with me, pal," his father replied, pushing the gas pedal just a little farther than necessary to impress the family and feel the

麦克唐纳博士左转进入埃尔维斯·普雷斯利大道，向北行驶，并顺利加速，汇入I-55号公路。 当他经过那些汽车时，他喜欢从司机那里得到赞赏的目光。 尤其是年轻的女司机。 “本，眼睛要看路，”麦克唐纳太太建议道。 “这车太棒了，爸爸！”可口可乐表示。 “听我说，伙计，”他父亲回答道，为了给家人留下深刻印象，他把油门踩得稍微远了一点

vrooooom of the Ferrari as it nosed over the speed limit. Soon they were on I-40 and the ramp of the Hernando De Soto Bridge, with a large body of water in front of them. "Feast your eyes, y'all," Dr. McDonald announced in a ridiculously exaggerated fake Southern accent. "Yonder lies the mighty Mississippi. The largest river system in North America. Gateway to the West. Home to Huck Finn, Lewis and Clark—" "We get it, Dad." "Ol' man river," Dr. McDonald began to sing, "dat old man river..." "Please, Dad, not that," advised Coke, with

当法拉利超过速度限制时，它发出了巨大的声音。 很快，他们就上了I-40号州际公路和埃尔南多·德索托大桥的斜坡，前面是一大片水域。 “大饱眼福吧，各位。” 麦当劳用一种夸张得可笑的假南方口音宣布。 “那边是浩瀚的密西西比河。 北美最大的水系。 通往西部的门户。这是哈克·费恩、刘易斯和克拉克的故乡——”“我们明白了，爸爸。” “老男人河，”麦克唐纳医生开始唱，“老男人河……” “求你了，爸爸，不要那样，”科克建议道

an eye roll to the left. "Mississippi Queeeeeeeeeen!" belted Dr. McDonald. "If you know what I mean..." "Please stop singing, Dad," advised Pep, with an eye roll to the right. "Do you kids know anything about the Mississippi River?" asked Mrs. McDonald. She, of course, knew that her son had a photographic memory and recalled just about everything he had ever seen, read, heard, smelled, or tasted. "The name Mississippi comes from the Ojibwe Indians," Coke informed the others. "They called the river Misi-zibi, which means 'Father of Waters.'" "Here we go again," Pep muttered, clearly annoyed. It's not easy living with somebody who has total recall, and especially when he's your twin brother. Pep's teachers always seemed a little disappointed that she didn't have her brother's incredible ability to remember information. Coke had read about the Ojibwe Indians on

往左边翻白眼。“密西西比，嘎嘎！” 麦当劳。“如果你明白我的意思……” “请别唱了，爸爸，”佩普向右转了一下眼珠，建议道。 “你们知道密西西比河吗？”麦克唐纳太太问。 当然，她知道她的儿子有过目不忘的能力，他能回忆起他所见过、读过、听过、闻过或尝过的一切。 “密西西比这个名字来自印第安人Ojibwe，”科克告诉其他人。 他们称这河为米斯子比河，意思是众水之父。“又来了，”佩普喃喃自语，显然很恼火。 和一个记忆力很好的人住在一起很不容易，尤其是他还是你的双胞胎兄弟。 佩普的老师似乎总是有点失望，因为她没有她哥哥那样难以置信的记忆能力。 可口可乐在报纸上读到过奥吉布族印第安人的故事

the back of a cereal box five years earlier, and couldn't resist sharing the information. "You probably know that a raindrop falling into Lake Itasca in Minnesota will travel the length of the Mississippi and arrive at the Gulf of Mexico about ninety days later," he said. Now he was just showing off. "Thank you, Mr. Boring!" Pep muttered, unable to restrain herself. "You probably just made that up." There was still a long way to go before the McDonald family would be home, but the Mississippi River seemed like a sort of symbolic dividing line between east and west. Pep turned around to glance out the back window and see the Memphis skyline getting smaller in the distance. They were finally on their way back to California. Like the Memphis skyline, their troubles seemed to be fading from view. As soon as they crossed the Hernando De Soto Bridge, this sign appeared at the side of the highway:

五年前的一个麦片盒子的背面，他忍不住要分享这个信息。 他说：“你可能知道，一滴雨滴落在明尼苏达州的伊塔斯卡湖上，它会穿过密西西比河，大约90天后到达墨西哥湾。” 现在他只是在炫耀。 “谢谢你，无聊先生！”佩普忍不住嘀咕着。 “那可能是你瞎编的。” 离麦当劳一家回家还有很长的路要走，但密西西比河似乎是东西方之间的象征性分界线。 佩普转身向后窗望去，看到远处孟菲斯的天际线越来越小。 他们终于在回加州的路上了。 就像孟菲斯的天际线一样，他们的烦恼似乎正在从视野中消失。 他们一过埃尔南多·德·索托桥，公路边上就出现了这样一块牌子：