8 Heaven in Hot Springs

Chapter 8 HEAVEN IN HOT SPRINGS Heading west out of Bauxite, Dr. McDonald eased the Ferrari onto Route 70. It's a quiet rural road, and the scenery didn't capture the kids' interest. Coke pulled out a copy of The New England Journal of Medicine he had found in the lobby of the Heartbreak Hotel. He started going through it like a scanner goes through pages of documents. There wasn't a whole lot of time to pass. Forty minutes from Bauxite, signs of civilization started to appear at the side of the road. Billboards, buildings, businesses. Soon they had reached the town limits of Hot Springs, Arkansas, nestled within the low-lying Ouachita Mountains. It was getting late, and Dr. McDonald had

第八章温泉里的天堂从铝土矿往西走。 麦克唐纳慢慢地把法拉利开上了70号公路。 这是一条安静的乡村道路，景色并没有引起孩子们的兴趣。 科克拿出一本他在心碎酒店大厅里找到的《新英格兰医学杂志》。 他开始仔细检查，就像扫描仪扫描一页页的文件一样。 没有多少时间可以消磨。 从铝土矿出发40分钟后，文明的迹象开始出现在路边。 广告牌、建筑、企业。 很快，他们就到达了坐落在低洼的瓦希托山脉中的阿肯色州温泉镇的边界。 天色已晚。 麦当劳了

driven almost two hundred miles since leaving Memphis that morning. He pulled into the first name-brand hotel he saw—a Best Western—and the family had a relaxing dinner at Outback Steakhouse. There was a rack of travel brochures near the cash register, and the twins grabbed some of them to look through while they waited for their food. Hot Springs, they were surprised to discover, had a wax museum, a go-kart track, mini golf, a water park, an alligator farm, and the world's only diamond-producing mine that is open to the public. "Hey, this place looks cool," Coke told the group. "Check it out, Mom," Pep said. "The Gangster Museum of America is right here. It's a museum all about mobsters and criminals. That would be great for Amazing but True." And it would be. But the McDonalds, for a change, hadn't come to Hot Springs to visit the usual tacky roadside attractions. They'd come

从那天早上离开孟菲斯以来，他已经开了将近200英里的车了。 他把车开进他看到的第一家名牌酒店——Best western，一家人在Outback牛排屋吃了一顿轻松的晚餐。 收银机旁边放着一架子旅游手册，这对双胞胎在等菜的时候拿了一些来翻看。 他们惊奇地发现，温泉镇有蜡像博物馆、卡丁车赛道、迷你高尔夫球场、水上乐园、鳄鱼养殖场，以及世界上唯一向公众开放的钻石矿。 “嘿，这个地方看起来很酷，”科克对大家说。 “看看吧，妈妈，”佩普说。 “美国黑帮博物馆就在这里。 这是一个关于暴徒和罪犯的博物馆。 这对《惊人但真实》来说太棒了。” 确实是这样。但是，麦当劳夫妇改变了主意，他们来温泉城并不是为了参观那些俗气的路边景点。 他们会来

for the water. First thing in the morning, the family piled into the Ferrari and found their way to a small section of town called Bathhouse Row. "Do you kids know why this town is called Hot Springs?" Mrs. McDonald asked the kids. "Because spring is really hot here?" Pep quickly guessed, trying to beat her brother to the punch. "What a dope!" Coke said, shaking his head in amazement. "Don't call your sister a dope," scolded Dr. McDonald. "A million gallons of natural mineral water a day flows from forty-seven springs nearby," Coke said, recalling a library book he'd once glanced at in second grade. "The water bubbles down beneath the earth to superheated areas deep in the crust, and when it gets to the surface, it's 147 degrees Fahrenheit." "That's right!" Mrs. McDonald said. "In fact," Coke continued, "according to

