Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Gordon Potts. He was standing in Charlie's path. In his hands he gripped an enormous branch. The pointy tip was aimed right at Charlie's chest. A hot streak of fear shot through Charlie as he threw himself to one side. The move tipped over the washtub, dumping Charlie into the water. With

第六章戈登·波茨他挡住了查理的去路。 他手里抓着一根巨大的树枝。 尖尖的枪口正对着查理的胸膛。 一股强烈的恐惧掠过查理的全身，他扑到一边。 这一举动掀翻了洗衣盆，把查理扔进了水里。 与

a sickening clang, one of the washtub handles smacked Charlie right in the mouth. He gagged as blood and salt water rushed down his throat. He came up coughing and sputtering. He struggled to his feet, and Sarah took him by the arm. His eyes stung, and everything was a blur. "Stop blubbering," Gordon taunted. "You're so weak!" Then he broke out in his high, earsplitting cackle. Haw! Haw! Haw! Haw! Haw! Haw! Was this really funny to him? Charlie bleeding and choking? "Hey, Gordon, come on!" another kid shouted. And Gordon disappeared. Sarah led Charlie away from the water and off the beach. The water was all gone, leaving behind a mucky soup. They headed back toward Charlie's house.

一阵令人作呕的撞击声，一个洗手盆把手正好打在查理的嘴里。 血和盐水涌进他的喉咙，他哽住了。 他又咳又吐。 他挣扎着站起来，撒拉抓住他的胳膊。 他的眼睛刺痛了，一切都变得模糊起来。 “别哭了，”戈登嘲弄道。 “你太软弱了！”然后他突然发出刺耳的高亢笑声。 山楂!山楂!山楂!山楂!山楂!山楂!这对他来说真的很有趣吗？ 查理在流血和窒息？ “嘿，戈登，加油！”另一个孩子喊道。 然后戈登就消失了。萨拉领着查理离开了水，离开了海滩。 水都没了，只剩下一碗浑浊的汤。 他们朝查理的家走去。

Charlie's whole mouth throbbed. To his amazement—and relief—all his teeth were still attached. His bottom lip felt nasty. It was split and swollen. Sarah didn't say anything as they walked along the crowded sidewalk. And when she finally looked at Charlie, her eyes didn't have their usual gleam. "Gordon could have—" Her voice cracked. "He could have really hurt you, Charlie." Charlie pictured that huge, pointed stick. Sarah was right. Just then, he noticed an old man in a worn green hat hobbling toward them on the sidewalk. It was Mr. Early, one of Grandpa's friends. Charlie ducked his head down; he didn't want Mr. Early to see him this way. Out of the corner of his eye, Charlie saw Mr. Early look right at him. But somehow the old man didn't recognize him. Probably because Charlie's

查理整个嘴巴都在抽动。 令他吃惊和宽慰的是，他所有的牙齿都还连在一起。 他的下嘴唇感到难受。 它裂开了，肿了起来。他们走在拥挤的人行道上，莎拉什么也没说。 当她终于看着查理时，她的眼睛里没有了往常的光芒。 “戈登本可以——”她的声音嘶哑了。 “他可能真的会伤害你的，查理。” 查理想象着那根又大又尖的棍子。 莎拉是对的。就在这时，他注意到一个戴着破旧绿帽子的老人在人行道上一瘸一拐地向他们走来。 是岳利先生，爷爷的一个朋友。 查理低下了头；他不想让厄尔利先生这样看他。 查理从眼角的余光看到厄尔利先生正盯着他看。 但不知怎么的，老人没认出他来。 可能是因为查理

face was so battered and bloody. He must look like he'd been kicked by a horse. A lump grew in Charlie's throat, but he managed to fight back his tears. Why did Gordon pick on him? He'd never done anything to Gordon—or to anyone! He wasn't a show-off or a teacher's pet. He never chased girls around the playground or tried to push his way into marbles games. Charlie was just… Charlie. Except for Sarah, nobody even really noticed him. It was true that he sometimes wished they did, that he got invited to birthday parties, that girls like Rosemary Cline would choose him as a square-dance partner. But he was fine keeping mostly to himself. What did he do to make Gordon suddenly hate him so much? Over and over, Charlie had searched his mind for reasons. And he always came back to one night last May. Charlie had been out for an after-supper walk with Mama, Papa, and Lulu.

