Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 TEN DAYS LATER THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1964 By the end of the second week, Jackson had school figured out. He could remember all the words to the Pledge of Allegiance. He'd learned every verse of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," which

第十章十天后1964年3月26日星期四第二周结束时，杰克逊已经把学校的事情都安排好了。 他能记住效忠誓词的全部内容。 他学过《我的祖国，属于你》的每一节

they sang together after the pledge. He could get to the boys' room with his eyes closed. As for the kids, Jackson had decided it was easier to just stay away. Half the time he didn't understand what they were talking about. He'd stand there feeling all confused, like a moose calf lost in the woods. What was the point of even trying to figure out what a Hula-Hoop was, or why this beetle band was so great? Soon he'd be back in the bush where he belonged. None of that stuff would matter. He'd never see these kids again. At lunchtime he skipped the cafeteria and slipped right out to the playground. He'd pick out a quiet spot behind a giant pile of snow. That way he could eat his sandwich in peace. He avoided the recess games of hide-and-seek. When Leonor would invite him over after school, Jackson would make up an excuse. Same with Mary's ice-skating party and sledding at Nora's. Finally, kids stopped asking him to do things. They didn't try to include him in their talks about

宣誓后他们一起唱歌。 他闭着眼睛都能进男生的房间。 至于孩子们，杰克逊决定干脆远离他们。 有一半的时间他听不懂他们在说什么。 他站在那里，不知所措，就像一头迷失在树林里的小驼鹿。 弄清楚呼啦圈是什么有什么意义，或者为什么这只甲虫乐队这么棒？ 很快他就会回到属于他的丛林里。 这些都不重要。 他再也见不到这些孩子了。 午餐时，他没去自助餐厅，直接溜到操场上。 他会在一大堆雪后面找一个安静的地方。 这样他就可以安心地吃三明治了。 他避免在课间玩捉迷藏。 当莱昂诺放学后邀请他去的时候，杰克逊就会编造一个借口。 玛丽的滑冰派对和诺拉家的雪橇也是一样。 最后，孩子们不再让他做事了。 他们没有把他包括在他们的讨论中

bands or toys or games. They didn't ask him to tell any more exciting stories about the bush. These past few days, nobody at school talked to Jackson much at all, except for Miss Lawrence. Which was what Jackson wanted, right? That Thursday morning, the class was buzzing with excitement. Easter weekend was coming up. School was closed tomorrow for the Good Friday holiday. All morning kids chattered about their holiday plans. There were family dinners. An Easter egg hunt. A basketball game at the high school. Ice-skating at the pond. But what the kids were most excited about was a big supply ship that would be docking in Valdez tomorrow afternoon. It was called the Chena, and it was coming from Seattle. Jackson had already heard about it from Uncle Solly. His close buddy was a member of the crew. Uncle Solly was hoping to see him while the ship was docked.

乐队、玩具或游戏。他们没有让他讲更多关于灌木丛的激动人心的故事。 在过去的几天里，除了劳伦斯小姐，学校里没人跟杰克逊多说话。 这是杰克逊想要的，对吧？ 那个星期四的早晨，教室里充满了兴奋。 复活节周末就要到了。 明天是耶稣受难日，学校放假。 整个上午孩子们都在喋喋不休地谈论他们的假期计划。 有家庭聚餐。 寻找复活节彩蛋。一场高中篮球赛。 在池塘边滑冰。但孩子们最兴奋的是一艘大型补给船明天下午将停靠在瓦尔迪兹。 它被称为“中国”号，从西雅图驶来。 杰克逊已经从索利叔叔那里听说了这件事。 他的好朋友是船员。 索利叔叔希望船靠岸时能见到他。

"Half the town will be there to watch the Chena unload," Uncle Solly had said. "Everyone is waiting for something that's on that ship." The stores in town were running low on food and other things, Uncle Solly had explained. Fresh fruits and vegetables. Toilet paper. Batteries. Parts for cars. Just yesterday Jackson had heard Chris complaining that the market was out of Twinkies. "I'm going to starve!" he'd moaned. Pretty much everything people bought at stores in Alaska came from the Lower 48. That's what people in Alaska called the other parts of the United States—everywhere but Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska had lots of trees and animals and fish, but not many farms or factories. Even Mom and Dad and Jackson needed to buy things. Like their parkas and boots, the kerosene for their lamps, their fishing gear and woodstove. And, of course, the extra food they needed for the winter—rice,

