Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18 Precious minutes ticked by, and none of them moved. It was getting colder. But down here, close to the ground, the wind wasn't quite as strong. The air wasn't as thick with swirling snow. John managed to wipe the frozen snow from his eyes. Which is why he saw it, the outline of something very big, just a few yards ahead.

宝贵的时间一分一秒地过去了，他们谁也没有动。 天气越来越冷了。但在这里，靠近地面，风没有那么强。 空气中没有那么浓的雪。 约翰设法擦去了眼睛上的冰霜。 所以他看到了，前方几码外，一个很大东西的轮廓。

"There's the house!" John shouted. They all lunged forward, crawling desperately through the snowdrifts. John's heart pounded with excitement. They'd made it! They'd be safe! The boys pushed themselves along, fighting their way forward. It wasn't until they were just inches away that they saw that it wasn't the Ricker house. It was a big haystack. Peter let out a big sob. Rex cursed and looked around. "The house must be this way!" he shouted. Rex stepped forward, but John grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back. "No!" John shouted. John might not be a real pioneer like Rex. This was only his second Dakota winter. But he knew this for sure: They'd never find the Ricker house, not in time. They had to get out of this wind and snow. They had to try to get warm.

“房子在那儿！”约翰喊道。 他们都向前冲去，拼命地在雪堆中爬行。 约翰兴奋得心怦怦直跳。 他们成功了！他们会很安全的！孩子们奋力向前挤着。 直到离他们只有几英寸远的时候，他们才发现那不是里克家的房子。 这是一个大干草堆。彼得呜咽了一声。 雷克斯咒骂着，环顾四周。 “房子一定在这边！”他喊道。 雷克斯向前走了一步，但约翰抓住他的外套后面，把他拉了回来。 “不!”约翰喊道。约翰可能不像雷克斯那样是个真正的先锋。 这只是他在达科塔州度过的第二个冬天。 但他很清楚：他们永远也找不到里克家了，不可能及时找到。 他们必须避开风雪。 他们不得不试着取暖。

Inside the haystack. John remembered the fox that had hidden in their haystack overnight. Didn't Rex say that animals were always right? John turned to Rex. "We won't make it," he shouted over the wind. "We have to take cover in here." And now John took the lead. He punched a hole through the thick crust of snow and ice that covered the haystack. He reached through and grabbed fistfuls of the soft hay to make space. Rex and Peter and Sven were helping him. They worked desperately, jabbing their hands in, pulling out hay. They all worked together until they had a little cave, big enough for them all to fit. And then they crawled in, lying flat and squeezed together. It was still freezing cold. John's numb hands and feet felt like blocks of wood. He couldn't stop shivering. But finally the cruel wind couldn't reach them. The ice and snow couldn't tear at their

在干草堆里面。约翰想起了那只在干草堆里藏了一夜的狐狸。 雷克斯不是说过动物永远是对的吗？ 约翰转向雷克斯。“我们赶不上了。”他在风中喊道。 “我们必须躲在这里。” 现在约翰领先了。 他在覆盖着干草堆的厚厚的冰雪上戳了一个洞。 他把手伸进去，抓起一把软干草腾出空间。 雷克斯、彼得和斯文在帮他。 他们拼命地工作，把手伸进去，拔出干草。 他们一起工作，直到他们有了一个小洞穴，大到足以容纳他们所有人。 然后他们爬进去，平躺着，挤在一起。 天气仍然很冷。 约翰的手脚麻木得像块木头。 他不停地发抖。 但最后，残酷的风无法到达他们。 冰雪无法撕裂他们

faces. And soon the heat from their bodies started to warm up the small space. "Don't sleep," Rex said. John had heard what happened to people who fell asleep in the freezing cold. They never woke up. That's why freezing to death wasn't the worst way to die, he'd heard. Because you fall asleep before your heart stops. And so now they fought hard against sleep, just like they'd fought against the wind and snow. They took turns telling stories. They counted to one thousand and then did it again backward. They said prayers. John told them the name of every player on the Chicago White Stockings. The hours passed. The blizzard raged on. They ran out of stories and got tired of counting. And then Peter started muttering in a strange, rhyming way. And John realized he was reciting one of the long, boring poems Miss Ruell had made them memorize. They all joined him. And then they

的脸。很快，它们身体发出的热量开始温暖这个小空间。 “不要睡觉，”雷克斯说。约翰听说过在严寒中睡着的人会发生什么事。 他们再也没有醒来。他听说，这就是为什么冻死并不是最糟糕的死法。 因为你在心跳停止前就睡着了。 所以现在他们努力抵抗睡眠，就像他们抵抗风雪一样。 他们轮流讲故事。 他们数到一千，然后再倒着数。 他们祈祷。约翰告诉他们芝加哥白袜队每个队员的名字。 几个小时过去了。暴风雪继续肆虐。 他们用光了故事，厌倦了数数。 然后彼得开始用一种奇怪的押韵的方式喃喃自语。 约翰意识到他正在背诵一首鲁埃尔小姐让他们背的又长又无聊的诗。 他们都跟着他。然后他们

recited another, and another. They all knew so many. It turned out that not all of those poems were so boring. Some were about pirates and sailors. One was about the summer, and the words made John feel warmer. There were poems that made no sense, like one about a pig wearing a wig. But it actually made them laugh. Those poems kept them up for hours more. But finally, their voices became ragged. Their words faded away. John's mind started to drift. Don't sleep! Don't sleep! His eyes fluttered. Don't sleep! Don't sleep! John's eyes shut. Don't sleep, don't… John's eyes stayed closed. Everything got quiet, even the sound of that screaming wind. Was this ferocious storm finally dying?

又一个，又一个。 他们都知道很多。事实证明，并不是所有的诗都那么无聊。 有些是关于海盗和水手的。 其中一个是关于夏天的，这句话使约翰感到温暖。 有些诗毫无意义，比如一首关于一头戴假发的猪的诗。 但这确实让他们笑了。 那些诗又使他们睡了好几个小时。 但最后，他们的声音变得刺耳起来。 他们的话渐渐消失了。约翰开始走神了。 不要睡觉!不要睡觉!他的眼睛眨了一下。 不要睡觉!不要睡觉!约翰闭上了眼睛。 不要睡觉，不要……约翰的眼睛一直闭着。 一切都安静下来了，甚至连那呼啸的风声也听不见。 这场凶猛的风暴终于结束了吗？

Or was John?

还是约翰？