Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Nate stayed very still in his hiding place. His empty stomach churned with worry. Panicked thoughts spun around his brain. Would he ever see Theo and Eliza again? What if Eliza had to do all of Nate's work now? How would she watch over Theo?

内特静静地呆在他的藏身之处。 他空空的胃因担心而翻腾。 恐慌的思绪在他脑中盘旋。 他还会再见到西奥和伊莱莎吗? 如果伊莱莎现在要做内特的所有工作呢? 她怎么照顾西奥呢?

The rocking of the ship calmed him some. He listened to the familiar sounds — the swoosh, crack of the sails, the creak, creak of the wood, the twang of the sailors' voices. Bright pictures filled up his mind, memories of visiting New York City with Papa. Some of their voyages had started from there. And Papa always left a day or two for them to explore before they set sail. New York City wasn't as big as Philadelphia, but it had twenty-five thousand people — twentyfive thousand! That was more people than Boston or Charleston. New York was dirty and smelly like every city Nate had ever visited. Garbage rotted in the alleys. Piles of horse dung steamed in the streets. But Papa always said New York was the prettiest city in the colonies, and Nate agreed. The wide streets were lined with tall elm trees. Gardens were bursting with sweet-smelling flowers that almost covered up the garbage stink.

船的摇晃使他平静了一些。 他听着熟悉的声音——嗖嗖声，帆的噼啪声，吱嘎声，木头的吱嘎声，水手们说话的鼻音。 他的脑海里充满了与爸爸一起游览纽约的美好回忆。 他们的一些航行就是从那里开始的。 爸爸总是在他们起航前留出一两天时间让他们去探险。 纽约市没有费城那么大，但它有两万五千人——两万五千人!这比波士顿和查尔斯顿的人口还多。 纽约和内特去过的所有城市一样又脏又臭。 垃圾在小巷里腐烂了。 成堆的马粪在街上冒着热气。 但是爸爸总是说纽约是殖民地里最漂亮的城市，内特也这么认为。 宽阔的街道两旁种着高大的榆树。 花园里开满了芬芳的花朵，几乎掩盖了垃圾的臭味。

Nate loved the sidewalk puppet shows and jugglers who spun torches on the street corners. Papa would tip his cap at the ladies swishing by in their bright dresses. Best of all was the food — suppers of juicy rabbit stew and gooey boiled puddings and buttery dumplings that slid down Nate's throat. One restaurant was so fancy they actually gave Nate and Papa each a fork. A fork! Even most rich people like Storch ate with a knife and their fingers. But Nate and Papa figured out that strange new tool pretty quick. Nate's mind flashed with memories of Papa as the Valerie sailed down the twisting coastline of Connecticut and New York. He shut up his grumbling stomach by sneaking a few ears of corn. The sun was high in the sky when they came to Manhattan — the island of New York. Most of the long and skinny island was wild land: rolling green hills and forests and marshes with a just a

内特喜欢人行道上的木偶表演和在街角旋转火把的杂耍演员。 爸爸会向那些穿着鲜艳衣服嗖嗖走过的女士们脱帽致意。 最棒的是食物——晚餐有多汁的炖兔肉、黏糊糊的煮布丁和滑进内特喉咙的黄油饺子。 有一家餐厅太豪华了，他们竟然给内特和爸爸每人发了一把叉子。 一个叉!即使是像斯托奇这样最富有的人也要用刀和手指吃饭。 但内特和爸爸很快就学会了这个奇怪的新工具。 当瓦莱丽号沿着康涅狄格州和纽约州蜿蜒的海岸线航行时，内特的脑海里闪现着对爸爸的回忆。 他偷吃了几穗玉米，堵住了咕咕叫的肚子。 当他们来到纽约的曼哈顿岛时，太阳已经高挂天际。 这个又长又瘦的岛屿大部分都是荒地:连绵起伏的青山、森林和沼泽

few orchards and farms. It looked so quiet and peaceful. It was hard for Nate to imagine that busy New York City was just a few miles down, on the island's southern tip. But slowly the city came into view. Nate spotted crooked rooftops, the wharves jutting into the river, and too many church steeples to count. The Valerie sailed toward the bottom of the island and turned into one of the wharves. Nate didn't bother waiting until the Valerie was completely stopped. The moment it was close to the dock, he sprang up. With a few steps and a leap he was off the boat. One of the Valerie's sailors swore in surprise as Nate streaked past him. But Nate was gone before anyone could stop him. He ran down the dock, zigzagging around baskets and barrels and coils of ropes. There were only a few dockworkers milling around, and no big merchant ships. That was a little strange; last time there were too many ships to count. The

