Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 The next two days at the diner, Chet kept waiting for the guys to come in. Every time the door opened, he looked up, hoping to see them elbowing each other to be first to the counter. They never even walked by. Chet kept trying to work up the nerve to go and find them, and finally on Wednesday he was ready. It was another scorching day, the hottest yet. After the lunch rush was over, Uncle Jerry

接下来的两天，切特在餐厅里一直等着伙计们进来。 每次门一开，他就抬起头来，希望看到他们互相推搡，抢在柜台前。 他们甚至没有走过。 切特一直在努力鼓起勇气去找他们，终于在周三他准备好了。 又是一个炎热的日子，是迄今为止最热的一天。 午餐高峰结束后，杰瑞叔叔

decided to close the diner early. All the ice in the restaurant had melted. The milk had curdled. You could just about cook a flapjack on the kitchen floor. "I'm going home to stick my head under the water pump," Uncle Jerry said. "Then I'm going to swing in our hammock until the sun sets." Chet said good-bye to Uncle Jerry and headed for the creek, sure he'd find the guys playing ball in the water. But the swimming hole was quiet. Chet realized they were still at the factory. Their shift wouldn't be over for an hour. While he was waiting, he noticed that there were still splotches of ketchup on the dock. They looked even more like blood now, like evidence of a gruesome crime. He decided to try to clean them before the guys got here, to erase all reminders of his prank. He undressed and jumped into the creek. Then he splashed water up onto the dock, hopped out of the water, and scrubbed the stains with a handful of leaves. It took three rounds of splashing and scrubbing to clean it up.

决定提前打烊。 餐馆里所有的冰都化了。 牛奶凝结了。你可以在厨房的地板上做一个烙饼。 “我要回家把头伸到水泵下面，”杰里叔叔说。 “然后我要在吊床上荡秋千，直到太阳下山。” 切特向杰里叔叔告别，朝小溪走去，他确信他会发现那些家伙在水里玩球。 但是水潭很安静。 切特意识到他们还在工厂。 他们的轮班还要一个小时才结束。 等着的时候，他注意到码头上还有番茄酱的斑点。 它们现在看起来更像血了，更像一起可怕犯罪的证据。 他决定在他们来之前把它们清理干净，抹去所有关于他恶作剧的记忆。 他脱下衣服，跳进小溪。 然后，他把水泼到码头上，跳出水面，用一把树叶擦掉污渍。 花了三轮泼水和擦洗才把它清理干净。

By then Chet was so hot that he decided to take a longer swim. It was peaceful here without everyone splashing and shouting. He floated on his back under the trees, remembering how Papa had taught him to swim in the Mississippi, how Mama sat on the banks waving and clapping. He had turned to swim back to the dock when — crash, he hit something under the water. Or something hit him. Hit him so hard in the chest he couldn't breathe. What was that? An old dock plank? A snapping turtle? Had Sid sneaked up on him and smacked him? The water around him looked funny, like it was filled with red smoke. Chet looked down in shock. His entire chest was scraped and oozing blood. What could have done that to him? A cold terror rose up inside him. He suddenly had the feeling that someone — or something — was nearby, watching him. And then he saw it. A gray fin.

那时切特太热了，他决定游得更久一些。 这里很安静，没有人泼水和喊叫。 他在树下仰面漂浮，回忆着爸爸如何教他在密西西比河游泳，妈妈如何坐在河岸上挥手拍手。 他刚转身要游回码头，砰的一声，他撞上了水下的什么东西。 或者有什么东西击中了他。重重地打在他的胸口，他无法呼吸。 那是什么?一块旧船坞板? 一只鳄龟?是希德偷偷靠近他，打了他一巴掌吗? 他周围的水看起来很奇怪，好像充满了红色的烟雾。 切特震惊地低下头。 他的整个胸部都被刮伤了，流着血。 是什么把他弄成那样的? 一种冰冷的恐惧在他心中升起。 他突然感到有人——或者有什么东西——在附近看着他。 然后他看到了。灰色的鳍。

It glistened in the bright sun as it glided slowly toward him. He had to be seeing things. Or could this be another prank? Were the guys getting him back? But no, this was no tile. As it got closer, Chet could see the dark shape of an enormous fish, bigger than him. Even bigger than Uncle Jerry. Two black eyes peered up through the water. Chet's heart stopped.

它慢慢地向他滑翔，在明亮的阳光下闪闪发光。 他一定是看到了什么。 或者这是另一个恶作剧? 他们把他找回来了吗? 但不，这不是瓷砖。当它靠近时，切特看到一条大鱼的黑色形状，比他还大。 比杰瑞叔叔还大。 两只黑眼睛透过水面向上凝视着。 切特的心跳停止了。

Killer eyes.

杀手的眼睛。

Chet took off toward the shore, pounding through the water, kicking with all his might. Finally his feet touched the bottom. He was running now, his heart hammering, a voice booming through his mind. Get out of the water! Get out of the water! Get out of the water! Almost there — just a few more steps! He dove forward, landing hard in the dirt. He rolled onto his side and stared in disbelief: It was a shark, a massive shark — dirty gray on top and pure white underneath. Its jaws snapped open and closed. The teeth, jagged and needle sharp, were bigger than Chet's fingers, lined up in rows and curving inward. The shark thrashed, as if it was trying to push itself up onto the bank. Chet wanted to get up and run. But he was frozen to the ground. Those killer eyes stared unblinkingly at Chet. And then, with a flick of its tail, the shark thrust itself backward into the water. It hovered for a second on the surface. Then, with a whoosh of its tail, it disappeared back down the creek.

切特向岸边冲去，在水里使劲地踢着。 最后，他的脚触到了底部。 他跑起来了，心怦怦直跳，一个声音在他脑海里回响。 从水里出来!从水里出来!从水里出来!就快到了——再走几步!他向前扑去，重重地落在泥土里。 他翻了个身，难以置信地盯着看:那是一条鲨鱼，一条巨大的鲨鱼——上面是肮脏的灰色，下面是纯白色。 它的下巴啪地一开一合。 牙齿参差不齐，像针一样锋利，比切特的手指还大，排成一排，向内弯曲。 鲨鱼拼命地挣扎着，好像要把自己推到岸上。 切特想站起来跑。 但他被冻在了地上。 那双杀手般的眼睛一眨不眨地盯着切特。 然后，鲨鱼甩了甩尾巴，把自己向后推入水中。 它在水面上盘旋了一秒钟。 然后，随着尾巴的嗖嗖声，它又消失在小溪里了。