为了水。早上的第一件事，一家人挤进法拉利，找到了镇上一个叫澡堂街的小地方。 “你们知道这个小镇为什么叫温泉镇吗？”麦克唐纳太太问孩子们。 “因为这里的春天真的很热？”佩普很快就猜到了，想抢在她哥哥之前下手。 “真是个笨蛋！”科克惊讶地摇着头说。 “别叫你妹妹笨蛋，”约翰医生责备道。 麦当劳。“每天有一百万加仑的天然矿泉水从附近的四十七个泉水中流出，”可口可乐回忆起他在二年级时看过的一本图书馆的书。 “水在地下起泡，进入地壳深处的过热区域，当它到达表面时，温度达到147华氏度。” “没错!”麦克唐纳太太说。 “事实上，”可口可乐接着说，“根据

scientists, the water that reaches the surface in Hot Springs today fell as rainfall four thousand years ago." "Just shut up already, okay?" "Don't tell your brother to shut up," warned Dr. McDonald. "Yeah," Coke said. "Don't tell me to shut up. It's not my fault that you don't know anything." "Shut up!" Dr. McDonald parked the car outside a Spanish Colonial Revival building with a large dome covered by tiles.

科学家们，今天到达温泉表面的水是四千年前的降雨。” “闭嘴，好吗？”“别叫你弟弟闭嘴。” 麦当劳。“是的，”可口可乐说。 “别叫我闭嘴。 你什么都不知道又不是我的错。” “闭嘴!”麦克唐纳博士把车停在一座西班牙殖民复兴风格的建筑外，这座建筑有一个覆盖着瓷砖的大圆顶。

"We're going to take a bath?" Pep asked warily. In fact, taking a bath was exactly what they were going to do. Before they got out of the car, Mrs. McDonald read a section from her Arkansas guidebook: "Hot Springs is sometimes known as Spa City. According to legend, back in the 18th century the Quapaw Indians discovered the magical healing powers of the springs. Today, millions of people pay good money to sit naked—" "I'm not getting naked in front of a million strangers!" Pep yelled. "You don't have to get naked," assured her mother. "I brought our bathing suits." The guidebook went on to explain that, over the years, presidents, outlaws, movie stars, and athletes had flocked to Hot Springs to soak in the natural mineral pools. The Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Red Sox used

“我们要去洗澡吗？”佩普小心翼翼地问。 事实上，洗个澡正是他们要做的。 在他们下车之前，麦克唐纳夫人读了她的阿肯色州旅游指南中的一段：“温泉有时也被称为温泉城。 根据传说，早在18世纪，夸保印第安人就发现了泉水的神奇治疗能力。 今天，数以百万计的人花大价钱裸体坐着——”“我才不要在一百万个陌生人面前裸体呢！”Pep喊道。 “你不必脱光衣服，”她妈妈保证说。 “我把我们的泳衣带来了。” 导游手册继续解释说，多年来，总统、不法之徒、电影明星和运动员纷纷涌向温泉，在天然的矿物池中浸泡。 匹兹堡海盗队、芝加哥小熊队和波士顿红袜队都使用过

to hold their spring training camps there. Visitors would spot Babe Ruth walking down the street, sitting next to them in a tub, or gambling at the racetrack nearby. Nowadays, regular people come from all over the world to relax in the waters and ease the pain of arthritis, bursitis, rheumatic fever, and other ailments. "I don't have any of those diseases," Pep said. "Can I wait in the car?" "Don't be silly," Dr. McDonald said. "This is a family vacation. We're doing this as a family. You're going to love it." Bathhouse Row consists of eight historic buildings and is part of Hot Springs National Park. The McDonalds climbed the steps of the Quapaw, which was built in 1922. The twins examined the Native American artwork and artifacts that decorated the lobby. "Welcome to the Quapaw!" said the smiling lady behind the counter. Dr. and Mrs. McDonald looked over the menu of services, which included everything

在那里举办春季训练营。 游客会看到贝比·鲁斯走在街上，坐在他们旁边的浴缸里，或者在附近的赛马场赌博。 如今，来自世界各地的普通人来这里放松，缓解关节炎、滑囊炎、风湿热和其他疾病的痛苦。 “我没有这些疾病，”佩普说。 “我能在车里等吗？”“别傻了。” 麦克唐纳说。“这是一次家庭度假。 我们是一家人。 你会喜欢的。”澡堂街由八座历史建筑组成，是温泉国家公园的一部分。 麦当劳夫妇爬上了建于1922年的夸保大厦的台阶。 这对双胞胎检查了装饰大厅的美洲原住民艺术品和手工艺品。 “欢迎光临夸保！”柜台后面的女士微笑着说。 麦克唐纳医生和夫人看了看服务菜单，菜单上包括了所有的服务