Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 Chet scrubbed himself off in the creek and went back to Uncle Jerry's cottage. It was too hot to be inside, so he sat on the porch. He sat there a long time. He wondered what Mama and Papa were doing. He pictured Mama, with her soft smile and laughing eyes. And Papa, who always woke up with a happy face, even when they were out of money and had to pack up to start all over again.

切特在小溪里洗了澡，回到杰瑞叔叔的小屋。 屋里太热了，他只好坐在门廊上。 他在那儿坐了很长时间。他想知道爸爸妈妈在做什么。 他想象着妈妈温柔的微笑和笑眯眯的眼睛。 还有爸爸，他总是带着快乐的脸醒来，即使他们没钱了，不得不收拾东西重新开始。

Why had they left him here? He was so deep in his gloomy thoughts that at first he didn't see Uncle Jerry hurrying up the walk. "There you are!" he said, catching his breath. He sat down next to Chet. "I thought you were going to be at the diner all day," Chet said. "I was," Uncle Jerry said, fishing in his pocket for his pipe. He struck his match on the floor, lit the pipe, took a few puffs, and then settled back. They didn't say anything for a few minutes. "So there was some excitement at the creek, I hear," Uncle Jerry said. Chet's heart sank into his boots. "Poor Dewey came running down Main Street in his drawers," Uncle Jerry continued. "He was screaming about the Creek Devil. His mama called Dr. Jay." Chet sighed. He didn't look at Uncle Jerry. He'd probably already sent a telegram to Mama and Papa, and was getting ready to ship Chet directly to California. Chet couldn't wait to start packing. "I went too far," Chet said.

他们为什么把他留在这里? 他沉浸在忧郁的思绪中，起初没有看见杰里叔叔在人行道上匆匆走来。 “你来了!”他喘着气说。 他坐在切特旁边。“我还以为你一整天都在餐厅呢，”切特说。 “是的，”杰里叔叔说，一边在口袋里摸着烟斗。 他在地板上划了根火柴，点燃了烟斗，吸了几口，然后又坐了下来。 他们沉默了几分钟。 “我听说小溪那边很热闹，”杰里叔叔说。 切特的心一下子沉了下去。 “可怜的杜威穿着内裤从大街上跑过来，”杰里叔叔接着说。 “他在尖叫着小溪恶魔。 他妈妈打电话给杰伊医生。”切特叹了口气。 他没有看杰瑞叔叔。 他可能已经给爸爸妈妈发了电报，准备把切特直接运到加州。 切特迫不及待地开始收拾行李。 “我太过分了，”切特说。

"I guess you did," Uncle Jerry said. Chet took a deep breath. A spider scurried across the floor and disappeared into one of the cracks. Lucky spider. There was a strange sound. Chet looked at Uncle Jerry, whose face was beet red. Was he choking on his pipe smoke? No. He was laughing! His laughter exploded through the air. He pounded his chest a few times. "Sorry," he said through his guffaws. "But that look on Dewey's face…" He leaned forward, slapping his leg, shaking his head. "It was a good one," Uncle Jerry sputtered. "Maybe a little too gruesome. But darned good." Chet wanted to laugh along with Uncle Jerry. But he kept thinking of that furious look on Sid's face when Chet came out of the water. Monty was right. Chet wasn't worth it. He wasn't even worth a punch in the nose. He had ruined everything! Tears ran down his face. He turned away from Uncle Jerry, but it was too late. Uncle Jerry stopped laughing and put his hand on Chet's shoulder. He waited for Chet to stop crying.

“我猜是你干的，”杰里叔叔说。 切特深吸了一口气。一只蜘蛛匆匆走过地板，消失在裂缝里。 幸运的蜘蛛。有一种奇怪的声音。 切特看着杰瑞叔叔，他的脸涨得通红。 他是被烟斗烟呛到吗? 不。他在笑!他的笑声响彻天空。 他捶了几下胸口。 “对不起，”他狂笑着说。 “但是杜威脸上的表情……”他向前倾着身子，拍着腿，摇着头。 “这是个好主意，”杰里叔叔气急冲冲地说。 “也许有点太可怕了。 但是太好了。”切特想和杰里叔叔一起笑。 但他一直在想，当切特从水里出来时，希德脸上愤怒的表情。 蒙蒂是对的。切特不值得你这么做。 他连鼻子都不值一拳。 他把一切都毁了!泪水顺着他的脸流下来。 他转身离开杰里叔叔，但已经太晚了。 杰里叔叔停止了笑，把手放在切特的肩膀上。 他等着切特停止哭泣。