很少有果园和农场。它看起来是那么的安静和安宁。 内特很难想象，繁忙的纽约市就在岛上南端几英里的地方。 但慢慢地，这座城市映入眼帘。 内特看到了歪歪斜斜的屋顶，伸入河中的码头，还有数不清的教堂尖塔。 瓦莱丽号向岛底驶去，驶进了一个码头。 内特没有等到瓦莱丽号被完全阻止。 船一靠近码头，他就跳了起来。 他几步一跳就下了船。 瓦莱丽号的一名水手惊讶地咒骂着内特从他身边疾驰而过。 但内特没来得及阻止他就走了。 他跑下码头，绕着篮子、桶和一卷一卷的绳子绕来绕去。 只有几个码头工人在附近转来转去，也没有大型商船。 这有点奇怪;上次船多得数不清。 的

docks had been packed with sailors from all over the world, lugging crates and barrels and shouting out in languages he'd never heard before. But Nate wasn't worried. He'd probably come into a different wharf this time. It shouldn't be hard to find where the merchant ships were docked. A thrill rushed through him as he left the waterfront, his boots clicking against the city's familiar cobblestone streets. He'd made it! But as he plunged into the city, his excitement drained away. Why were some of the streets deserted? Why were some of the streets blocked off by big dirt walls? He saw no puppet shows, no ladies in swishing dresses, no fancy coaches clattering through the streets. Most of the stores were boarded up. On one block the only people around were men — soldiers, Nate realized. He could tell they were

码头上挤满了来自世界各地的水手，他们拖着板条箱和木桶，用他从未听过的语言大喊大叫。 但内特并不担心。这次他可能会到另一个码头。 要找到商船停靠的地方应该不难。 当他离开滨水区时，一阵兴奋掠过他的全身，他的靴子踏在这座城市熟悉的鹅卵石街道上。 他成功了!但当他一头扎进城市时，他的兴奋逐渐消失了。 为什么有些街道空无一人? 为什么有些街道被又大又脏的墙挡住了? 他没有看到木偶戏，没有看到穿着漂亮衣服的女士，也没有看到马车辚辚地驶过街道。 大多数商店都用木板封起来了。 在一个街区，周围只有男人——士兵，内特意识到。 他看得出来

American soldiers by their plain clothes. British soldiers were famous for their brass-buttoned red coats — that's where the name "Redcoat" came from. They wore spiffy leather hats, bright white shirts, and belts with brass buckles. American soldiers had no uniforms. Most of them wore cheap felt three-cornered hats and frontier shirts that tied at the collar. "Those rebel soldiers look like scarecrows," Storch had said. Looking around, Nate thought Storch wasn't far off. Most of the men wore dusty trousers and work shirts. Their weapons were beat-up muskets or rifles. The deeper into the city Nate walked, the more soldiers he saw. Most were hard at work. At the end of the street, dozens of men were building another big dirt wall. Farther down Nate saw three men pulling a cart carrying a huge cannon. What was happening here? The hairs on the back of Nate's neck prickled up. Nate suddenly remembered what Storch and

美国士兵穿着便衣。 英国士兵以他们的铜扣红色大衣而闻名，这就是“Redcoat”这个名字的由来。 他们戴着漂亮的皮帽，穿着明亮的白衬衫，系着带铜扣的皮带。 美国士兵没有制服。 他们中的大多数人戴着廉价的三角毡帽，穿着领口系着的边境衬衫。 “那些叛军看起来像稻草人，”斯托奇说。 环顾四周，内特以为斯托奇就在不远处。 大多数男人都穿着尘土飞扬的裤子和工作衬衫。 他们的武器是破旧的火枪或步枪。 内特越深入城市，他看到的士兵就越多。 大多数人都在努力工作。在街道的尽头，几十个人正在建造另一堵土墙。 再往下走，内特看见三个人拉着一辆载着一门大炮的大车。 这里发生了什么?内特脖子后面的汗毛都竖起来了。 内特突然想起斯托奇和