Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Oscar had no idea how long he lay in the alley, dead to the world. When the blackness started to lift from his mind, all he could feel was pain. His nose seemed crushed, his brain knocked loose. Where was he? All he knew was that something terrible had happened to him. Had he been kicked by one of the horses? Had he fallen from the roof of the barn? He smelled smoke. Was the prairie on fire again? And where was Mama? But then pictures flashed through his throbbing skull — glittering yellow eyes, the flash of a knife

第十二章奥斯卡不知道他在巷子里躺了多久，像死了一样。 当黑暗开始从他的脑海中消失时，他能感觉到的只有痛苦。 他的鼻子似乎被压碎了，脑袋也被撞松了。 他在哪里?他只知道他身上发生了可怕的事情。 他是被一匹马踢了吗? 他是从谷仓顶上掉下来的吗? 他闻到了烟味。草原又着火了吗? 妈妈在哪里?但接着，画面在他跳动的脑壳里闪过——闪闪发光的黄眼睛，刀子的闪光

blade, a little girl with raggedy braids. And then his eyelids shot open. Jennie! Bruno! He sat up and looked around, fighting back tears. They were gone. Otis Webber had taken both of them. Oscar struggled to breathe. And now it was his panic, and not the smoke, that choked his lungs. He struggled to stand up, wobbling as he found his balance. "Jennie!" he cried. "Bruno!" The words came out as a rasping whisper. But he called their names again and again as he staggered down the alley, past the water barrel, and back out into the street. On the street were dozens of people fleeing north, pushing their carts and wheelbarrows and hauling their sacks. The sparks and embers rained down. Nobody noticed the boy with the bloodsmeared face and swollen eyes, frantically searching the crowd.

布莱德，一个扎着破烂辫子的小女孩。 然后他的眼皮突然睁开了。 珍妮!布鲁诺!他坐起来，环顾四周，强忍住泪水。 他们走了。奥蒂斯·韦伯把他们两个都带走了。 奥斯卡挣扎着呼吸。 现在，使他窒息的是他的恐慌，而不是烟雾。 他挣扎着站起来，摇摇晃晃地寻找着平衡。 “珍妮!”他叫道。“布鲁诺!”这些话像刺耳的耳语一样说了出来。 但他一遍又一遍地喊着他们的名字，摇摇晃晃地穿过小巷，经过水桶，回到街上。 街上有几十个人推着他们的手推车和独轮车，拖着他们的袋子向北逃去。 火花和余烬如雨点般落下。 没有人注意到那个满脸是血、眼睛肿着的男孩，他疯狂地在人群中搜寻。

Part of Oscar wanted to go back into the alley, to curl up. Maybe the wind would sweep him up and carry him back to Castle — to anywhere but here. But even in his dazed and muddled state, he knew he would not do that. He had to get to the Palmer House, to find Mama. And Mr. Morrow. If anyone could find Jennie and Bruno, it was Mr. Morrow. He remembered that Jennie said they were just one block away from the hotel. He ran back into the alley and then cut through a side street one block. He came out on a wide avenue. And there it was, the Palmer House hotel. The massive building was in flames. The roof had caved in, and piles of crumbled marble and wood lay in heaps in the street. The fire must have been burning for hours. Mama and Mr. Morrow couldn't possibly still be here. Fire gushed out of the hotel's windows. Black smoke churned through the roof. But it wasn't the

奥斯卡有点想回到巷子里，蜷缩起来。 也许风会把他吹起来，把他带回城堡——到任何地方，而不是这里。 但即使在迷迷糊糊的状态下，他也知道自己不会那么做。 他得去帕尔默家，去找妈妈。 还有莫罗先生。如果有人能找到珍妮和布鲁诺，那一定是莫罗先生。 他记得珍妮说他们离旅馆只有一个街区远。 他跑回巷子，然后穿过一条小巷，穿过一个街区。 他来到一条宽阔的林荫道上。 就在那里，帕尔默之家酒店。 这座巨大的建筑着火了。 屋顶塌陷了，街上堆满了碎石和木头。 火一定烧了好几个小时了。 妈妈和莫罗先生不可能还在这里。 火从旅馆的窗户里喷了出来。 黑烟从屋顶滚滚而出。 但它不是

