Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Carmen wiped away tears as she and Tony and Mrs. Grasso hurried through the streets. Mrs. Grasso had explained what happened—that Papa had become very ill around lunchtime. Mr. Vita took Papa home in a wagon. "He's in bed now," Mrs. Grasso continued as they passed the bakery. "The doctor already came. He said your father has some new kind of flu."

第五章卡门擦着眼泪，和托尼、格拉索太太匆匆穿过街道。 格拉索太太解释了发生的事情——爸爸在午饭前后病得很重。 维塔先生用马车把爸爸送回家。 “他现在上床睡觉了，”路过面包店时格拉索太太继续说。 “医生已经来了。他说你父亲得了一种新型流感。”

The word flu made Carmen feel calmer. The flu wasn't really a killer, like typhoid or polio or rabies. Carmen had the flu just last year. She'd felt rotten and was in bed for days. But within a week she was back to herself. Papa will be fine, Papa will be fine, Carmen repeated to herself as her boots clicked against the stone streets. And looking around her, everything was the same as always. There were the little kids playing hide-and-seek between the pushcarts piled high with fruits and vegetables. There was Mrs. Ortelli through the window of the bakery, chatting with her customers. There was the gray cat sunning himself outside the tailor's shop, and the hams and sausages hanging in the butcher's window. There was a rat poking through a pile of trash. And of course there was Tony, right next to her. But then, when they stopped at the corner to wait to cross the street, Carmen caught sight of something else.

“流感”这个词让卡门感到平静了。 流感不像伤寒、小儿麻痹症或狂犬病那样是真正的杀手。 卡门去年得了流感。 她感到身体不舒服，在床上躺了好几天。 但不到一个星期，她就恢复了正常。 爸爸会没事的，爸爸会没事的，卡门反复对自己说，她的靴子踩在石头街道上发出咔哒一声。 环顾四周，一切都和往常一样。 小孩子们在堆满水果和蔬菜的手推车之间玩捉迷藏。 奥尔泰利太太正透过面包店的窗户和顾客们聊天。 有一只在裁缝店外面晒太阳的灰猫，还有肉店橱窗里挂着的火腿和香肠。 有一只老鼠在一堆垃圾中摸索。 当然还有托尼，就在她旁边。 但是，当他们停在街角等着过马路时，卡门看到了别的东西。

The newsboy, the one she and Tony had passed earlier. Carmen had barely listened to the headlines he'd been shouting out. But now Carmen slowed down and stared as the boy waved the afternoon paper at the people rushing by him. Suddenly his words seemed meant just for Carmen. "DEADLY FLU HITS BOSTON!" Carmen practically flew up the narrow staircase that led to their apartment. She rushed past Mr. Vita into the small bedroom she and Papa shared. Another neighbor, Mrs. Perelli, was kneeling next to Papa's bed. But that man in the bed… that couldn't be Papa. He looked like a shivering ghost, deathly pale, lips tinged blue. His teeth chattered, even though the bed was piled with blankets. "Papa?" Carmen rasped, dropping down to her knees. Papa's eyes fluttered open. The ghostly mask fell away for a few seconds.

那个报童，她和托尼之前经过的那个。 卡门几乎没有听他喊出的头条新闻。 但现在卡门放慢了脚步，看着男孩向从他身边冲过的人挥舞着下午的报纸。 突然间，他的话似乎只对卡门说了。 “致命流感袭击波士顿！”卡门几乎是飞快地爬上了通往他们公寓的狭窄楼梯。 她从维塔先生身边冲进她和爸爸合住的小卧室。 另一位邻居佩雷利太太跪在爸爸的床边。 但床上的那个人不可能是爸爸。 他看起来像一个颤抖的幽灵，死一般苍白，嘴唇微微发蓝。 尽管床上堆满了毯子，他的牙齿还是在打战。 “爸爸?”卡门嘶哑地说，跪了下来。 爸爸的眼睛眨了一下。 幽灵般的面具掉了几秒钟。

