Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 "The year was 1902, on the Caribbean island of Martinique," Dr. Morales began. "The island's capital is the city of Saint-Pierre, which is is right on the Caribbean Sea. And it sits right at the base of Mount Pelée. "Pelée was a fairy-tale kind of mountain, with bright green slopes covered with trees." Like St. Helens, Jess thought.

这一年是1902年，在加勒比海的马提尼克岛。 莫拉莱斯的开始。“该岛的首都是圣皮埃尔市，就在加勒比海上。 它就坐落在佩尔萨伊山的山脚下。 佩尔萨梅是一座童话般的山，翠绿的山坡上爬满了树木。” 就像圣海伦一样，杰西想。

"Few people realized that it was actually a volcano. It had rumbled a few times over the centuries. But it had been silent for more than fifty years. "And then, in April of 1902, Pelée woke up. All through that month, there were hundreds of very small earthquakes." "Like the ones today?" Eddie asked. Dr. Morales nodded. "There was also the strong smell of sulfur gas seeping from deep inside the Earth. That gas builds up as a volcano is becoming more active, and it can leak out of the Earth. It has a horrific smell, like rotten eggs. Around Pelée, the stench became so strong that people fainted in the streets. Horses collapsed. "But few had any idea that the quakes and the sulfur were warning signs that Pelée was going to erupt. The science of volcanoes was unknown back then. People simply didn't understand that they were in danger.

“很少有人意识到它实际上是一座火山。 几个世纪以来，它曾轰鸣过几次。 但它已经沉默了五十多年。 然后，在1902年4月，佩尔萨伊醒来了。 在那个月里，发生了数百次小地震。” “像今天的那些吗?”埃迪问。 莫拉莱斯点点头。“还有从地球深处渗出的硫磺气体的强烈气味。 当火山变得更加活跃时，这种气体就会积聚起来，并可能从地球上泄漏出去。 它有一种可怕的气味，像臭鸡蛋。 在pelsame周围，恶臭变得如此强烈，以至于人们在街上晕倒。 马倒塌。“但很少有人知道，地震和硫磺是佩尔萨伊火山即将喷发的警告信号。 火山科学在当时还不为人所知。 人们根本不知道自己处于危险之中。

"That changed in early May, when a small eruption sent ash and glowing rocks into the air. A few days later, part of the volcano broke away, and a river of boiling mud and ash roared down the mountain at eighty miles an hour." "That's faster than my truck," Mr. Rowan said. "Some mudslides can travel even faster. That one killed more than one hundred and fifty people." Dr. Morales said. He looked at Jess and the twins. "The story gets more grisly. Maybe I should stop here." "No!" Sam shouted. For him, this was even better than a Mariners game. Dr. Morales looked at Mom, who nodded. "Okay," he said. "Because next come the snakes." "Snakes?" Mom said. "The earthquakes disturbed thousands of snakes that had been living on the mountain. They came slithering down into Saint-Pierre. Some of them

这种情况在5月初发生了变化，当时一次小型喷发将灰烬和发光的岩石喷射到空中。 几天后，火山的一部分裂开了，沸腾的泥浆和火山灰以每小时八十英里的速度从山上呼啸而下。” “这比我的卡车还快，”罗文说。 “有些泥石流甚至可以传播得更快。 那次袭击造成150多人死亡。” 莫拉莱斯博士说。他看着杰茜和双胞胎。 故事变得更恐怖了。 也许我应该停在这里。” “不!”萨姆喊道。对他来说，这甚至比水手队的比赛还要精彩。 莫拉莱斯医生看了看妈妈，妈妈点点头。 “好吧，”他说。“因为接下来是蛇。” “蛇?”母亲说。“地震扰乱了生活在山上的成千上万条蛇。 他们滑着身子来到圣皮埃尔。 其中一些

were venomous six-foot-long pit vipers. Hundreds of people died from bites." "Goodness, I'm going to have nightmares about this," Mom said. "Sorry," Dr. Morales said. "I'm getting carried away. I should stop." But no way would Sam let him. "It's all right," Mom said. "You might as well tell us how this ends." "I think we can take it," Mr. Rowan agreed. "So at this point, people were terrified, as you can imagine," Dr. Morales continued. "Many people left by ship. But most couldn't afford to flee, or had no place to go. And the leaders of Saint-Pierre kept telling people the worst was over." "I'm guessing they were wrong," Mom said with a cringe. "Very wrong," Dr. Morales said. "The real disaster happened on May 8, a cloud of sulfur blanketed the city. First there was a

