Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 The churning, gritty water was everywhere at once—over Charlie, under Charlie, up his nose, down his throat. The salt water stung his cut lip. Luckily the twisting ride didn't last long. The wave spat him off the beach. He rolled. He stopped just before he smacked into the edge of the raised sidewalk. He pulled himself up, amazed

翻腾着的沙砾般的水一下子到处都是，在查理身上，在查理下面，在他的鼻子上，在他的喉咙里。 海水刺痛了他划破的嘴唇。 幸运的是，这段曲折的旅程并没有持续太久。 海浪把他从海滩上冲了出去。 他滚。就在撞上凸起的人行道边缘之前，他停了下来。 他吃惊地爬了起来

he wasn't hurt. He'd torn the knee of his trousers, but that was it. Three younger kids had also been swept here by the wave. "Let's do that again!" screamed the littlest one, and they all took off back toward the beach. Charlie glanced nervously around—scanning for Gordon. But he didn't spot him. Hopefully the wave had carried him all the way to Hawaii. But no. Gordon had to be somewhere close. A sickening feeling swirled in his stomach. He had to get out of here before Gordon found him. But first he had to catch his breath. Charlie climbed up onto the sidewalk and stood behind three young men. All around him, people were still cheering as the waves crashed down. These men screamed and clapped at each wave like they were at a baseball game. But then an angry shout interrupted them. "What are you laughing at?"

他没有受伤。他的裤子膝盖破了，但仅此而已。 三个更小的孩子也被海浪卷到了这里。 “我们再来一次吧！”最小的那个尖叫着，他们都跑回海滩去了。 查理紧张地环顾四周，寻找戈登。 但他没有发现他。希望海浪把他一路带到了夏威夷。 但是没有。戈登肯定在附近。 一种恶心的感觉在他的胃里盘旋。 他必须在戈登发现他之前离开这里。 但首先他得喘口气。 查理爬上人行道，站在三个年轻人后面。 在他周围，人们仍在欢呼，海浪拍打着他。 这些人每次挥手都尖叫着鼓掌，就像在看棒球赛一样。 这时，一声愤怒的喊叫打断了他们。 “你笑什么呢？”

Charlie turned as an old man in a green hat hobbled toward them. Charlie was surprised to see it was Mr. Early, Grandpa's friend. He didn't seem to notice Charlie. "This is a hurricane!" he scolded the men. The word—hurricane. It jarred Charlie, as if Mr. Early had cursed. The four men eyed one another. "Don't worry, sir," said the loudest of the group. "Hurricanes can't hit us here in Galveston." He was talking to Mr. Early as if the old man were a toddler like Lulu. "That's dead wrong!" Mr. Early growled. He frowned, as if he'd argued about this before. "A hurricane nearly destroyed the whole island in 1837. That was before Galveston was even a city. But I was here back then. I was right here, and I remember it." He looked off into the distance. "The wind tore houses apart. Water was everywhere, even where it had never gone before.

查理转过身来，一个戴绿帽子的老人一瘸一拐地朝他们走来。 查理惊讶地发现是爷爷的朋友厄尔利先生。 他似乎没有注意到查理。 “这是飓风！”他责备那些人。 单词”hurricane”。这让查理很不舒服，就好像厄尔利先生在咒骂。 那四个人面面相觑。 “别担心，先生。”人群中声音最大的一个说。 “飓风不能袭击加尔维斯顿。” 他和岳利先生说话的口气，就好像那位老人像露露一样是个蹒跚学步的孩子。 “这是大错特错！”岳利先生咆哮道。 他皱起眉头，好像他以前曾为此争论过。 1837年的一场飓风几乎摧毁了整个岛屿。 那时候加尔维斯顿还不是一座城市。 但那时我在这里。我当时就在这里，我记得。” 他向远处望去。 “风把房子刮得粉碎。 到处都是水，甚至是以前从未有过的地方。

And then the sea suddenly rose up, swallowed the entire island. So many lost…" Mr. Early's voice trailed off. A strong gust of wind lifted his hat off his head, but the old man didn't notice. He seemed like he was far away from here in his mind. Charlie reached up and snatched the hat from the air before it blew away. The men eyed Mr. Early impatiently—he'd interrupted their fun. The loud man signaled to his two buddies, and they moved farther down the sidewalk. Mr. Early didn't notice that, either. "That tree—that's how I got through. I climbed up. Somehow I managed to hang on until the sun came up. And when the storm was done, there was nothing left. Nothing at all." He stood there, staring at the waves, his thin white hair blowing in the wind. Charlie waited until he was sure Mr. Early was done with his story.