"Mia ragazza," he rasped. My girl. Carmen sat down, blinking away tears, forcing a smile. She would cheer him up, just like she cheered up Tony. "Papa," she said, her voice shaking. "I… I got another one hundred on my math test…" But Papa's eyes were already closed again. Carmen grabbed his hand—it was so hot! As if his blood was boiling, as if his bones were on fire. She pulled a rickety chair over to the bed and sat down. "I'm here, Papa," she said. "I'm here." Hours passed, and the sun went down. Papa tossed and turned, muttering in his sleep. And then came the cough, a hacking, wheezing cough like nothing Carmen had ever heard. It sounded like little bombs were exploding in Papa's lungs. Mrs. Perelli and Mrs. Grasso sponged Papa's face and arms to cool him. They spooned medicine into his mouth.

“Mia ragazza，”他粗声说。我的女孩。 卡门坐了下来，强忍着泪水，挤出一丝笑容。 她会让他振作起来，就像她让托尼振作起来一样。 “爸爸，”她说，声音颤抖着。 “我……我的数学考试又得了一百分……”但是爸爸的眼睛又闭上了。 卡门抓住他的手——太热了！好像他的血在沸腾，好像他的骨头在燃烧。 她把一把摇摇晃晃的椅子拉到床边坐下。 “我在这里，爸爸，”她说。 “我在这里。”几个小时过去了，太阳下山了。 爸爸辗转反侧，在睡梦中喃喃自语。 接着传来了咳嗽声，那是一种嘶哑的、呼哧呼哧的咳嗽，卡门从来没有听过这种声音。 听起来就像小炸弹在爸爸的肺里爆炸。 佩雷利太太和格拉索太太用海绵擦拭爸爸的脸和胳膊，让他凉快下来。 他们把药舀进他嘴里。

But Papa's skin got hotter. The cough got worse and worse. Carmen sat in her chair, gripping Papa's hand. Her mind kept drifting back to the flood after the earthquake, when Carmen clung to Papa's back as they were caught in the churning sea. Nonna had told her the story so many times. "I was up early that day," she always began, "because that naughty goat escaped again. I'd just reached the top of the hill when everything started to shake." The earthquake lasted forty seconds but it felt like years, she said. When it was over, she raced down the hill to the house. The roof had collapsed. But Mama, Papa, and Carmen made it out, and were safe. "We thought the worst was over. But we were wrong." The earthquake had caused the sea to rise up. Now tidal waves twenty feet tall slammed into the village.

但是爸爸的皮肤越来越热。 咳嗽得越来越厉害了。 卡门坐在椅子上，紧握着爸爸的手。 她的思绪不断飘回地震后的洪水，当他们被卷入翻腾的大海时，卡门紧紧抱住爸爸的背。 外婆已经给她讲过很多次了。 “那天我起得很早，”她总是这样说，“因为那只淘气的山羊又跑了。 我刚到山顶，一切就开始摇晃了。” 她说，地震持续了40秒，但感觉像过了好几年。 当一切结束时，她跑下山去了那所房子。 屋顶塌了。但是妈妈、爸爸和卡门都逃了出来，安全了。 “我们以为最糟糕的时候已经过去了。 但我们错了。”地震使海平面上升。 这时，20英尺高的潮汐涌向村庄。

"Your papa grabbed you and tried to run," Nonna continued. But nobody could outrun the sea. Nonna always got a twinkle in her eye at this point. "The water was strong. But your papa was stronger." He grabbed a shutter from a ruined house. He climbed up on it, and told Carmen to hold on to

“你爸爸抓住你想跑，”奶奶继续说。 但是没有人能逃离大海。 这时候，奶奶的眼里总是闪着光。 “水很猛。但你爸爸更强壮。” 他从一幢破房子里抓起一个百叶窗。 他爬上去，告诉卡门抓住它