Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 "The year was 1852," the Captain began. "I wasn't much older than you lads. It was one of my first whaling voyages. Two years at sea, and finally I was heading home across the Pacific." His voice was low and whispery, like it was coming from someplace very far away. "Suddenly, the sky turned black. The wind started to howl, and rain poured down. I'll never forget those waves. I thought our ship was going

第三章“那一年是一八五二年，”船长开始说。 “我不比你们大多少。 那是我第一次出海捕鲸。 在海上航行了两年，最后我穿越太平洋回家了。” 他的声音又低又轻，好像是从很远的地方传来的。 突然，天空变黑了。 风开始怒号，大雨倾盆而下。 我永远不会忘记那些海浪。 我以为我们的船要走了

to be tossed to the moon. And the wind! It ripped our ship apart, like it was made of paper. We all went into the water. I grabbed a barrel and somehow I made it through the night. By the time the sun came up, the storm had passed. I was all alone. Just a tiny speck in the middle of the ocean." "The other men died?" Dewey asked. But the Captain didn't seem to hear. "And then I saw the fin." "The shark?" whispered Monty, edging a little closer to Sid. "Shhhh," Sid said. "It circled me for a long while," the Captain said. "Around and around, real slow, like he was toying with me. Little by little, it came closer, and closer. Until I could see its eyes. "Black as coal," he whispered. "Killer eyes." The Captain was looking out the window now, like he expected to see that shark with its open jaws pressed against the glass.

被抛向月球。还有风!它把我们的船撕成了碎片，就像纸做的一样。 我们都跳进了水里。 我抓了个桶，不知怎么熬过了一夜。 太阳出来的时候，暴风雨已经过去了。 我孤身一人。它只是大洋中间的一个小斑点。” “其他人都死了?”杜威问道。 但船长似乎没听见。 “然后我看到了鱼鳍。”“鲨鱼?”蒙提小声说，向希德靠近了一点。 “嘘，”希德说。“它绕了我很长时间，”船长说。 “一圈又一圈，很慢，就像在玩弄我一样。 渐渐地，它越来越近了。 直到我看到了它的眼睛。 “黑得像煤。”他低声说。 “杀手的眼睛。”船长现在正望着窗外，好像他希望看到那条张开的下巴贴在玻璃上的鲨鱼。

"Killer eyes," he repeated quietly. It was a minute before he started talking again. The guys waited with their tongues practically hanging out. "The beast went underwater, and for a second I thought maybe it'd decided I wasn't worth the trouble. But then something bumped me in the leg. Scraped me bloody! The skin of a shark is rough. You can use it as sandpaper." The Captain rubbed his leg like it still hurt.

“杀人的眼睛。”他平静地重复道。 过了一分钟他才开始说话。 那些家伙等着，舌头都伸了出来。 这只野兽潜入了水里，有那么一瞬间，我想也许它觉得我不值得这么麻烦。 但后来有东西撞了我的腿。 把我刮得血肉模糊!鲨鱼的皮肤很粗糙。 你可以把它当砂纸用。” 船长揉了揉自己的腿，好像它还在疼似的。

"It came in for the kill with its jaws wide open," the Captain said. "Big enough to swallow me whole. And the teeth. Like daggers, a thousand daggers, all lined up in rows." The Captain's hands were shaking now. "I had an old harpoon tip in my pocket. I grabbed it. And I stabbed the shark." He pounded the counter so hard that his coffee mug crashed to the floor. The Captain didn't notice. "Right in its killer eye," he said. "You killed it?" Dewey said. The Captain shook his head. "Oh, no," he said. "But it swam off. Disappeared. It wasn't my time." Then he stood up and put on his tattered captain's hat. "I must get home now," he said. "My sweet Deborah will be waiting for me." Deborah was his wife. She'd been dead for at least twenty years. Chet and the guys watched him leave. Uncle Jerry had come out of the kitchen when he heard the crash of the Captain's cup. "Poor old guy," he said, as he swept up the mess. "His mind is like Swiss cheese."

