Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 "It happened three years ago, in August." Rex began. "A cloud appeared in the sky from the west." "It looked like a thunderstorm was coming," Sven said. "But the cloud looked weird, all shiny," Peter added.

第七章“这件事发生在三年前的八月。” 雷克斯开始。“天空中出现了一朵从西边来的云。” 斯文说：“看起来雷雨就要来了。” “但是那朵云看起来很奇怪，闪闪发光，”彼得补充说。

"It got closer and closer," Rex said. "There was this strange sound…" Peter started to click his tongue really fast. "That whole cloud was made of grasshoppers," Sven said. "There were millions." "Billions," Rex corrected. "The cloud was ten miles wide." "And then they all dropped out of the sky," Sven said. Suddenly the guys all started talking at once, their voices getting louder and louder, their words all swarming together. The grasshoppers were an inch long. They have huge eyes that bug out. They were everywhere! They'd cover your whole body. They'd crawl up your pants and down your shirt… And into your ears and up your nose. John squirmed as he listened. He felt as if hundreds of tiny feet were skittering across his

“它越来越近了，”雷克斯说。 “有一种奇怪的声音……”彼得开始飞快地咂舌。 “整片云都是由蚱蜢组成的，”斯文说。 “有数百万人。”“数十亿，”雷克斯纠正道。 “云有十英里宽。” “然后它们都从天上掉下来了，”斯文说。 突然，所有的人都开始说话了，他们的声音越来越大，他们的话都聚集在一起。 蚱蜢有一英寸长。 它们的眼睛很大，能跳出来。 他们到处都是！它们会覆盖你的整个身体。 它们会爬上你的裤子，爬下你的衬衫，爬进你的耳朵，爬上你的鼻子。 约翰一边听一边局促不安。 他觉得好像有几百只小脚从他身上掠过

flesh. "The ground was totally covered with grasshoppers," Peter said. "They'd crunch when you stepped on them," said Rex. "My boots were covered with grasshopper guts." John felt queasy. "And then they ate all the wheat," Rex said. "All the wheat?" John asked. The guys nodded. "That's why they came — for the wheat," Rex said. "In just a couple of days they attacked every farm in Prairie Creek. We lost almost all of ours — twenty acres." "Us, too," Sven said. "We lost every stalk of wheat," Peter added. People tried everything to get rid of them. They set fires, shot guns, dumped water onto the wheat stalks. The grasshoppers stuck to the wheat like glue.

肉。“地上全是蚱蜢，”彼得说。 “当你踩到它们的时候，它们会嘎吱作响，”雷克斯说。 “我的靴子上全是蚱蜢的内脏。” 约翰感到恶心。“然后他们吃了所有的小麦，”雷克斯说。 “所有的小麦？”约翰问道。 伙计们点了点头。“这就是他们来的原因——为了小麦，”雷克斯说。 “在短短几天内，他们袭击了普雷里克里克的每一个农场。 我们几乎失去了所有的土地——20英亩。” “我们也是，”斯文说。“我们失去了每一根麦秆，”彼得补充说。 人们想尽一切办法摆脱它们。 他们放火，开枪，把水倒在麦秆上。 蚱蜢像胶水一样粘在小麦上。

The attack lasted a week, until practically every stalk of wheat was chewed down to stubble. The grasshoppers devoured vegetable gardens, too. "We put blankets over the garden," Rex said. "But the grasshoppers ate the blankets." John listened in shock. "Then what happened?" he asked. "They laid their eggs and died." "We got lucky. We had a cold September, and the freezing cold killed the eggs. Otherwise, they would have hatched, and come back the next year." That's what had happened in Minnesota. "The grasshoppers attacked four years in a row," Rex went on. "Why haven't they come back here?" John asked. The guys all shook their heads and shrugged. Then Peter leaned forward. "I got it," he said. "Maybe Miss Ruell scared them away." They busted out in honks and snorts.

这次袭击持续了一个星期，直到几乎所有的麦秆都被嚼碎了。 蚱蜢也吞噬了菜园。 “我们在花园里盖了毯子，”雷克斯说。 “但是蚱蜢吃了毯子。” 约翰震惊地听着。“然后发生了什么？”他问。 “它们下了蛋就死了。” “我们很幸运。我们的九月很冷，刺骨的寒冷杀死了鸡蛋。 否则，它们就会孵出来，明年再回来。” 这就是在明尼苏达州发生的事情。 “蚱蜢连续四年袭击我们，”雷克斯继续说。 “他们为什么还没回来？”约翰问道。 那些家伙都摇摇头，耸耸肩。 然后彼得向前倾了倾身子。 “我明白了，”他说。“也许鲁埃尔小姐把他们吓跑了。” 他们发出喇叭声和鼻息声。

But then they all went quiet again. "What did people do without their wheat?" John asked. Growing and selling wheat was the only way to make money here, unless your pa owned a store or worked for the railroad. John couldn't imagine what Ma and Pa would have done if grasshoppers had eaten their wheat crop. They'd have no money to buy coal to keep warm, for clothes, for supplies. "It was bad," Peter said. "Lots of families left Dakota after that." "People that stayed helped each other," Rex said. "So we all made it through." But suddenly Peter's mouth dropped open. His eyes practically popped out of his head. A chilling sound filled the air. Shkshkshkshkshkshkshk And that's when John saw it, the most massive rattlesnake he'd ever seen — or imagined. There could be no doubt: It was King Rattler.

但随后他们又安静了下来。 “没有小麦，人们怎么办？”约翰问道。 在这里，种植和销售小麦是唯一的赚钱方式，除非你的父亲拥有一家商店或在铁路上工作。 约翰无法想象，如果蚱蜢吃了他们的小麦，爸爸妈妈会怎么做。 他们没钱买煤取暖，买衣服，买生活用品。 “太糟糕了。”彼得说。“在那之后，很多家庭离开了达科他。” “留下来的人互相帮助，”雷克斯说。 “所以我们都挺过来了。” 但是彼得突然张大了嘴。 他的眼睛几乎要从脑袋里蹦出来了。 空气中充满了令人毛骨悚然的声音。 就在那时，约翰看到了它，这是他所见过或想象过的最大的响尾蛇。 毫无疑问，这就是拉特勒国王。

He wasn't in his hole. He was just ahead, on the bank of the creek. And he was coming right for them.

他不在他的洞里。他就在前面，在小溪的岸边。 他是冲着他们来的。