Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17 The pole slammed into their raft, smashing it apart. Charlie tumbled into the water. He went down, down, down—this water had to be twenty feet deep. Finally, Charlie's feet hit the ground, and he pushed off. But he only made it a few feet before something stopped him. And this time it wasn't just a piece of rope. It wasn't a snake, either.

第十七章杆子猛地打在他们的木筏上，把木筏撞得粉碎。 查理跌入水中。 他往下，往下，往下，这水大概有二十英尺深。 最后，查理的脚着地，他蹬了起来。 但他只走了几英尺，就被什么东西拦住了。 这一次，它不仅仅是一根绳子。 它也不是蛇。

Charlie fumbled with his fingers and felt a tangle of thin wire. He kicked and kicked, but the wire wrapped itself tighter around his calves. No! He reached down and tugged hard, kicking more frantically. But now the wire was digging into his flesh. It was hopeless. This was it. And it was so quiet down here. The wind wasn't shrieking. Those glass shards of rain weren't stabbing his face. No flying bricks or stones or tiles could smack him in the face. Charlie relaxed. Maybe he should just give up. He imagined himself rising up peacefully, like that floating woman… up, up, up out of the water, up, up, up above those thick clouds. He let his body go completely limp. And then he was rising up. Wait! The wires had loosened! He started kicking as hard as he could

查理用手指摸索着，摸到了一根缠在一起的细电线。 他踢啊踢，但铁丝缠得更紧了。 不!他伸手使劲地拽着，更疯狂地踢着。 但现在电线已经扎进了他的肉里。 这是没有希望的。就是这样。 这里很安静。 风不再呼啸。 雨水的玻璃碎片没有刺到他的脸。 任何飞砖头、石头或瓦片都打不到他的脸。 查理放松。也许他应该放弃。 他想象着自己平静地上升，就像那个漂浮着的女人……上升，上升，上升，上升到那些厚厚的云层之上。 他的身体完全瘫软了。 然后他站了起来。 等等!电线松了！他开始拼命踢

again. The wires tightened. His chest was about to explode. A thought whispered from the back of his head—something he'd heard. No, something he'd read. In Meraki's book. That new magician, Houdini. One must not panic or struggle when trying to get free from a rope… Charlie stopped kicking. His lungs felt crushed. His eyeballs felt like they were going to pop from his skull. But he somehow kept very still. He felt the wires loosening. With just the slightest wriggle of his legs, Charlie was free. Like magic. He dropped down deeper so he could push off the bottom. With every ounce of strength he had left, he rocketed himself up, pushing away the wreckage in his path. He broke through the surface, sucking in the air. Wind actually blew into his mouth, filling his lungs. He heard someone shouting his name. "Charlie!"

再一次。电线收紧了。 他的胸口快要爆炸了。 一个念头从他的脑后悄悄掠过——他听到了什么。 不，是他读过的东西。在Meraki的书中。 那个新魔术师，胡迪尼。 当一个人试图挣脱绳子时，千万不要惊慌或挣扎1 .查理不再踢了。 他的肺被压碎了。他的眼球好像要从脑壳里蹦出来似的。 但不知怎的，他一直保持着安静。 他感到电线松动了。 查理的腿稍微扭动了一下，他就自由了。 像魔法一样。他往下潜得更深了，这样他就可以推下去了。 他用尽最后一丝力气，把自己推了起来，推开路上的残骸。 他冲破水面，吸了一口空气。 风实际上吹进了他的嘴里，充满了他的肺。 他听到有人在喊他的名字。 “查理!”

"Gordon!" Gordon was clinging to a new raft—a chunk of wall. He reached out with both arms and heaved Charlie up. But this new raft was breaking up quickly, too. They had to find something strong, something that could keep them safe until all this stopped. Flash! Charlie saw it—a big tree that was somehow still standing. He heard Mr. Early's voice in his mind. "That tree—that's how I got through… managed to hang on until the sun came up." "Gordon! Kick! To that tree!" They both kicked with all their might. But the water pushed them away from the tree. "Harder!" Charlie cried. They kicked and kicked. Slowly they inched toward the tree.

“戈登!”戈登抓着一根新木筏——一大块墙。 他伸出双臂，把查理举起来。 但这艘新木筏也在迅速解体。 他们必须找到一些坚固的东西，一些能保证他们安全的东西，直到这一切停止。 闪光!查理看见了——一棵不知怎么还立着的大树。 他在脑海中听到了厄尔利先生的声音。 “就是那棵树——我就是这样爬过去的……我一直坚持到太阳出来。” “戈登!踢!到那棵树上去！”他们俩都使出浑身解数踢了起来。 但是水把他们从树上推开了。 “难!”查理喊道。他们踢啊踢。 他们慢慢地向那棵树挪动。

After what seemed like hours, they were finally only a few feet away. "On three," Charlie shouted. "One, two, three!" They both let go of the raft and threw themselves at the tree. Whoo-eeeeeeeesh! The wind tried to knock them back, but they both managed to take hold of a branch. They climbed higher and nestled themselves between two thick limbs. The wind was hurling its bullets and cannonballs. But the tree seemed to wrap its strong arms around them. The water tried to snatch them back. But it couldn't reach them. He and Gordon leaned heavily against each other. Charlie held on to his branch with all his might. The hours wore on. The wind shrieked. The rain poured down. The lightning flashed. Charlie's arms were so tired. More than once, he just wanted to let go, to slip down like a coin in a French drop, to fall into the quiet deep of the churning sea.

似乎过了几个小时，他们终于走到了几英尺远的地方。 “数到三，”查理喊道。 “一，二，三！”他们俩都放开木筏，扑向那棵树。 Whoo-eeeeeeeesh !风想把他们吹回去，但他们俩都设法抓住了一根树枝。 他们爬得更高，依偎在两根粗壮的树枝之间。 风在投掷子弹和炮弹。 但那棵树似乎用它强壮的手臂抱住了他们。 水试图把它们夺回来。 但它无法到达他们。 他和戈登紧紧靠在一起。 查理用尽全力抓住他的树枝。 几个小时过去了。风在呼啸。 大雨倾盆而下。闪电闪过。 查理的胳膊太累了。 他不止一次地想要放手，想要像一枚硬币掉进法国液滴里一样滑下去，掉进汹涌的大海的宁静深处。

He was so tired and scared. But he thought of Mama and Papa and Lulu. He told himself they were safe. That they were waiting for him, praying for him like he was praying for them. And each time he felt himself slip from that tree, he held on tighter. He heard a voice whispering through his mind. You are strong. It wasn't Meraki's voice or Sarah's. It wasn't Mr. Early's or Grandpa's or even Mama's or Papa's. At first Charlie wasn't sure whose voice it was. And then it came to him: It was his own.

他又累又害怕。 但是他想到了妈妈、爸爸和露露。 他告诉自己他们很安全。 他们在等他，为他祈祷就像他为他们祈祷一样。 每次他觉得自己从树上滑下来，他就抓得更紧。 他听到一个声音在他的脑海里低语。 你很坚强。那不是梅拉基的声音，也不是莎拉的。 既不是岳利先生的，也不是爷爷的，甚至不是爸爸妈妈的。 一开始查理不确定那是谁的声音。 然后他想起来了：这是他自己的。