Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Charlie's shouts brought Mama and Papa out the back door. Charlie stood there, pointing. "They're… fffffrogs!" Small brown frogs. The kind they always saw in the grass or the fishing creeks or the street gutters after an overflow. There was nothing weird

第十二章查理的喊声把爸爸妈妈从后门引了出来。 查理站在那里指指点点。 “他们……fffffrogs !”棕色的小青蛙。 他们经常在草地上、钓鱼小溪里或街道排水沟里看到的那种。 没有什么奇怪的

about seeing frogs—even three or four at once. But there were hundreds here! "Goodness!" Mama said. "Look at that!" Papa said. "I'm sure they're just trying to get off the wet ground. This rain is really coming down."

关于看到青蛙——甚至同时看到三四只。 但是这里有好几百人！“天哪!”妈妈说。 “看那个！”爸爸说。 “我敢肯定他们只是想离开这片潮湿的土地。 这场雨真的下起来了。”

Papa wasn't worried, and even Mama just shook her head. "Go quickly and come right back," she said to Charlie. Charlie went into the privy and tried not to think about how many frogs might be watching him. He did his business—quick—and hurried inside. He went into his room and closed the door. He had to change again. Could this day get any weirder? He just wanted this storm to end. He decided to take Papa's advice and get into bed. He lay there a long time—it seemed like hours. But he couldn't fall asleep. So finally he cracked open his Meraki book. He turned to a random page and started reading about a young magician Meraki had met in New York City. His name was Harry Houdini. He calls himself an escape artist, and he has a remarkable act. He can free himself from any rope or chain, no matter how tightly it is knotted. I am

爸爸一点也不担心，甚至妈妈也只是摇了摇头。 “快去，马上回来，”她对查理说。 查理走进厕所，尽量不去想可能有多少只青蛙在看着他。 他迅速办完了他的事，匆匆走了进去。 他走进自己的房间，关上了门。 他不得不再次改变。这一天还能更奇怪吗？ 他只是想结束这场风暴。 他决定接受爸爸的建议，上床睡觉。 他在那里躺了很长时间——好像好几个小时。 但他无法入睡。 所以最后他打开了他的梅拉基书。 他随便翻了一页，开始读梅拉基在纽约遇到的一位年轻魔术师的故事。 他的名字叫哈利·胡迪尼。 他称自己为逃生艺术家，而且他的演技非常出色。 无论绳链打得多紧，他都能挣脱。 我是

certain he uses no blade or any tool. He wouldn't tell his secret. But he did say one must not panic or struggle when trying to get free from a rope. That will only make a knot tighter. Whoooooosh! Wow! That was a big gust. The whole house shook. Charlie put the book down. Even Meraki couldn't distract him from this storm. And it made him nervous lying here alone. He found Mama and Papa in the sitting room. Mama was mending Charlie's torn trousers. Papa was now sorting through his box of nails. It was barely three o'clock, but it was so dark outside they'd lit the lanterns. "Gingersnaps are done," Mama said, pointing to a small plate on the coffee table. "Help yourself." Charlie felt too queasy to eat one. He went to the front window and peered out. Through the thick curtain of rain, he saw the dark steel-gray clouds tumbling around in the sky. They

他肯定没有使用刀片或任何工具。 他不肯说出他的秘密。 但他确实说过，当人们试图从绳子上挣脱时，一定不要惊慌或挣扎。 那只会使结更紧。 Whoooooosh !哇!那是一阵大风。 整个房子都震动了。查理放下了书。 即使是梅拉基也无法让他从这场风暴中分心。 这让他独自躺在这里很紧张。 他发现爸爸妈妈在客厅里。 妈妈正在缝补查理的破裤子。 爸爸正在整理他那盒钉子。 还不到三点，但外面太黑了，他们就点起了灯笼。 “姜饼做好了，”妈妈指着咖啡桌上的一个小盘子说。 “帮助自己。”查理想吐，不想吃。 他走到前窗向外张望。 透过厚厚的雨幕，他看到钢灰色的乌云在天空中翻滚。 他们

hung so low Charlie felt like he could reach up and grab one. Whooooooosh! The house shook, even harder than before. But Mama and Papa didn't even look up from their work. Charlie peered out into the street. To his surprise, he saw rushing water. Had he ever seen so much water in the street in front of their house? Not that he could remember. "Papa," he said. "There's a lot of water in the street." Papa glanced up from his nails. "Makes sense, son," he said. "I haven't seen it rain this hard in years. I'll bet there are some pretty big puddles out there." Charlie looked harder at the street. The water didn't look like a bunch of puddles. It looked like… a river. He imagined that Sarah was right next to him. He heard her voice in his head.

挂得很低，查理觉得他可以伸手去抓一个。 Whooooooosh !房子摇晃得比以前更厉害了。 但是爸爸妈妈甚至没有从他们的工作中抬起头。 查理凝视着外面的街道。 令他吃惊的是，他看到了湍急的河水。 他以前见过他们家门前的街道上有这么多水吗？ 他不记得了。 “爸爸，”他说。“街上有很多水。” 爸爸从指甲上抬起头来。 “有道理，孩子，”他说。 “我好几年没见过这么大的雨了。 我敢打赌，那里一定有一些相当大的水坑。” 查理更努力地看着街道。 水看起来不像一堆水坑。 它看起来像一条河。 他想象着莎拉就在他身边。 他在脑海中听到了她的声音。

Think about it… where could that water be coming from? Before Charlie even knew what he was doing, he had rushed out the front door. "What are you—" Mama called as the door closed behind him. There were more little brown frogs out here, all over the front porch. They seemed to stare at Charlie as he carefully made his way down the porch steps, trying not to slip. He pushed against the wind and stepped onto the street. He was shocked to find himself in water halfway up his thighs. It was rushing so fast Charlie almost fell over. This definitely was not a puddle. The wind and rain raked at Charlie's face. His heart pounded. What is happening? And then he had an idea, something Sarah would definitely do. He dipped his finger in the water, stuck it in his mouth.

想想看，这些水是从哪里来的呢？ 查理还不知道自己在做什么，就冲出了前门。 “你在干什么——”门在他身后关上时，妈妈叫道。 这里有更多的棕色小青蛙，在前廊上到处都是。 当查理小心翼翼地走下门廊的台阶，尽量不滑倒时，他们似乎在盯着他。 他顶着风走到街上。 他吃惊地发现自己在水里，水没到大腿。 车开得太快了，查理差点摔倒。 这绝对不是水坑。 风雨拍打着查理的脸。 他的心怦怦直跳。发生了什么？ 然后他有了一个主意，莎拉肯定会做的事。 他把手指浸在水里，放进嘴里。