Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 AROUND 10:15 A.M. THE BEACH IN FRONT OF THE PAGODA BATHHOUSE There was a big overflow, even bigger than the one that he and Sarah had played in a few days ago. People were lined up on the sidewalk on the

第九章上午10点15分左右 宝塔澡堂前的海滩有一个很大的溢出，甚至比他和萨拉几天前玩的那个还大。 人们在人行道上排起了队

edge of the water. Excited voices rose up over the thundering roar of the waves. "Look at those huge rollers!" a man shouted, pointing at the waves. "Incredible!" cried a woman. "Mama!" a little boy squealed. "Take me closer!" Each wave towered up—as tall as Charlie's house—and then crashed down. Ba-ROOM! Ba-ROOM! Ba-ROOM! Kids weren't splashing and floating in the street like last time. Today's big game was to stand on the flooded beach, wait for the waves to rise up, and sprint away before a wave could crash down over you. Lots of kids were doing this, shrieking and laughing as they ran back and forth. A few bigger kids were at least halfway down the beach. It looked fun—but Charlie had to admit that the waves scared him a little. The entire Gulf

水边。激动的说话声盖过了海浪的轰鸣声。 “看那些巨大的浪头！”一个男人指着海浪喊道。 “难以置信！”一个女人叫道。 “妈妈！”一个小男孩尖叫道。 “带我靠近点！”每一波都像塔一样高——和查理的房子一样高——然后又轰然倒塌。 Ba-ROOM !Ba-ROOM !Ba-ROOM !孩子们不像上次那样在街上戏水和漂浮了。 今天最重要的游戏是站在被水淹没的海滩上，等待海浪升起，在海浪砸向你之前快速跑开。 很多孩子都在这样做，一边尖叫一边笑着跑来跑去。 几个大一点的孩子至少在海滩的一半。 看起来很好玩，但查理不得不承认，海浪让他有点害怕。 整个海湾地区

looked different—churning, foaming, furious. He thought of Lulu's cloud monster. And what Sarah had said about how people once blamed storms on angry gods and goddesses. Watching the crashing sea, it was easy for Charlie to imagine Poseidon standing above on a cloud, his long beard whipping in the wind, raising his arms to create each wave. Ba-ROOM! Ba-ROOM! Ba-ROOM! Charlie's stomach did a flip. Poseidon seemed very angry. But no one else seemed worried. The whoops and claps of the excited crowd got louder with each enormous wave. Charlie felt almost hypnotized by the waves—until he spotted a tall, beefy kid in the middle of the beach, one of the risk-takers closer to the Gulf. Even from the back, Charlie could tell his chest was puffed out.

看起来不一样了——翻腾着，冒着泡沫，怒火中烧。 他想起了露露的云怪。 还有莎拉说的人们曾经把风暴归咎于愤怒的神和女神。 看着汹涌的大海，查理很容易想象波塞冬站在云层上，他的长胡子在风中摆动，举起双臂制造每一个波浪。 Ba-ROOM !Ba-ROOM !Ba-ROOM !查理的胃翻腾了一下。 波塞冬似乎很生气。 但其他人似乎都不担心。 随着每一次巨浪的到来，兴奋的人群的欢呼声和掌声越来越响。 查理几乎被海浪催眠了——直到他在海滩中央发现了一个高大健壮的孩子，他是靠近海湾的冒险者之一。 即使从后面，查理也能看出来他的胸部鼓鼓的。

Gordon. Before he could lose his nerve, Charlie reached into his pocket. He plucked a cockroach from the box. He tucked the insect into his palm, locking it into place like he'd practiced. His hand was shaking—bad. He waited for a lull between the waves—the big ones came every two minutes or so—then he took his chance. His knees wobbled as he waded onto the beach, where the water came up to his thighs. The wind pushed against his back like an invisible hand. Go. Go. Go. Before he knew it, he was standing behind Gordon Potts. He took a breath and tapped Gordon on the shoulder. Gordon looked at Charlie with surprise, and then his usual sneer. "What do you want, twerp?" He practically spat the question.

戈登。查理还没等失去勇气，就把手伸进口袋。 他从盒子里抓出一只蟑螂。 他把昆虫塞进手掌，像练习过一样把它锁好。 他的手抖得厉害。 他等待着海浪之间的间歇——大浪大约每两分钟来一次——然后他抓住机会。 当他涉水上岸时，他的膝盖颤抖着，海水没过了他的大腿。 风像一只看不见的手推着他的背。 走了。走了。走了。不知不觉，他已经站在了戈登·波茨的身后。 他吸了一口气，拍了拍戈登的肩膀。 戈登惊讶地看着查理，然后像往常一样冷笑了一下。 “你想干什么，笨蛋？”他几乎把这个问题吐了出来。

Charlie opened his mouth. But the words he'd practiced were all gummed up on his tongue. "Did you know…?" His voice was high and squeaky. "An ancient trick… cockroaches…" Charlie's hand was suddenly slick with sweat. The cockroach slipped out and plopped into the water. He looked up at Gordon, who seemed ready to pounce. What had Charlie been thinking? He needed to get out of here. Now! Some kids around them had the same idea. Most were laughing, but a few were shouting. "Look out!" "It's a big one!" And then the sky seemed to disappear above Charlie as a giant wave towered up, bigger than any that had come before. It rose higher, higher, higher… Charlie and Gordon turned to run. But this wave was too fast and too big. Charlie barely had

查理张开嘴。但是他练习过的单词都粘在舌头上了。 “你知道吗？”他的声音又高又尖。 “一个古老的把戏……蟑螂……”查理的手突然汗流浃背。 蟑螂溜了出来，扑通一声掉进了水里。 他抬头看了看戈登，后者似乎准备猛扑过来。 查理在想什么呢？ 他需要离开这里。 现在!他们周围的一些孩子也有同样的想法。 大多数人都在笑，但也有几个人在喊叫。 “当心!”“好大的一只！”然后，查理头顶上的天空似乎消失了，一个巨大的波浪高耸而上，比以往任何一次都要大。 它越升越高，越升越高……查理和戈登转身逃跑。 但是这一波太快太大了。 查理几乎没有

enough time to take a breath before the wall of water curled over and swallowed him up.

他有足够的时间喘口气，否则水墙就会卷过来吞没他。