Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19 ABOUT SIX MOTHS LATER MARCH 16, 1901 AROUND 7:00 P.M. CHARLIE'S SCHOOL GALVESTON, TEXAS Loud noises rose up all around Charlie.

第19章大约六个月后1901年3月16日晚上7点左右 查理的学校，德克萨斯州加尔维斯顿，查理周围响起了嘈杂的声音。

Balls bouncing. A piano playing. Kids laughing. Sarah's voice. "Charlie!" Charlie turned from the window. Sarah grinned at him as she tightened the laces of her tap shoes. "Don't you think you should get ready? You're going onstage first!" It was the night of the school talent show, and they were backstage, in the school auditorium. Their teacher, Mrs. Butler, was helping one of the girls fasten a ribbon into her hair. "It's crowded out there," said Charlie's new friend Lee, bouncing one of the balls he'd be juggling in his act. Rosemary Cline walked over to Charlie. She was singing a song in the show. "Charlie," she said, smiling. "Your mustache is crooked." She was talking about the fake mustache Mama had made for him, out of some scraps of fabric—he had wanted a mustache like Meraki's. Charlie

球反弹。一架钢琴在弹奏。 孩子们笑了。莎拉的声音。 “查理!”查理从窗口转过身来。 萨拉朝他咧嘴一笑，一边系紧踢踏舞鞋的鞋带。 “你不觉得你应该准备好吗？” 你先上台！”那是学校才艺表演的晚上，他们在后台，学校礼堂里。 他们的老师巴特勒太太正在帮一个女孩把丝带系在头发上。 “外面太挤了，”查理的新朋友李一边说，一边弹着他在表演中要玩的一个球。 罗斯玛丽·克莱恩走向查理。 她在表演中唱了一首歌。 “查理，”她微笑着说。 “你的胡子歪了。” 她说的是妈妈用一些碎布给他做的假胡子——他想要一个像梅拉基那样的胡子。 查理

thanked Rosemary and went to the mirror next to the window. He realized now that his mustache actually looked like a very sick caterpillar. And it itched. Charlie peeled it off and tossed it in the trash. He peered into the mirror again, relieved to see his familiar freckled face. He was still getting used to the big scar on his chin—from a flying roof tile. The scar turned bright red when he got cold, but it didn't hurt anymore. He had bigger scars. His body was covered with jagged lines, puckers, and dents, all from his time in the churning water. Charlie closed his eyes and tried to stop the swirl of memories. But he suddenly felt like he was floating, like he was in the air, spinning, twisting, unable to get himself back onto solid ground. It happened all the time lately. At school. At the dinner table. On the street. He'd suddenly feel far away, back in those terrible hours and days after the storm.

谢过罗斯玛丽，走到窗边的镜子前。 他现在意识到他的胡子实际上看起来像一只病得很重的毛毛虫。 它痒了。查理把它剥下来扔进了垃圾桶。 他又看了看镜子，看到自己那张熟悉的满脸雀斑的脸，松了口气。 他还在适应下巴上的大伤疤——那是一块飞起来的屋顶瓦片留下的。 当他冷的时候，伤疤变成了鲜红的，但它不再疼了。 他的伤疤更大。他的身上布满了参差不齐的皱纹、皱纹和凹痕，这些都是他在翻腾的水中生活的结果。 查理闭上眼睛，试图阻止记忆的漩涡。 但他突然觉得自己在漂浮，好像在空中旋转、扭曲，无法回到坚实的地面上。 最近这种事经常发生。 在学校。在餐桌上。 在街上。他会突然觉得很遥远，回到暴风雨后那些可怕的时刻。