What a fool he was, blubbering like this! Over a stupid prank. "It's all right," Uncle Jerry said. "No," Chet said, standing up. "I need to leave." "Where are you going?" Uncle Jerry said. "To California," Chet said. Uncle Jerry stared at him. "I don't belong here," Chet said. "The heck you don't!" Uncle Jerry said. "You belong here. Like I knew you would. Why do you think I begged your mama to let you stay with me?" "But I thought Mama asked you," Chet said. "Are you kidding? I've been begging for years. I wrote about a hundred letters, a few telegrams too." "Why?" Chet said. Uncle Jerry looked at Chet like he'd asked for the answer to two plus two. "I thought maybe you were tired of moving around so much," Uncle Jerry said, pulling Chet back down to sit next to him on the porch step. "And there's another reason. You and I are

他真是个傻瓜，哭成这样!因为一个愚蠢的恶作剧。 “没关系，”杰里叔叔说。 “不，”切特说着站了起来。 “我得走了。”“你要去哪儿?”杰瑞叔叔说。 “去加利福尼亚，”切特说。 杰里叔叔盯着他。 “我不属于这里，”切特说。 “你才不知道呢!”杰瑞叔叔说。 “你属于这里。就像我知道的那样。 你以为我为什么求你妈妈让你和我在一起?”“但我以为是妈妈问你的，”切特说。 “你在开玩笑吧?”我已经乞讨很多年了。 我写了大约一百封信，还有几封电报。” “为什么?”切特说。杰里叔叔看着切特，好像在问他二加二的答案。 “我以为你可能厌倦了这么频繁地走动，”杰里叔叔说，把切特拉下来，坐在他旁边的门廊台阶上。 “还有另外一个原因。 你和我

buddies, kiddo. Always were. I was lonely without you all these years." Chet almost laughed. With all the people who loved Uncle Jerry, who crowded around him every day at the diner, who laughed at his jokes and listened to his stories, how could he be lonely? Yet Uncle Jerry's eyes, usually all crinkled up and merry, were big and serious. He meant it. "Did I ever tell you what happened after I hurt my leg?" Uncle Jerry said. "I moved to New York City. I quit this town. I just wanted to get lost. I couldn't stand the way people looked at me here, like they pitied me. Or like I'd let them down by not becoming a big baseball star." "Mama never told me that," Chet said. "Well it's true. But you know what? I missed this place. And I'll tell you what I learned: A person has to face up to things. You never solve anything by running away." Chet knew Uncle Jerry was right. But how could Chet stay here with the guys hating him so much? Uncle Jerry seemed to read his thoughts. "You'll find a way to make it up to those friends

朋友,老兄。总是。 这些年没有你，我很孤独。” 切特几乎笑了。有那么多爱杰瑞叔叔的人，每天在餐馆里都围着他，听他讲笑话，听他讲故事，他怎么会孤独呢? 杰里叔叔的眼睛，平时总是愉快地皱着，现在却又大又严肃。 他是认真的。“我告诉过你我腿受伤后发生了什么吗?”杰瑞叔叔说。 “我搬到了纽约。 我离开了这个城市。我只是想迷路。 我无法忍受这里的人看我的眼神，好像他们在同情我。 或者我会因为没有成为棒球明星而让他们失望。” “妈妈从来没告诉过我，”切特说。 “这是真的。但你知道吗? 我想念这个地方。我告诉你我学到了什么:一个人必须勇敢地面对事情。 逃避永远解决不了任何问题。” 切特知道杰瑞叔叔是对的。 但切特怎么能待在这么讨厌他的人身边? 杰里叔叔似乎看透了他的心思。 “你会想办法补偿那些朋友的

of yours," he said. "I know you will."

“你的。”他说。“我知道你会的。”