脸被打得血肉模糊。 他看上去一定像被马踢了一脚。 查理的喉咙哽住了，但他强忍住了泪水。 戈登为什么要找他的麻烦？ 他从来没有对戈登做过任何事——对任何人都没有！他不是爱炫耀的人，也不是老师的宠儿。 他从不在操场上追逐女孩，也从不试图强行进入弹珠游戏。 查理只是…查理。 除了莎拉，没人注意到他。 的确，他有时希望他们能这样做，希望他被邀请参加生日聚会，希望罗斯玛丽·克莱恩（Rosemary Cline）这样的女孩会选择他做广场舞舞伴。 但他对大部分时间独处很满意。 他做了什么让戈登突然这么恨他？ 查理一次又一次地在脑子里寻找原因。 去年五月的一个晚上他总是回来。 晚饭后，查理和妈妈、爸爸和露露出去散步了。

Mama and Lulu were softly singing a song, and Papa and Charlie were laughing over some dumb joke they'd shared. In fact, they were laughing so hard people they passed were shooting them strange looks. This happened all the time. "Can you two please have a little less fun?" Mama had said. But she was smiling, too. As they were passing an expensive restaurant, a fancy-looking man and a woman came out onto the sidewalk. A boy was trailing behind them, and the man was scolding him. "I won't tolerate this!" Charlie realized it was Mr. and Mrs. Potts—and Gordon. Charlie wasn't surprised that Gordon was in trouble with his father. Gordon was rude to everyone—even their teacher. And people said Mr. Potts was pretty nasty himself. Papa had done some carpentry work in his office. "That guy screams at everyone!" he'd said. But Mrs. Potts was sweet. She and Mama had become friends when they worked together at

妈妈和露露在轻轻地唱着歌，爸爸和查理在为他们分享的一些愚蠢的笑话而大笑。 事实上，他们笑得太厉害了，路过的人都向他们投来奇怪的目光。 这种情况经常发生。 “你们俩能不能少找点乐子？”妈妈说过。 但她也在微笑。当他们经过一家昂贵的餐厅时，一男一女走到人行道上。 一个男孩跟在他们后面，那人在骂他。 “我不能容忍！”查理意识到那是波茨夫妇和戈登。 查理对戈登在他父亲那里惹上麻烦并不感到惊讶。 戈登对每个人都很粗鲁，甚至包括他们的老师。 人们说波茨先生自己也很讨厌。 爸爸在他的办公室里做了一些木工活。 “那家伙对每个人都尖叫！”他说。 但波茨夫人很贴心。她和妈妈在一起工作时就成了朋友

church to collect clothes to send to Puerto Rico. Mama had even gone to the Pottses' house for lunch. They lived in one of the big mansions lined up along Broadway. "They have electricity in every room," she'd told Charlie and Papa later. At Charlie's house, they still used kerosene lanterns. "They have a telephone, too!" Charlie's family didn't have one of those either. Papa said those were just silly toys, a waste of money. "They'll never catch on," he'd said. But Mama had kept the best part for last. "They have a toilet… that flushes!" Even Papa was impressed with that. Charlie's family still used their privy, a little shack a few feet outside the back door of their house. Inside was a hole in the ground, with a wooden seat on top.

去教堂收集衣服送到波多黎各。 妈妈甚至还去波茨家吃过午饭。 他们住在百老汇大街两旁的一栋豪宅里。 “他们每个房间都有电，”她后来告诉查理和爸爸。 在查理家，他们仍然使用煤油灯。 “他们也有电话！”查理的家人也没有。 爸爸说那些只是愚蠢的玩具，是浪费钱。 “他们永远不会明白的，”他说。 但是妈妈把最好的部分留到了最后。 “他们有厕所……还能冲水！”就连爸爸也对此印象深刻。 查理的家人仍然使用他们的厕所，那是一个离他们房子后门几英尺的小棚屋。 里面是一个地上的洞，上面有一个木制的座位。