Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 SIX DAYS LATER SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1887 AROUND NOON JOHN'S HOUSE Their morning chores were done. John, Franny, Ma, and Pa were back from church. Now they

第四章六天后1887年9月25日星期日中午左右约翰的家他们早上的家务都做完了。 约翰、弗兰妮、妈妈和爸爸都从教堂回来了。 现在他们

were sitting at the table for Ma's special Sunday meal — squirrel stew. Sundays were the best. John didn't have to go school and usually the whole family took the day off from working. John would play cards with Franny, or go out hunting with Pa. Some days, he'd spend a whole hour just sitting around and doing nothing, like a millionaire. But today was the day he was meeting the guys at the creek to kill King Rattler. Of course, he hadn't told his parents the true plan for the afternoon. He'd said he was going fishing with his new friends. "Good stew," Pa said as he sopped up the sauce with a hunk of fresh bread. It did smell delicious. But John's stomach was twisted so tight he couldn't take a bite. "I'm glad you like it," Ma said, flashing a smile at Pa. "I'll tell the cook." "Ma!" Franny giggled. "You're the cook!"

我们坐在桌边，准备吃妈妈的周日特色菜——松鼠炖菜。 星期天是最好的。约翰不必去上学，通常全家都放假一天。 约翰会和弗兰妮打牌，或者和爸爸出去打猎。 有时候，他会花整整一个小时无所事事地坐着，像个百万富翁。 但今天是他在小溪碰头准备杀死拉特勒国王的日子。 当然，他还没有把下午的真实计划告诉父母。 他说他要和他的新朋友去钓鱼。 “炖得不错，”爸爸一边说，一边用一大块新鲜面包把酱汁吸干。 闻起来确实很香。但是约翰的胃扭得太紧了，一口也吃不下。 “我很高兴你喜欢它，”妈妈对爸爸微笑着说。 “我去告诉厨师。”“妈!”弗兰妮咯咯笑了。 “你是厨师！”

Ma's big brown eyes widened in pretend surprise. "I thought I was the queen!" "Of course you're the queen!" Pa boomed. "And this is your castle." Ma smiled, because their house was the complete opposite of a castle. It was just one small room, made of dirt. Pa had built it for them when they got here last fall. They wanted to live in a wooden house, but no trees grew in this part of Dakota. Pa couldn't just chop down a big oak and start sawing and hammering. And they couldn't afford to buy enough wood for a whole house. So like most Dakota settlers, they built a house made of sod — dirt and grass peeled right up from the ground. Pa plowed up the sod in long strips, and then John helped him chop the strips into big blocks. They piled the blocks up to make the walls of their house. They had just enough money to buy some wood for the door and the roof.

妈妈的棕色大眼睛睁得大大的，假装很惊讶。 “我以为我是女王！”“你当然是女王了！”Pa蓬勃发展。 “这是你的城堡。” 妈妈笑了，因为他们的房子和城堡完全相反。 那只是一个小房间，是用泥土砌成的。 去年秋天他们来的时候，爸爸给他们建的。 他们想住在木屋里，但达科塔的这一地区不长树。 爸爸不能砍倒一棵大橡树，然后开始锯和锤。 他们买不起足够的木材来建造整个房子。 因此，像大多数达科他移民一样，他们用草皮——泥土和从地上剥下来的草——建造了一座房子。 爸爸把草皮犁成条状，然后约翰帮他把条状的草皮切成大块。 他们把积木堆起来做房子的墙。 他们的钱只够买些木头做门和屋顶。

The house — a "soddy" — was one small room, barely big enough for their beds, the table and chairs, and the big black stove that cooked their food and kept them warm in the winter. When it rained hard, muddy water dripped down from the ceiling. The dirt floor turned into a mud puddle. Worms and spiders and mice popped out of the walls. But most of the time the soddy was surprisingly cozy. The thick dirt walls helped keep the heat in during the winter. On oven-hot summer days the soddy stayed cool. And when they were all sitting together like they were now, with one of Ma's delicious meals on the table, the little dirt house felt like home. Ma cleared away the stew bowls and brought out a berry pie. The sweet and buttery smell rose up. But John was too queasy to even have a taste. He kept imagining how it would feel to have King Rattler's fangs stab into his flesh. The bite wasn't the painful part, he'd heard. It was what the

这所房子——一个“小房子”——是一个小房间，勉强够放他们的床、桌子和椅子，还有一个黑色的大炉子，炉子为他们做饭，让他们在冬天取暖。 下大雨时，泥水从天花板上滴下来。 泥土地板变成了一个泥坑。 虫子、蜘蛛和老鼠从墙上蹦出来。 但大多数时候，那里出奇地舒适。 厚厚的土墙有助于在冬天保持热量。 在炎热的夏天，苏打水保持凉爽。 当他们像现在这样坐在一起，桌上摆着妈妈做的美味佳肴时，这个小土屋就像家一样。 妈妈收拾好炖碗，端出一个浆果派。 甜甜的黄油味飘了起来。 但约翰太恶心了，连一口都尝不出来。 他一直在想象拉特勒国王的尖牙扎进他的肉里是什么感觉。 他听说，咬伤并不是最痛苦的部分。 这是什么？

venom did to your body — how it poisoned your blood and rotted your flesh and then finally stopped your heart. And there was no cure for a rattlesnake bite. If you were lucky, the doctor could chop off the part of your body the snake bit. But most people died. Last year a girl from his school was bitten while she was running barefoot in the grass. Lucky for her, the snake was just a baby. The little girl only lost a toe.

毒液对你身体的影响——它如何毒害你的血液，腐烂你的肉体，最后让你的心脏停止跳动。 而且响尾蛇咬伤没有治疗方法。 如果你幸运的话，医生可以把你身上被蛇咬的部分切掉。 但大多数人都死了。去年，他学校的一个女孩赤脚在草地上奔跑时被咬伤了。 幸运的是，那条蛇还只是个婴儿。 小女孩只失去了一个脚趾。

John shuddered. What was he thinking? He wasn't tough like Rex and the guys. He was just a city kid. "John," Ma said, putting down her spoon. "Are you feeling all right?" "You're looking a little green, son," Pa added. "Oh, no! Johnny's turning into a frog!" Franny said in horror.

约翰战栗。他在想什么？ 他不像雷克斯和其他人那么强硬。 他只是一个城市孩子。“约翰，”妈妈放下勺子说。 “你感觉还好吗？”“儿子，你脸色有点发青，”爸爸补充说。 “哦,不!约翰尼要变成青蛙了！”弗兰妮惊恐地说。