Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Oscar stared out the window in shock as the train pulled into the city. Chicago was called the Queen of the West. But what an ugly queen! All along the tracks were factories and warehouses. The sky was smudged dirty brown from coal fires and dark clouds burping out of smokestacks. Soon enough, they were off the train and standing in the enormous station hall. Every other person smiled and waved at Mr. Morrow. "Charlie!" a man boomed. "Welcome back, Mr. Morrow," said a porter lugging a heavy suitcase.

第三章当火车驶入市区时，奥斯卡震惊地望着窗外。 芝加哥被称为西部女王。 但是多么丑陋的女王啊!铁轨两旁都是工厂和仓库。 天空被煤火和烟囱里冒出的乌云弄得脏兮兮的棕色。 很快，他们下了火车，站在巨大的车站大厅里。 每个人都微笑着向莫罗先生挥手。 “查理!”一个男人大声说。“欢迎回来，莫罗先生，”一个拖着沉重手提箱的搬运工说。

"Mr. Morrow, I loved your latest pictures!" a pretty woman gushed. "Good to be back!" Mr. Morrow beamed. People swarmed around the station — more people than Oscar had seen in all of his life. Everyone was rushing around as if they were late for church. And suddenly, Oscar noticed the rotten stench that filled the air. He had never smelled anything as disgusting. It was like someone had tossed a hundred skunks into a hot outhouse and left them there for a month. Oscar could see from Mama's crinkled-up nose that she noticed it, too. "The slaughterhouses," Mr. Morrow said, reading their sickened expressions. "They butcher more hogs in Chicago than anywhere in the world." Mr. Morrow went to the baggage room and returned with their three suitcases. Oscar's was the smallest. Inside was all that was left from his life on the farm: his few clothes and his prized possession — Papa's sheriff's badge, a fivepointed silver star.

“莫罗先生，我很喜欢你最近的作品!”一个漂亮女人滔滔不绝地说。 “回来真好!”莫罗先生笑了。 人们簇拥在车站周围——比奥斯卡一生中见过的人还多。 每个人都匆匆忙忙，好像去教堂要迟到似的。 突然，奥斯卡注意到空气中充满了腐烂的恶臭。 他从来没有闻到过这么恶心的气味。 这就像有人把一百只臭鼬扔进了一个炎热的户外厕所，然后把它们放在那里一个月。 奥斯卡从妈妈皱起的鼻子上看出来，她也注意到了。 “屠宰场，”莫罗先生读着他们厌恶的表情说。 “他们在芝加哥屠宰的猪比世界上任何地方都多。” 莫罗先生去了行李室，拿着他们的三个手提箱回来了。 奥斯卡的是最小的。里面是他在农场生活留下的全部东西:他的几件衣服和他最珍贵的东西——爸爸的警长徽章，一颗五角星。

"Is there somewhere I can freshen up?" Mama asked, smoothing one of the golden curls that had popped out of her bun. "I'll show you," Mr. Morrow said, taking Mama's arm. "Oscar, can you keep an eye on the bags?" Oscar nodded. But as they disappeared into the crowd, Oscar's heart thumped. He felt so out of place here, and strangely all alone. A bunch of rough-looking boys lurked around. One of them stared at Oscar. He had bright red hair and strange yellow-tinged eyes that reminded Oscar of a rattlesnake's. Oscar was relieved when they drifted away. He took a deep breath and looked around, thinking about Papa's one visit to Chicago. Papa was just twenty years old at the time. His parents had both died, and Papa had decided to leave his hometown near Boston and head west. "I was looking for my fortune," Papa always said. He landed in a no-name town in Dakota Territory. The town was desperate for a sheriff,

“有什么地方可以让我梳洗一下吗?”妈妈问，一边抚平从发髻里露出来的一头金色卷发。 “我给你看，”莫罗先生拉着妈妈的胳膊说。 “奥斯卡，你能帮我看一下袋子吗?”奥斯卡点了点头。 但当他们消失在人群中时，奥斯卡的心怦怦直跳。 他在这里感到很不自在，而且奇怪地感到孤独。 一群长相粗野的男孩潜伏在周围。 其中一个盯着奥斯卡。 他有一头鲜红的头发和一双奇怪的略带黄色的眼睛，这使奥斯卡想起了响尾蛇的眼睛。 当他们渐行渐远时，奥斯卡松了一口气。 他深吸了一口气，环顾四周，想着爸爸去芝加哥的那一次。 爸爸当时只有20岁。 他的父母都去世了，爸爸决定离开波士顿附近的家乡，前往西部。 “我在寻找我的财富，”爸爸总是说。 他降落在达科塔地区一个无名小镇上。 镇上急需一位警长，

