Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 That next week was so hot, horses were fainting up and down Main Street. By Thursday, the temperature inside the diner was 102 degrees. But Chet didn't mind the heat. Something amazing had happened that day: The guys had invited Chet to go swimming with them at the creek. All week they'd been coming into the diner earlier and earlier, and then sticking around even

第四章下个星期太热了，大街上的马都晕过去了。 到周四，餐厅内的温度达到了102华氏度。 但是切特不介意热。 那天发生了一件不可思议的事情:他们邀请切特和他们一起去小溪游泳。 整整一个星期，他们来餐厅的时间越来越早，甚至还在附近逗留

after they'd wolfed down their doughnuts. "You ever seen the Pacific Ocean?" Sid had asked one day. "Sure," Chet said. "What's it look like?" Monty asked. Chet took a minute to picture it. He didn't want to disappoint the guys. "A little bluer than the Atlantic. Waves a little bigger maybe. But otherwise just lots of water and waves." They all seemed satisfied. "How about the Mississippi River?" Dewey had asked the next day. "You seen that too?" Chet told them it was wide and muddy. "I was on a steamboat that got stuck in the mud," Chet said. "We had to stay there for a whole day and night." That impressed them all. "You're the luckiest kid I know," Sid pronounced. "Me?" Chet said. "Sure!" Monty said. "To see all those places!" "I don't know," Chet said. "I hate moving around so much."

在他们狼吞虎咽地吃完甜甜圈之后。 “你见过太平洋吗?”有一天希德问。 “当然，”切特说。“它是什么样子的?”蒙蒂问道。 切特花了一分钟想象了一下。 他不想让大家失望。 “比大西洋蓝一点。 波浪可能更大一些。 但除此之外，到处都是水和海浪。” 他们似乎都很满意。 “密西西比河怎么样?”杜威第二天问道。 “你也看到了吗?”切特告诉他们路又宽又泥泞。 “我当时在一艘陷在泥里的汽船上，”切特说。 “我们不得不在那里呆了整整一天一夜。” 这给他们留下了深刻的印象。“你是我认识的最幸运的孩子。”希德说。 “我?”切特说。“当然!”蒙蒂说。 “去看看那些地方!”“我不知道，”切特说。 “我讨厌到处走动。”

Hearing those words startled Chet. He felt that way, but he'd never said it out loud. Not even to Uncle Jerry. He hoped the guys didn't think he was bellyaching. "Hey, why don't you ever come down to the creek?" Sid said. "We're always looking for you there," Monty said. Chet tried to hide his surprise. "It's not the Pacific Ocean," Dewey said. "But it's pretty nice." "I hear it's better than the Pacific," Chet said. The guys all laughed. "Why don't you come today?" Sid said, and of course Chet said he would meet them after work. Uncle Jerry drew Chet a little map so he wouldn't get lost — a dotted line to the end of Main Street, and then behind the tile factory. Down a steep hill and across a path. Chet made it to the bottom of the hill, and for a second he thought he was lost. He couldn't see the creek, just tall golden grass. But then he could hear shouts and splashing. He walked through the grass and into a clearing. The guys' dusty trousers and shirts were laid across some

听到这些话，切特吓了一跳。 他有这种感觉，但他从来没有大声说出来。 连杰瑞叔叔也不知道。他希望那些家伙不会认为他是在发牢骚。 “嘿，你为什么不来小溪边呢?”席德说。 “我们一直在那儿找你，”蒙蒂说。 切特试图掩饰他的惊讶。 “这不是太平洋，”杜威说。 “但它很不错。”“我听说这里比太平洋还好，”切特说。 大家都笑了。“你今天为什么不来呢?”希德说，当然，切特也说他下班后会去见他们。 杰里叔叔给切特画了一张小地图，这样他就不会迷路了——一条虚线通向主街的尽头，然后走到瓷砖厂后面。 走下陡峭的山坡，穿过一条小路。 切特终于到了山脚下，有那么一瞬间他以为自己迷路了。 他看不见小溪，只有高高的金色的草。 但接着他听到了喊叫声和水花声。 他穿过草地，走进一块空地。 这些人满是灰尘的裤子和衬衫铺在地上

low branches. Three pairs of scuffed-up boots were tumbled across the dirt. And just beyond, there was the creek. The guys were right: It wasn't much — maybe twenty feet across. He couldn't tell if it was deep enough to dive. But it was nice and shady, and at that moment there was no place on earth that Chet would rather be. "Hurry up!" Dewey shouted. "The water's perfect." Chet threw his clothes off and climbed up onto the broken-down dock. "Jump!" Sid said. With a running leap, Chet launched himself into the air. Whoosh! The cool water rose up around him. All of his worries washed away. The guys gathered around him. Dewey threw a pink rubber ball high into the air. "Chet! Catch!" he said. Chet squinted up into the sun and, miraculously, caught the ball. "Here!" Sid yelled, jumping up and waving his hands. Chet threw the ball, straight enough, like

