Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 John was at the edge of panic, when a giggle rose from the grass just a few yards ahead. Franny's freckled face popped up. She grinned at him. "Boo!" "Franny!" "Tricked you!" she said. "You didn't trick me," John lied. "I knew exactly where you were hiding."

约翰正处于恐慌的边缘，这时几码外的草地上传来一阵咯咯的笑声。 弗兰妮长满雀斑的脸突然露出来。 她朝他咧嘴一笑。“嘘!”“弗兰妮!”“骗你！”她说。 “你没有骗我，”约翰撒了个谎。 “我很清楚你藏在哪里。”

"How did you know?" Franny asked with a frown. "I could smell you," John said, wrinkling his nose. "You stink worse than Princess." Princess was their cow. Franny had picked her name. Actually, Franny smelled a little like apples and Ma's soap. But John needed to get even with her for scaring him. Franny's smile fell away. Her eyes started to tear up. "I do not stink!" she said. "All right," John said. He hated to see Franny sad. "But don't do that again. I thought I lost you, Fran. You scared me." Franny burst out laughing. "That's a funny joke, Johnny," she said. "I know you're never scared." John's heart lifted a little. It was good having a little sister who thought he was brave.

“你怎么知道的？”弗兰妮皱着眉头问道。 “我能闻到你的味道，”约翰皱起鼻子说。 “你比公主还臭。” 公主是他们的牛。弗兰妮选了她的名字。 事实上，弗兰妮身上有一点苹果和妈妈肥皂的味道。 但约翰需要报复她吓到他的事。 弗兰尼的笑容消失了。她的眼睛开始流泪。 “我不臭！”她说。 “好吧，”约翰说。他讨厌看到弗兰妮伤心。 “但是不要再这样做了。我以为我失去你了，弗兰。 你吓到我了。”弗兰妮突然大笑起来。 “这是个有趣的笑话，约翰尼，”她说。 “我知道你从不害怕。” 约翰的心稍稍高兴了一点。 有个觉得他勇敢的小妹妹真好。

They rushed the last mile to the schoolhouse, which was about a quarter mile past Main Street. It was just a small, unpainted building, more like an overgrown dollhouse than a school. The school was barely big enough to fit all fifteen students. The big and little kids squeezed together in the one room. Miss Ruell had to figure out how to teach all of them. Luckily, John and Franny weren't late. The schoolhouse door was still closed. Kids were milling around outside, waiting for the bell. Franny went to join a jump rope game. John looked around, wishing he had someone to talk to. Back in Chicago, he had more friends than he could count. Before school he and his pals would shoot marbles or bug the girls they liked. But here, there were only three boys his age: Rex, Peter, and Sven. They'd been friendly to John last fall, when he was brand-new. But John always felt uneasy around them, afraid he would

他们匆匆跑完最后一英里到达学校，学校离主街大约四分之一英里。 那只是一栋没有粉刷过的小房子，与其说是学校，还不如说是一个杂草丛生的玩具屋。 这所学校勉强容得下十五个学生。 大孩子和小孩子挤在一个房间里。 鲁埃尔小姐必须想办法教他们所有人。 幸运的是，约翰和弗兰尼没有迟到。 校舍的门仍然关着。 孩子们在外面转来转去，等着下课铃。 弗兰妮去参加跳绳比赛。 约翰环顾四周，希望能有人说说话。 回到芝加哥，他的朋友多得数不清。 在上学之前，他和他的伙伴们会打弹珠或骚扰他们喜欢的女孩。 但在这里，只有三个和他同龄的男孩：雷克斯、彼得和斯文。 去年秋天约翰刚出生时，他们对他很友好。 但是约翰在他们身边总是感到不安，害怕他会这样做

say something wrong and make a fool of himself. So he avoided them. Now they mostly ignored John — or maybe it was John who ignored them. He wasn't sure. But what did it matter? He'd missed his chance. And anyway, they probably knew John didn't belong here. He had nothing in common with those tough pioneer boys. Peter and Sven were standing nearby, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. But then Rex came sprinting toward them, and Peter and Sven perked right up. Rex wasn't funny like Peter. And he didn't have big muscles like Sven. He was quiet, and serious. But Rex was their leader, without a doubt. His family had been in Dakota longer than anyone. Rex skidded to a stop, huffing and puffing. "I found him!" Rex exclaimed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Found who?" asked Peter. "King Rattler!" Rex burst out.