是六英尺长的毒蛇。 数百人被咬死。” “天哪，我要做噩梦了，”妈妈说。 “对不起，”莫拉莱斯说。 “我有点忘乎所以了。 我应该停下来。”但山姆不会让他这么做的。 “没关系，”妈妈说。 “你不妨告诉我们这事的结局。” “我认为我们可以接受，”罗文表示同意。 “所以在这一点上，人们很害怕，你可以想象。” 莫拉莱斯继续说。“很多人乘船离开。 但大多数人无法逃离，或者无处可去。 圣皮埃尔的领导们不断地告诉人们，最坏的时候已经过去了。” “我猜他们错了，”妈妈畏缩地说。 “大错特错，”莫拉莱斯说。 “真正的灾难发生在5月8日，一团硫磺云笼罩了这座城市。 首先有一个

massive explosion. Pumice and mud rained down. And then a wave of searing hot gas and ash exploded out of the mountain and into Saint- Pierre." Dr. Morales took a breath. "Within seconds, thirty thousand people were dead." Jess gasped. And the boys' chins practically hit the table. "Thirty thousand people?" Mom said slowly. "How is that even possible?" "That was the pyroclastic surge. Imagine the wind in a hurricane, but with air that's scalding hot. Then add toxic gas and ground-up rock and ash. The heat is so extreme that it burns everything in its path. People died instantly, without even knowing what happened to them." Nobody spoke for a moment, and even Sam looked queasy. The only sound was the gurgle of the soda fountain.

巨大的爆炸。浮石和泥浆如雨点般落下。 接着，一股灼热的气体和火山灰从山上喷发出来，冲进了圣皮埃尔城。” 莫拉莱斯医生深吸了一口气。 “几秒钟之内，就有3万人死亡。” 杰斯气喘吁吁地说。男孩们的下巴几乎碰到桌子了。 “三万人?”妈妈慢慢地说。 “这怎么可能呢?”“那是火山碎屑涌动。 想象一下飓风中的风，但是空气是滚烫的。 然后加入有毒气体和碾碎的岩石和灰烬。 高温是如此的极端，以至于它会烧毁沿途的一切。 人们当场死亡，甚至不知道发生了什么。” 一时间谁也没有说话，连萨姆也显得有些不舒服。 唯一的声音是冷饮机的汩汩声。

"And you're saying that the same thing could happen here?" Mom asked. Dr. Morales nodded. "It could. But luckily, there aren't thirty thousand people living right at the base of St. Helens." That was true. The mountain was surrounded by forests, with just a few towns dotting the valley. A chill came over Jess, even though she was warm and snug sitting between the twins. For her entire life, St. Helens had been the beautiful mountain rising into the sky. She'd grown up hiking its winding trails, diving into its cold lakes, and fishing for trout in its streams. Just looking at St. Helens out her window made her feel calm, as if it were watching over her somehow. Okay, maybe somewhere in the back of her mind she'd known that St. Helens was a volcano. Everyone around here knew that. But Jess never imagined that it was a real volcano, a killer that could explode.

“你是说同样的事情也可能发生在这里?”母亲问。 莫拉莱斯点点头。“这可能。 但幸运的是，没有三万人住在圣。 海伦斯火山。”这是真的。这座山被森林环绕，只有几个城镇点缀在山谷中。 尽管杰西坐在双胞胎中间，温暖而舒适，但她还是感到一阵寒意。 在她的一生中，圣海伦斯山一直是高耸入云的美丽山峰。 她从小就在蜿蜒的小径上徒步旅行，在寒冷的湖泊里潜水，在小溪里钓鳟鱼。 只要望着窗外的圣海伦，她就感到平静，仿佛它不知怎么地在守护着她。 好吧，也许在她内心深处她知道圣。 海伦是一座火山。这里的每个人都知道。 但杰茜从未想到这是一座真正的火山，一个可能爆发的杀手。