Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 JANUARY 12, 1888 PRAIRIE CREEK SCHOOL AROUND 10:00 A.M. After seven days of being cooped up because of the cold, the kids at school acted like bank robbers who'd escaped from jail. Nobody wanted to sit

1888年1月12日上午10点左右草原溪学校 在因为寒冷而被关了七天之后，学校里的孩子们表现得像从监狱里逃出来的银行抢劫犯。 没人想坐

still. And to their surprise, Miss Ruell cut their grammar lesson short. "I wouldn't mind a little fresh air," she said. The schoolhouse erupted in cheers. John and the guys leapt out of their seats. Kids poured outside, most without their coats and wraps. Franny ran off to play hide-and-seek with her friends. John and the guys stayed in front. The hard-packed snow was slick, like an ice rink. They slid around, racing each other and spinning until they were too dizzy to stand. John was sliding across when someone came up right next to him. Myra! "Race you," she said, smiling as she whooshed by. Her flowered dress billowed behind her like a sail. John's heart somersaulted inside his chest. He tried to catch up with her, but she ran off giggling with Annie. John wondered if the guys had seen that. He looked around and realized they weren't

不动。令他们吃惊的是，Ruell老师缩短了他们的语法课。 “我不介意呼吸一点新鲜空气，”她说。 学校里爆发出欢呼声。 约翰和其他人从座位上跳了起来。 孩子们蜂拥而出，大多数人没有穿外套和围巾。 弗兰妮跑去和她的朋友们玩捉迷藏了。 约翰和其他人留在前面。 坚硬的积雪很滑，就像溜冰场一样。 他们滑来滑去，互相赛跑，旋转，直到头晕得站不起来。 约翰正在滑过去，这时有人正好走到他旁边。 玛拉!“跟你比赛，”她微笑着说，呼啸而过。 她的花衣服像风帆一样在身后翻腾。 约翰的心在胸腔里翻腾。 他想追上她，但她和安妮咯咯地笑着跑掉了。 约翰不知道他们是否看到了。 他环顾四周，发现并不是这样

skating anymore. They were on the schoolhouse steps. John went over. They all looked uneasy. Rex was peering into the sky to the north of them. "What's wrong?" John asked. "See that?" Rex said. John followed Rex's gaze. And that's when John saw it in the distance, a gray shadow in the sky. At first he thought he was imagining it, that the blinding brightness of the day was making his eyes play tricks. But no. Rex was right. There was something in the sky, something big and dark. And it was getting bigger by the second. It was coming this way, and moving very fast. Rex's mouth fell open. "What the…" They all stood and watched as the shadow in the distance took shape. With each second, it got bigger and darker. It was a cloud of some kind, dirty gray and billowing, and stretching out across the land.

滑冰了。他们站在校舍的台阶上。 约翰走了过去。他们都显得很不安。 雷克斯凝视着他们北面的天空。 “怎么了?”约翰问道。 “看到了吗?”雷克斯说。约翰顺着雷克斯的目光望去。 就在这时，约翰在远处看到了它，天空中有一个灰色的影子。 起初，他还以为这是自己的幻觉，以为白天刺眼的亮光使他的眼睛在作怪。 但是没有。雷克斯是对的。天空中有什么东西，又大又黑的东西。 它一秒一秒地变大。 它朝这边来了，而且移动得很快。 雷克斯张大了嘴。“什么……”他们都站在那里，看着远处的影子逐渐成形。 每过一秒，它就变得越来越大，越来越暗。 那是一种乌云，灰蒙蒙的，翻腾着，在陆地上伸展开来。

The temperature was dropping, fast. John was shivering, not just because of the cold. He didn't know what he was looking at. He just knew it was bad. The schoolyard went quiet. Kids stopped sliding in the snow. All eyes were on the churning cloud. "That's a huge storm," Rex said. "I've never seen anything like it." A low rumbling rose up. The ground shook. And now Miss Ruell was clanging the bell. "Children! Come inside now! Hurry!" The day seemed to turn to night. And then came an earsplitting roar. It sounded like a train was speeding right by them. But of course there was no train anywhere near here. It was the sound of a monster blizzard, closing in. Kids rushed into the schoolhouse. John was swept up the stairs in the wave of panicked bodies.

气温下降得很快。 约翰发抖，不仅仅是因为冷。 他不知道自己在看什么。 他只知道这很糟糕。校园里静了下来。 孩子们不再在雪地里打滑了。 所有的眼睛都盯着翻腾的云。 “那是一场巨大的风暴，”雷克斯说。 “我从来没见过这样的东西。” 一阵低沉的隆隆声响起。大地震动了。 现在，鲁尔小姐在摇铃。 “孩子!快进来！快点!”白天似乎变成了黑夜。 接着传来了震耳欲聋的吼声。 听起来好像有一列火车从他们身边疾驰而过。 当然，这附近没有火车。 那是一场可怕的暴风雪的声音，正在逼近。 孩子们冲进了校舍。 约翰随着一波又一波惊慌失措的尸体被冲上楼梯。

Suddenly he was inside. The schoolhouse door banged shut. And then, ROOOOOOAAAAR!

突然，他进去了。学校的门砰的一声关上了。 然后，呜呜呜！