说错话，自己就出丑了。 所以他避开了他们。现在他们大多忽略了约翰——或者是约翰忽略了他们。 他不确定。但这又有什么关系呢？ 他错过了机会。不管怎样，他们可能知道约翰不属于这里。 他和那些坚强的拓荒者男孩毫无共同之处。 彼得和斯文站在旁边，揉着睡眼。 但这时雷克斯向他们冲了过来，彼得和斯文立刻振作起来。 雷克斯不像彼得那么有趣。 他也不像斯文那样肌肉发达。 他很安静，很严肃。 但毫无疑问，雷克斯是它们的领袖。 他的家人在达科塔的时间比任何人都长。 雷克斯打滑着停了下来，喘着气。 “我找到他了！”雷克斯喊道，擦去额头上的汗水。 “找到谁了？”彼得问。“嘎声王!”雷克斯吼道。

The boys gasped. John's ears pricked up. King Rattler was a huge rattlesnake that all the kids talked about. There were rattlesnakes everywhere in Dakota — stretching their gold-and-brown bodies out on rocks, slithering through the tall grass, curling up in haylofts. Of all the sounds of the prairie, nothing chilled John's blood more than the shshshshsk shshshshsk shshshshshk of a rattler shaking its tail. Get away, get away, it was saying. Get away or I'll kill you! And King Rattler wasn't just any rattlesnake. He was the biggest and most vicious snake there was, a killer that had been terrorizing people for years. John had never seen him, but he'd heard the guys telling stories. Most snakes bit only if you stepped on them by accident. King Rattler would chase you down, right to your door. He'd bite your horse and then leap up and sink his fangs into your neck.

男孩们倒吸了一口气。约翰竖起了耳朵。 响尾蛇王是一条巨大的响尾蛇，所有的孩子都在谈论它。 在达科塔州到处都是响尾蛇——它们在岩石上伸展着金棕色的身体，在高高的草丛中滑行，蜷缩在干草堆里。 在草原上所有的声音中，没有什么比响尾蛇摇晃尾巴的沙沙声更让约翰毛骨悚然的了。 走开，走开，它在说。 走开，不然我杀了你！响尾蛇王并不是普通的响尾蛇。 他是世界上最大最恶毒的蛇，多年来一直恐吓着人们。 约翰从未见过他，但他听他们讲过故事。 大多数蛇只有在你不小心踩到它们的时候才会咬人。 拉特勒国王会追上你，一直追到你家门口。 它会咬你的马，然后跳起来咬你的脖子。

Or so the guys said. "I saw him at the creek," Rex went on, his voice rising. "I followed him! I found his den. I saw where he lives!" "You found King Rattler's den?" Peter gasped. This was big news. Folks had been searching for years, John had heard. "There's a hole, a big, nasty hole, right under a rock," Rex said. "I saw him go in. I saw it with my own eyes!" John shuddered as he imagined the snake. The glistening fangs. The pink needle tongue. The deathly yellow eyes. "So now," Rex said, his eyes narrow and fierce. "We can kill King Rattler!" "We'll be famous!" Peter hooted. Sven grinned. Rex looked over and saw that John was listening in. John flicked his eyes down. Too late, though. He'd been caught spying.

他们是这么说的。“我看见他在小溪边，”雷克斯继续说，他的声音提高了。 “我跟着他！”我找到了他的窝。 我看到他住的地方了！”“你找到拉特勒国王的巢穴了？”彼得深吸一口气。 这是个大新闻。约翰听说，人们已经找了很多年了。 “有个洞，一个又大又脏的洞，就在岩石下面，”雷克斯说。 “我看见他进去了。我是亲眼看到的！”约翰一想到那条蛇就打了个寒颤。 闪闪发光的尖牙。粉红色的针舌。 那双死黄色的眼睛。“所以现在，”雷克斯说，他的眼睛眯得很凶。 “我们可以杀死响尾蛇国王！”“我们会出名的！”彼得高鸣。 斯文咧嘴一笑。雷克斯看了看，发现约翰正在偷听。 约翰垂下眼睛。 不过，太晚了。他被发现从事间谍活动。