“镇上一半的人都会去看‘中国号’卸货，”索利叔叔说。 “每个人都在等待那艘船上的东西。” 镇上的商店里的食物和其他东西都快用完了，索利叔叔解释说。 新鲜水果和蔬菜。 厕纸。电池。汽车零件。 就在昨天，杰克逊还听到克里斯抱怨市场上的Twinkies卖光了。 “我要饿死了！”他呻吟道。 人们在阿拉斯加商店里买到的几乎所有东西都来自下48州。 阿拉斯加人就是这么称呼美国其他地方的——除了阿拉斯加和夏威夷以外的所有地方。 阿拉斯加有很多树木、动物和鱼，但没有很多农场或工厂。 就连爸爸妈妈和杰克逊也需要买东西。 比如他们的派克大衣和靴子，他们点灯的煤油，他们的渔具和柴炉。 当然，他们还需要额外的食物来种植冬稻，

noodles, oatmeal, beans. They wouldn't be able to live in the bush without all that stuff. Thinking about all this, Jackson eyed Miss Lawrence as she wrote out long division problems on the blackboard. He tried to picture her ancestors trudging across that icy bridge. There were no stores or ships back then. People had to get everything from the land—every bite of food, every scrap of clothing. They invented new ways to hunt and fish. They figured out how to build warm houses and fast boats from caribou hide or the bark of trees. They'd found ways to live, to have families, to stay in Alaska for all these centuries. Talk about Alaska tough, Jackson thought. At recess that day, Jackson had found a new pile of snow where he could sit on his own. He'd just finished his sandwich when he heard kids talking nearby. He recognized some of the voices—

面条、燕麦片、豆类。如果没有这些东西，它们就无法在灌木丛中生活。 考虑到这一切，杰克逊看着劳伦斯小姐在黑板上写长除法问题。 他试图想象她的祖先艰难地走过那座冰冷的桥。 那时候既没有商店也没有船。 人们必须从土地上获取一切——每一口食物，每一件衣服。 他们发明了打猎和捕鱼的新方法。 他们想出了如何用驯鹿皮或树皮建造温暖的房子和快艇。 他们找到了生活的方式，有了家庭，在阿拉斯加呆了几个世纪。 谈到阿拉斯加的艰难，杰克逊想。 那天课间休息时，杰克逊发现了一堆新的雪，他可以自己坐在那里。 他刚吃完三明治，就听到附近的孩子们在说话。 他认出了一些声音

Nora, Mary, Leonor, Chris. They couldn't see him, but he could hear what they were talking about. "The Chena is the best ship," a boy was saying. "Last year I got three lollipops," said Mary. "I got chocolate!" said another girl. "I got an orange," Nora said proudly. An orange! Jackson had never even seen one of those. He listened as Nora told how she brought it home and saved it for days. "What did it taste like?" someone asked her. "Like sunshine," she said. Jackson smiled a little as he tried to imagine what sunshine might taste like. Nora always knew how to describe things, Jackson had noticed. The kids bickered over when it would be best to meet at the waterfront. In the end they decided on five o'clock. "Should we invite Jackson?" Leonor asked. Jackson's ears perked up. Maybe this was one time he'd say yes. He'd like to get his hands on a

诺拉，玛丽，利奥诺，克里斯。 他们看不见他，但他能听到他们在说什么。 “中国号是最好的船，”一个男孩说。 “去年我得到了三个棒棒糖，”玛丽说。 “我有巧克力！”另一个女孩说。 “我有一个橘子，”诺拉自豪地说。 一个橙色的!杰克逊从来没有见过这样的东西。 他听诺拉讲述她如何把它带回家，保存了好几天。 “那是什么味道？”有人问她。 “像阳光一样，”她说。 杰克逊微微一笑，试着想象阳光的味道。 杰克逊注意到，诺拉总是知道如何描述事物。 孩子们为什么时候在海滨见面而争吵不休。 最后他们决定在五点钟。 “我们应该邀请杰克逊吗？”莱昂诺问道。 杰克逊的耳朵竖起来了。也许只有这一次他会答应。 他想弄到一个