Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 GRRR guh guh gug gug GRRR guh, guh, guh, guh… The noise got louder and louder, drowning out the honks and rattles echoing from busy Commercial Street. But it wasn't the growling gurgles that sent stabs of fear through Carmen. The entire tank was rocking back and forth. The rounded sides were bulging in and out.

第九章嘎、嘎、嘎、嘎、嘎……声音越来越大，盖过了繁忙商业街传来的喇叭声和叮当声。 但让卡门感到恐惧的不是咆哮的咯咯声。 整个水箱前后摇晃。 圆润的侧面鼓了出来又鼓了出来。

The metal groaned and squeaked. And then… Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Something small hit the ground, inches from Tony's boot. Carmen stared. It was a tiny piece of metal, the size of Carmen's finger, covered with brown syrup. "It's one of the bolts!" Carmen cried. The bolts—rivets—that held the tank together. There were thousands of them. And now all the rivets seemed to let go of the tank at once. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! They blasted through the air like bullets. Bang, bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang, bang, bang. Rosie whinnied. They had to get away from here! "Tony!" Carmen said quickly. She offered him her hand, to help him climb up onto Rosie with

金属发出呻吟声和吱吱声。 然后……砰！砰!砰!砰!砰!有个小东西砸在地上，离托尼的靴子只有几英寸。 卡门盯着。那是一小块金属，卡门的手指大小，上面覆盖着褐色的糖浆。 “是其中一个螺栓！”卡门哭了。 螺栓——铆钉——把油箱固定在一起。 有成千上万的人。 现在所有的铆钉似乎都立刻从水箱上脱落了。 砰!砰!砰!砰!砰!它们像子弹一样在空中炸开。 砰，砰，砰，砰。砰，砰，砰，砰。 罗西嘶叫。他们必须离开这里！“托尼!”卡门赶紧说。 她伸出手，帮他爬到罗西身上

her. "Get on. Let's go!" But just then a rivet came whistling through the air. It hit Rosie in the neck. She let out a highpitched, screeching cry, then reared up as blood spurted from the wound. Carmen fell off and hit the ground hard. And before she knew it, Rosie had taken off—without Carmen. "Rosie!" Carmen screamed. Tony was at her side in a flash, pulling her up. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" But Carmen didn't have time to answer. Kaboom! The tank shattered apart. Jagged sheets of metal went whirling through the air. As the tank collapsed, the molasses inside seemed to hover in the air for a split second—a massive roiling cloud. And then it crashed to the ground, a colossal, churning wave. The gagging stench of molasses rushed up Carmen's nose and down her throat, deep into her

她的。”上。我们走吧!”就在这时，一个铆钉呼啸着从空中飞了过来。 它击中了罗西的脖子。她发出一声尖厉的尖叫，接着血从伤口中喷涌而出。 卡门摔了下来，重重地摔在地上。 在她意识到之前，罗茜已经离开了，没有带上卡门。 “罗西!”卡门尖叫。托尼瞬间来到她身边，把她拉了起来。 “你还好吗？”你受伤了吗？”但卡门没有时间回答。 大爆炸!坦克撞得粉碎。 参差不齐的金属片在空中旋转。 当罐体坍塌时，里面的糖蜜似乎在空中盘旋了一瞬间——一团巨大的翻滚的云。 然后它撞向地面，形成一个巨大的翻腾的波浪。 令人作呕的糖蜜臭味从卡门的鼻子里冲了出来，顺着她的喉咙，深入她的身体

guts. Screams of terror pounded in her ears, shouts in English and Italian. "Help me! "Run!" "Get out of here!" Carmen couldn't help looking back as she and Tony ran for their lives. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The wave of molasses was at least twenty feet tall, and swirling and churning in every direction. With each passing second, it devoured more of the waterfront. It smashed into buildings, tearing them to pieces. It picked up sheds and wagons, horses and men. The roar got louder as the wave filled with wreckage. She and Tony ran as fast as they could. But the wave was faster. Within seconds, it had caught them.

勇气。恐怖的尖叫声在她耳边回荡，用英语和意大利语叫喊着。 “帮我!“快跑!”“滚出去！”卡门忍不住回头看了看，她和托尼在逃命。 她简直不敢相信她所看到的。 糖蜜的波浪至少有二十英尺高，向四面八方打旋、翻腾。 随着时间的流逝，它吞噬了更多的滨水区。 它砸向建筑物，把它们撕成碎片。 它带走了棚屋、马车、马和人。 随着海浪被残骸淹没，吼声越来越大。 她和托尼尽可能快地跑着。 但是海浪更快了。几秒钟之内，它就抓住了他们。