sight of the burning Palmer House that turned Oscar's insides to jelly. It was what he saw when he turned and looked up the street. It was a gigantic wave of fire. It was wider than the street, with flames towering hundreds of feet into the air. It looked like the sun had burst open, and its fiery blood was gushing onto the city. Oscar understood what was happening, because the same had happened during the Castle fire. Smaller fires joined together into one monstrous blaze. Oscar and Mama had heard the terrifying stories from people who had witnessed the fire up close — and barely escaped with their lives. They described a fire so big that it seemed to stretch forever across the prairie, and so high it seemed to be trying to roast the moon. It raced across the prairie, faster than a horse could gallop. One man swore that a tornado of fire appeared out of nowhere and lifted his house off the ground. These stories haunted Oscar for months. He'd wake up at night soaked in sweat, convinced his house was burning. Walking home from school,

看到燃烧的帕尔默之家，把奥斯卡的内脏变成了果冻。 这就是他转身向街上望去时所看到的。 那是一股巨大的火浪。 它比街道还宽，火焰高达数百英尺。 它看起来就像太阳裂开了，它炽热的血液喷涌到城市里。 奥斯卡明白发生了什么事，因为城堡失火时也发生过同样的事。 较小的火聚集在一起形成了一场巨大的大火。 奥斯卡和妈妈从那些近距离目睹火灾的人那里听到了可怕的故事，他们险些丧命。 他们描述说，有一团火非常大，似乎永远延伸到整个大草原，而且非常高，似乎要把月亮烤焦。 它跑过草原，比马跑得还快。 一名男子发誓说，一股不知道从哪里冒出来的龙卷风把他的房子掀了起来。 这些故事困扰了奥斯卡好几个月。 他会在夜里醒来，浑身是汗，确信他的房子着火了。 从学校回家的路上，

he'd keep eyes peeled and aimed at the sky, convinced that a flaming twister was going to carry him away. And now those nightmares were coming true. The wall of fire roared down the street, devouring everything in its path. The wind gusted, a hot and poisonous blast that almost knocked Oscar off his feet. Oscar watched in horror as a blazing sheet peeled off the fire. It swirled through the air, a flaming twister bigger and more horrifying than anything Oscar could have imagined. It flew down the street, hundreds of yards. BOOM! It exploded into a tall building, igniting it. Now the street was blocked on both sides, with the flames spreading fast. Oscar stood there, frozen in fear. He had no idea what to do, where to go. But then he heard someone calling his name. "Oscar!" It rose up above the fire's lion roar, like a kindly giant calling from his castle in the sky. Oscar whirled around.

他睁大眼睛，瞄准天空，确信一股燃烧的旋风会把他卷走。 现在，这些噩梦正在成为现实。 火墙呼啸着穿过街道，吞噬了沿途的一切。 狂风大作，一股炙热而有毒的狂风几乎把奥斯卡打得站不住脚。 奥斯卡惊恐地看着一块燃烧着的床单从火上脱落下来。 它在空中旋转，像一个燃烧的旋风，比奥斯卡想象的任何东西都要大，更可怕。 它沿着街道飞了几百码。 繁荣!它爆炸了，点燃了一座高楼。 现在街道两边都被封锁了，火势迅速蔓延。 奥斯卡站在那里，吓呆了。 他不知道该做什么，该去哪里。 但他听到有人叫他的名字。 “奥斯卡!”它在烈火的狮吼中升起，就像一个仁慈的巨人在他的天空城堡里呼唤。 奥斯卡转过身来。

A shadow appeared through the cloud of smoke. He saw a familiar face, and he let himself fall into the strong arms that reached out for him. It was Mr. Morrow.

烟雾中出现了一个影子。 他看到了一张熟悉的脸，他让自己倒在了向他伸出的有力的手臂里。 是莫罗先生。