and Papa needed a job. For months the place was quiet — until the night a gang of outlaws rode in. Their leader was Earless Max Kildair. "Actually, Earless did have one ear," Papa had explained to Oscar. "He lost the left one blowing up a safe during a bank robbery." Papa heard that Earless Kildair was a killer. And sure enough, by morning the town's bank had been robbed, and one of Papa's friends was sprawled out dead in the street. Earless and his gang were long gone. Papa went after the gangster, chasing him all the way to Chicago. He finally found him in a stinking tavern near the river. Papa pulled out his gun, ready to arrest him. But Earless was too quick. He jumped behind the bar and started shooting. Pow! A bullet whizzed just past Papa's head. Pow! Papa fired back but missed. Earless lunged forward with a final shot. Pow!

爸爸需要一份工作。几个月来，这个地方一直很安静，直到有一天晚上，一群不法之徒骑着马进来。 他们的领袖是无耳的马克斯·基尔代尔。 “事实上，无耳确实有一只耳朵，”爸爸向奥斯卡解释道。 “他在一次银行抢劫中炸毁了一个保险箱，失去了左腿。” 爸爸听说无耳基尔代尔是个杀手。 果然，到了早晨，镇上的银行被抢了，爸爸的一个朋友躺在街上死了。 Earless和他的同伙早就走了。 爸爸去追那个歹徒，一路追到芝加哥。 他终于在河边一家臭气熏天的小酒馆里找到了他。 爸爸掏出枪，准备逮捕他。 但是Earless太快了。 他跳到吧台后面开始开枪。 战俘!一颗子弹从爸爸的头上呼啸而过。 战俘!爸爸开枪还击，但没打中。 Earless向前冲了最后一枪。 战俘!

The bullet hit Papa in the chest. It should have torn a hole right through Papa's heart. But it ricocheted off his badge instead, leaving a big dent smack-dab in the center. Earless escaped in the commotion. After that, Papa decided he was done chasing outlaws. He heard about free farmland up for grabs in Minnesota. He'd never farmed, but figured he'd give it a try. He ended up in a little town called Castle, where the first person he met was a freckle-faced schoolteacher with the prettiest blue eyes Papa had ever seen. Mama. Within the month, they were married. By the next year they had their farm — and Oscar. "So I found my fortune," Papa liked to say, kissing Mama on the cheek. As for Earless, he was still on the loose. Papa heard he was in Chicago, lying low, but still up to no good. Oscar's thoughts of Papa were cut short by a whispering voice. "Can you help me?"

子弹击中了爸爸的胸部。 它应该在爸爸的心脏上撕开一个洞。 但它却从他的徽章上弹了回来，在中间留下了一个大凹痕。 耳聋在骚动中逃走了。 从那以后，爸爸决定不再追捕不法之徒了。 他听说在明尼苏达州有免费的农田可供争夺。 他从来没有种地，但他想试一试。 最后，他来到了一个叫卡斯尔的小镇，在那里他遇到的第一个人是一位满脸雀斑的教师，有着爸爸从未见过的最漂亮的蓝眼睛。 妈妈。不到一个月，他们就结婚了。 第二年，他们有了自己的农场——还有奥斯卡。 “所以我找到了我的财富，”爸爸喜欢一边说，一边亲吻妈妈的脸颊。 至于Earless，他仍然在逃。 爸爸听说他在芝加哥，躲起来了，但还是不怀好意。 奥斯卡对爸爸的思念被一个低语打断了。 “你能帮我吗?”

He looked down at a skinny little girl with a yellow cap over two raggedy braids. She stared up at him with big brown eyes. "I've lost my parents." She looked so helpless! "We'll find them," Oscar said, standing a little taller. "I think they went this way," she said, leading him by the arm out of the main waiting room. But then suddenly she let go of his sleeve. "Sorry," she said. And then poof, she disappeared into the crowd. An uneasy feeling grabbed hold of Oscar. Something wasn't right. He spun around and rushed back to the suitcases. They were gone.

他低头看着一个瘦削的小女孩，她戴着一顶黄色的帽子，头上扎着两条破烂的辫子。 她抬头用棕色的大眼睛盯着他。 “我失去了父母。”她看起来是那么无助!“我们会找到他们的。”奥斯卡站得更高了一点。 “我想他们往这边走了，”她说着，牵着他的胳膊走出了主候诊室。 但突然她放开了他的袖子。 “对不起，”她说。然后噗的一声，她消失在人群中。 一种不安的感觉攫住了奥斯卡。 有些地方不对劲。他转过身，冲回手提箱。 他们走了。