然后海水突然升起，吞没了整个岛屿。 这么多人失去了……”厄尔利先生的声音越来越小。 一阵强风把他的帽子从头上吹了下来，但老人没有注意到。 在他的脑海里，他似乎离这里很远。 查理在帽子被风吹走之前伸手把它从空中抢了过来。 人们不耐烦地看着岳利先生——他打断了他们的乐趣。 那个大声说话的人向他的两个伙伴打了个手势，他们沿着人行道往前走。 岳利也没有注意到这一点。 “就是那棵树，我就是这样进去的。 我爬了上去。不知怎么的，我坚持到了太阳出来。 当暴风雨过去，什么都没有留下。 什么也没有。”他站在那里，凝视着海浪，他那稀疏的白发在风中飘动。 查理一直等到他确信岳利先生讲完了他的故事。

"Mr. Early," Charlie said finally, speaking up over the gusts. "Here's your hat." Mr. Early looked surprised. He took his hat, put it on, and smiled at Charlie. "Do I know you, son?" Charlie didn't know what to say. Of course Charlie knew him. Charlie had joined him and Grandpa on a few fishing trips. But then Charlie understood—Mr. Early's memory must be slipping away from him. The same had happened to Grandpa before he passed away. I should help him get home, Charlie thought. But then Mr. Early tipped his hat and hobbled away. And before Charlie could go after him, a chorus of gasps rose up from the crowd. "The Pagoda!" a woman shouted. Charlie whipped around and stared out at the Pagoda… or what was left of it. Waves were attacking the building, clawing it, ripping it to pieces. The roof cracked apart. The long walkway twisted and split in two.

“厄尔利先生，”查理终于开口了，声音盖过了宾客。 “这是你的帽子。”岳利先生看起来很惊讶。 他拿起帽子，戴上，对查理微笑。 “我认识你吗，儿子？”查理不知道该说什么。 查理当然认识他。 查理跟他和爷爷一起去钓鱼了几次。 但后来查理明白了。 厄尔利的记忆一定在逐渐消失。 爷爷去世前也发生过同样的事。 我应该帮他回家，查理想。 但随后岳利先生脱帽一瘸一拐地走开了。 查理还没来得及追上他，人群中就齐声喘气起来。 “宝塔！”一个女人喊道。 查理猛地转过身来，盯着外面的宝塔……或者是它剩下的东西。 海浪袭击着这栋建筑，把它抓来抓去，撕成碎片。 屋顶裂开了。长长的走道扭曲了，裂成两半。

Charlie remembered once seeing a pack of dogs fighting over the body of a squirrel. The terrible snarls and growls. The swiping claws and bared teeth. The hunks of fur that flew through the air. That's what the ocean looked like now—a pack of wild beasts, devouring a carcass. Soon nothing would be left of the Pagoda but its scattered bones. A chill slowly rose through Charlie's body. Mr. Early's story… could it be true? The cheering had stopped, and it had started to rain. The wind gusted even harder. Whoosh! A wave crashed. Ba-ROOM. Mr. Cline said that it was impossible for a hurricane to hit Galveston. But Mr. Early said he'd lived through one. Charlie suddenly didn't know what to think. He turned and ran.

查理记得有一次看到一群狗在争夺一只松鼠的尸体。 可怕的咆哮和咆哮。 锋利的爪子和露出的牙齿。 大块的皮毛在空中飞舞。 这就是现在海洋的样子——一群野兽在吞食一具尸体。 不久，宝塔就只剩下散落的骨头了。 一股寒意慢慢涌上查理的全身。 厄尔利先生的故事会是真的吗？ 欢呼声停止了，天开始下雨了。 风刮得更猛了。 嗖!一波巨浪袭来。Ba-ROOM。 克莱恩说，飓风不可能袭击加尔维斯顿。 但厄尔利说他经历过一次。 查理突然不知道该怎么想了。 他转身就跑。