较低的分支。三双磨损的靴子在泥土上滚来滚去。 就在远处，有一条小溪。 伙计们是对的:它并不大——大概20英尺宽。 他不知道水是否深到可以下潜。 但这里很好，阴凉，在那一刻，切特在地球上没有任何地方愿意待在那里。 “快点!”杜威喊道。 “水很好。”切特脱下衣服，爬上了破旧的船坞。 “跳!”席德说。切特一跃而起，腾空而起。 嗖!冰冷的海水在他周围涌起。 他所有的忧虑都烟消云散了。 那些家伙围着他。 杜威把一个粉红色的橡皮球高高抛向空中。 “切特!抓住!”他说。切特斜视着太阳，奇迹般地接住了球。 “在这里!”希德大叫着，跳起来挥舞着双手。 切特把球扔得很直，就像

Uncle Jerry had taught him. Sid made a clean catch. They played ball, then they took turns jumping off the dock and chasing each other back and forth across the creek. When they got tired of swimming, they sat on the bank under a big elm tree. Dewey's mother had packed him three big molasses cookies, and the guys fought over who could share with Chet. "So?" Sid said. "You like it here okay?" "The creek's nice," said Chet with a mouth full of cookie. "No, Elm Hills," Monty said. "You think you'll be staying a while?" said Dewey. Chet swallowed hard. Just the day before, he'd gotten a letter from Mama. "We have a nice apartment with a room just for you," she wrote. "I think Papa is going to have some good luck this time." "I hope," he said. The guys all nodded. "Minnie Marston's sweet on you," Dewey said. "Really?" Chet squeaked.

杰瑞叔叔教过他。 希德接了一个干净的球。他们玩球，然后他们轮流从码头上跳下来，在小溪上来回追逐。 他们游累了，就坐在岸边一棵大榆树下。 杜威的妈妈给他准备了三块大糖蜜饼干，孩子们为了谁能和切特分享而打架。 “所以?”席德说。“你喜欢这里，好吗?”“小溪很好，”切特说，嘴里塞满了饼干。 “不，榆树山，”蒙蒂说。 “你认为你会待上一段时间吗?”杜威说。 切特使劲咽了口气。就在前一天，他收到了妈妈的一封信。 “我们有一间不错的公寓，里面有一间专为你准备的房间，”她写道。 “我想爸爸这次会有好运气的。” “我希望，”他说。大家都点了点头。 “米妮·马斯顿爱上你了，”杜威说。 “真的吗?”切特发出“吱吱”的响声。

"Sure," Monty said, sounding a little jealous. "She told my sister." They sat there a while, talking about Minnie, and Uncle Jerry's no-hitter in the high school finals of 1908. Then Sid stood up and dove back into the water. They all followed him. Sid went swimming down the creek, and Chet played ball with Dewey and Monty. He and Monty tossed the ball back and forth a few times. "Dewey!" Chet called, ready to throw the ball. But Dewey didn't look at him. He was looking at something downstream. He had a strange look on his face. And then Chet saw it too: a gray triangle sticking up through the water, heading right for Dewey. What was that? It looked like the fin of a giant fish. Was it… He shook his head. His eyes were playing tricks on him. A shark in the creek was impossible. He even tried to laugh. His mind must be messed up because of the Captain's story. But the fin was getting closer to Dewey. Faster, faster, closer, closer.

“当然，”蒙蒂说，听起来有点嫉妒。 “她告诉我妹妹了。”他们在那里坐了一会儿，谈论着米妮，还有杰瑞叔叔在1908年高中决赛中的无安打。 然后希德站起来，一头扎回水里。 他们都跟着他。希德沿着小溪游泳，切特和杜威、蒙蒂一起打球。 他和蒙蒂来回扔了几次球。 “杜威!”切特叫道，准备投球。 但是杜威没有看他。 他在看下游的什么东西。 他脸上有一种奇怪的表情。 然后切特也看到了:一个灰色的三角形从水中伸出来，正朝着杜威而来。 那是什么?它看起来像一条大鱼的鳍。 他摇了摇头。 他的眼睛在捉弄他。 小溪里不可能有鲨鱼。 他甚至想笑出声来。他一定是被船长的故事弄糊涂了。 但鱼鳍离杜威越来越近了。 更快，更快，更近，更近。