And now his mind swirled with the nightmare memories—the sobs of neighbors, the sight of their shattered house. Standing in line in the roasting heat, waiting for bread and drinkable water. Sleeping on the floor of the church. The terrible smells that rose from the wreckage. Charlie tried to remember how lucky he was. Unlike thousands of other people, he'd made it out of the water that night. Nobody knew exactly how many thousands had died. Six thousand? Eight thousand? And that was just on Galveston Island. It was impossible to know because so many had been swept out to sea. Entire families were gone. And Galveston—more than half the city had been completely destroyed. Houses and buildings. Churches. Schools. Stores. Blocks and blocks along the beach had been scraped clean by the raging sea, everything smashed up and pushed into a giant mountain. That's what he and Gordon

现在，他的脑海里萦绕着噩梦般的记忆——邻居的啜泣，他们破碎的房子的景象。 在炙热的天气里排队，等待面包和饮用水。 睡在教堂的地板上。 残骸中弥漫着难闻的气味。 查理努力回忆自己是多么幸运。 不像其他成千上万的人，那天晚上他从水里出来了。 没有人确切知道有多少人死亡。 六千年?八千年? 这还只是在加尔维斯顿岛。 不可能知道，因为很多人都被冲进了大海。 整个家庭都不见了。 而加尔维斯顿——超过一半的城市被完全摧毁。 房屋和建筑物。教堂。 学校。商店。海滩上一块块的石块被汹涌的大海刮得干干净净，所有的东西都粉碎了，被挤成了一座大山。 这就是他和戈登的关系

had seen when they had climbed down from the tree. After ten days, Mama and Charlie and Lulu left the city along with most of Galveston's women and children. They took a crowded barge across the bay. Mama took them to Houston to stay with her cousins. Papa stayed behind—they needed men to clear away wreckage. When Mama brought Charlie and Lulu back to the city, three months later, almost all the rubble was gone. Charlie was shocked to see trains chugging across the bay again. Wagons and buggies and carriages crowded the streets. The sounds of hammers and saws drifted through the air. The streetcar dinged. School opened right before Christmas. A firm hand took hold of his shoulder. He felt a jolt, like he was waking up from a dream. And there was Sarah, right in front of him, watching

看到他们从树上爬下来。 十天后，妈妈、查理和露露带着加尔维斯顿的大多数妇女和儿童离开了这座城市。 他们乘拥挤的驳船渡过海湾。 妈妈带他们去休斯顿和她的表兄妹住在一起。 爸爸留在了后面——他们需要人来清理残骸。 三个月后，当妈妈带着查理和露露回到城里时，几乎所有的瓦砾都消失了。 看到火车又隆隆驶过海湾，查理感到很震惊。 马车、四轮马车和四轮马车挤满了街道。 锤子和锯子的声音在空气中飘荡。 有轨电车叮当作响。学校正好在圣诞节前开学。 一只有力的手抓住了他的肩膀。 他感到一阵震动，就像刚从梦中醒来。 莎拉就在他面前，看着他

him with her gleaming eyes. "You all right?" she asked. Charlie had never told her about the floating. But somehow she always knew how to bring him back. She kept her hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly, as though she was holding him down to the ground. It took a moment for Charlie's mind to stop swirling. He looked out the window again. The sky was bright, with just a few puffy clouds. In the distance was the Gulf, silvery blue, calm as a pond. Charlie nodded to Sarah. Mrs. Butler rushed over. "Ready for you, Charlie!" Charlie patted his pockets, making sure he had his cards and coins. Lee and Rosemary wished him luck. Other kids smiled and waved.

他和她闪闪发光的眼睛。 “你没事吧？”她问。 查理从来没有告诉过她漂浮的事。 但不知怎么的，她总知道怎么把他带回来。 她的手一直放在他的肩膀上，紧紧地抓着，仿佛要把他按倒在地。 过了一会儿，查理的思绪才停止了混乱。 他又向窗外望去。 天空很明亮，只有几朵浮云。 远处是银蓝色的海湾，平静得像一个池塘。 查理向萨拉点了点头。巴特勒太太冲了过来。 “准备好了，查理！”查理拍了拍他的口袋，确保他有他的卡片和硬币。 李和罗斯玛丽祝他好运。 其他孩子微笑着挥手。