“它是张大嘴巴来杀人的，”船长说。 “大到能把我整个吞下去。 还有牙齿。就像一把匕首，一千把匕首，一字排开。” 船长的手现在在颤抖。 “我口袋里有一个旧鱼叉尖。 我抓住了它。我刺伤了鲨鱼。” 他使劲敲打柜台，咖啡杯摔在地上。 船长没有注意到。 “正对着它致命的眼睛，”他说。 “你杀了它?”杜威说。 船长摇了摇头。 “哦，不，”他说。但它游走了。 消失了。那不是我的时代。” 然后他站起来，戴上他那顶破破烂烂的船长帽。 “我现在必须回家了，”他说。 "我亲爱的黛博拉会等着我的" 底波拉是他的妻子。她已经死了至少二十年了。 切特和其他人看着他离开。 杰里叔叔刚从厨房出来，就听到了船长杯子的撞击声。 “可怜的老家伙，”他一边收拾残局一边说。 “他的头脑就像瑞士奶酪。”

"You mean that story isn't true?" Monty asked. Uncle Jerry shrugged. "I think the Captain spins a mighty fine tale." "Stabbed it with a harpoon tip!" Dewey laughed. "Killer eyes!" Monty barked. "Next the Captain will be telling us he got gobbled up by a whale," Sid said. Still, Chet thought about the Captain all day. He didn't really believe the story either. Uncle Jerry was right. Whoever heard of a shark attacking a person? No, it wasn't the shark that scared him. It was the idea of being alone in the middle of the ocean. Strange, but Chet could imagine that feeling. He'd been traveling around the country with Mama and Papa most of his life. Papa was always chasing some new business idea. Selling motorcars in Oregon. Building bicycles in St. Louis. Taking family portraits in Philadelphia. Mama would get them settled into an apartment or a run-down little house. Chet would try to make friends. And just when they were starting to get comfortable, the business would go bad or Papa would get some other idea. "We're hitting

“你是说那个故事不是真的?”蒙蒂问道。 杰里叔叔耸了耸肩。“我认为船长编造了一个非常精彩的故事。” “用鱼叉尖刺它!”杜威笑了。 “杀手的眼睛!”蒙蒂吠叫。 “接下来，船长就要告诉我们，他是被一条大鲸给吃掉了。”希德说。 尽管如此，切特还是整天想着船长。 他也不是真的相信这个故事。 杰瑞叔叔是对的。有人听说过鲨鱼袭击人吗? 不，吓到他的不是鲨鱼。 这是一种独自在大海中央的感觉。 很奇怪，但切特能想象那种感觉。 他一生中大部分时间都和爸爸妈妈在全国各地旅行。 爸爸总是在追求一些新的商业创意。 在俄勒冈州卖汽车。 在圣路易斯造自行车。 在费城拍全家福。 妈妈会把他们安顿在一间公寓或一间破旧的小房子里。 切特会努力交朋友。 就在他们开始感到舒适的时候，生意可能会变坏，或者爸爸会有其他的想法。 “我们打

the road," Papa would announce. And Mama would have to start packing again. Chet was supposed to go along to California, where Papa was sure he'd finally strike it rich. But then Mama decided that Chet would stay with Uncle Jerry instead. "It's a nice town," Mama had said. "And Uncle Jerry will take good care of you." Chet remembered all the fun he used to have with Uncle Jerry when he was little, how Uncle Jerry had taught him how to throw a baseball. But they hadn't seen each other in years. Would his uncle even recognize him after all this time? He shouldn't have worried. Uncle Jerry was standing on the train platform when Chet got off, a huge grin on his face. "It's about time," he said to Chet, wrapping him up in a hug that went on until after the train pulled out of the station. From that first day, Uncle Jerry made him feel right at home. But Chet missed Mama and Papa. And it didn't matter how much he loved being with Uncle Jerry, or how many people shouted "Hiya, Chet!" when they came into the diner. Soon enough he'd have to join Mama and Papa in California.

爸爸会宣布。 妈妈又得开始收拾行李了。 切特本来要去加利福尼亚，爸爸相信他最终会在那里发大财。 但后来妈妈决定让切特和杰里叔叔住在一起。 “这是个不错的小镇，”妈妈说。 “杰瑞叔叔会好好照顾你的。” 切特记得他小时候和杰里叔叔一起玩得很开心，杰里叔叔教他怎么扔棒球。 但他们已经好几年没见面了。 过了这么久，他叔叔还认得他吗? 他不应该担心。 切特下车时，杰瑞叔叔正站在站台上，脸上挂着灿烂的笑容。 “是时候了，”他对切特说，把他抱在怀里，一直抱到火车开出车站。 从第一天起，杰里叔叔就让他感觉就像在家里一样。 但是切特想念爸爸妈妈。 不管他多么喜欢和杰里叔叔在一起，也不管有多少人走进餐厅时喊着“你好，切特!” 很快他就得去加州和爸爸妈妈团聚了。