Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 THREE DAYS KATER MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1964 AROUND 8:00 A.M. VALDEZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL "Welcome, Jackson! I'm Miss Lawrence. Please come in!"

第七章三天后1964年3月16日星期一上午8点左右 “欢迎你，杰克逊！我是劳伦斯小姐。 请进！”

Jackson stood in the doorway of the classroom and tried to hide his surprise. This teacher was no grumpy grandma type. She was young and tall, with long black hair and a bright smile. Jackson scanned the classroom. It was sunny, with colorful maps and posters on the walls. About twenty kids sat at desks lined up in rows. The boys all had short hair and were dressed in neat shirts and pants. Jackson glanced at his rumpled secondhand flannel shirt Mom had found yesterday in a church used-clothes bin. He patted down his overgrown curls—maybe he should have cut his hair. Too late now. "Class, this is Jackson," Miss Lawrence said brightly. "Hello, Jackson," the class all said together. Jackson's stomach started to churn, and the pancakes and two glasses of milk from breakfast sloshed around in his stomach.

杰克逊站在教室门口，竭力掩饰自己的惊讶。 这位老师不是那种脾气暴躁的奶奶。 她又年轻又高，有着长长的黑发和灿烂的笑容。 杰克逊扫视了一下教室。 房间里阳光明媚，墙上挂着五颜六色的地图和海报。 大约20个孩子坐在成排的课桌前。 男孩们都留着短发，穿着整洁的衬衫和裤子。 杰克逊瞥了一眼他那件皱巴巴的二手法兰绒衬衫，那是妈妈昨天在教堂的旧衣服箱里找到的。 他拍了拍自己长得太长的卷发——也许他应该把头发剪了。 现在太晚了。“同学们，这是杰克逊，”劳伦斯小姐欢快地说。 “你好，杰克逊，”全班一起说。 杰克逊的胃开始翻腾，煎饼和早餐的两杯牛奶在他的胃里晃动。

Was he going to puke? All over the floor? He'd never been to school before. But he was pretty sure puking was the worst thing that could happen to a kid. He took a breath… Get a grip. Miss Lawrence led him to the closet where he could hang his coat and leave his lunchbox. He took off his beat-up army backpack, still filled with his emergency supplies. No, he probably didn't need them here in Valdez. But you never knew. Miss Lawrence pointed out an empty desk in the middle of the room. As Jackson sat down, a girl with short brown hair and cat-eye glasses leaned over and smiled. "I'm Leonor." "I'm Chris," said a short but muscular boy with fox-colored hair. "I'm Nora," whispered a smiling girl with long yellow braids.

他要吐了吗？满地都是？ 他以前从未上过学。 但他很确定呕吐是孩子身上最糟糕的事情。 他吸了口气……控制住自己。 劳伦斯小姐把他领到壁橱前，他可以在那里挂外套，并把午餐盒放在那里。 他卸下了破旧的军背包，里面仍然装满了应急物资。 不，他在瓦尔迪兹可能不需要。 但你永远不会知道。劳伦斯小姐指了指房间中央的一张空桌子。 杰克逊坐下时，一个留着棕色短发、戴着猫眼眼镜的女孩俯下身来，微笑着。 “我莱昂诺。”“我叫克里斯，”一个长着狐狸色头发、身材矮小但肌肉发达的男孩说。 “我是诺拉，”一个留着黄色长辫子的女孩微笑着低声说。

"I'm Mary," said the rosy-cheeked girl next to her. Other kids looked at Jackson and waved. None of them seemed stuck-up, as far as Jackson could tell. "Jackson," Miss Lawrence said, "you're just in time for our morning geography lesson. Is everyone ready?" "Yes, Miss Lawrence!" everyone sang. She stood in front of a big map of Alaska that hung in the front of the room. Jackson's stomach settled. Finally, the kids weren't all staring at him. "Alaska's capital is…?" Miss Lawrence said. "Juneau!" chanted the class. "Biggest city?" "Anchorage!" "When did Alaska become a state?" "1959!" "When did people first come to Alaska?" It was quiet for a few seconds.

“我是玛丽，”她旁边那个红润的女孩说。 其他孩子看着杰克逊挥手。 在杰克逊看来，他们没有一个人看起来很高傲。 “杰克逊，”劳伦斯小姐说，“你正好赶上我们早上的地理课。 大家都准备好了吗？”“是的，劳伦斯小姐！” 她站在挂在房间前面的一幅巨大的阿拉斯加地图前。 杰克逊的胃沉了下来。 最后，孩子们不再都盯着他看了。 “阿拉斯加的首府是……？”劳伦斯小姐说。 “朱诺！”全班齐声嚷道。 “最大的城市吗?”“安克雷奇!”“阿拉斯加什么时候成为一个州的？”“1959年!”“人们第一次来到阿拉斯加是什么时候？”安静了几秒钟。

A few kids tried. "In the 1800s, during the gold rush!" Miss Lawrence shook her head. "1700s, Russian explorers?" "No…" Miss Lawrence said. "During the Ice Age!" Nora called out. Miss Lawrence smiled. "Yes." Wow, Jackson thought. That was a long time ago. "Nobody knows exactly when the first people came to Alaska," Miss Lawrence said. "But it was definitely more than ten thousand years ago. And some of those people were my ancestors. As you all know, I am Unangax." That's one of the main Alaskan Native Cultural groups, Jackson thought, thinking back to the books he and Mom had read about Alaska. There are many groups—Inupiaq, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Yup'ik, Cup'ik, Athabascan, Eyak, Tsimshian, Tlingit, Haida, Sugpiaq… and each is

有几个孩子试过。“在19世纪，淘金热时期！”劳伦斯小姐摇了摇头。 “18世纪，俄国探险家？”“不……”劳伦斯小姐说。 “在冰河时期！”诺拉喊道。 劳伦斯小姐笑了。“是的。” 哇，杰克逊想。那是很久以前的事了。 “没有人确切知道第一批人是什么时候来到阿拉斯加的，”劳伦斯小姐说。 “但那肯定是一万多年前的事了。 其中有些人是我的祖先。 你们都知道，我是乌南加克斯。” 这是一个主要的阿拉斯加土著文化团体，杰克逊想，回想起他和妈妈读过的关于阿拉斯加的书。 有很多族群——因努皮亚克人、圣。 Lawrence Island Yupik, Yup'ik, Cup'ik, Athabascan, Eyak, tsishian, Tlingit, Haida， Sugpiaq…每个都是

different. They have different languages and customs, different myths and arts. "Hey, Miss Lawrence!" Chris said with a sneaky grin. "You don't look ten thousand years old!" Kids giggled, and Miss Lawrence let out a big laugh—almost as loud as Mom's. "I was not born during the Ice Age, thank you," she said. "Where did your ancestors come from, Miss Lawrence?" Leonor asked. Miss Lawrence pointed to a big piece of land across the sea from Alaska. "They came from here," she said. "Today it's called Siberia." She went on to explain that the sea between Siberia and Alaska was called the Bering Sea. "But back during the Ice Age, the land and oceans around the world looked very different. Part of the Bering Sea was dry land. So people could walk across to Alaska."

不同。他们有不同的语言和习俗，不同的神话和艺术。 “嘿，劳伦斯小姐！”克里斯鬼鬼祟祟地笑着说。 “你看起来不像一万年那么老！”孩子们咯咯地笑，劳伦斯小姐发出一声大笑——几乎和妈妈的笑声一样响亮。 “谢谢你，我不是在冰河时代出生的，”她说。 “你的祖先来自哪里，劳伦斯小姐？”莱昂诺问道。 劳伦斯小姐指着阿拉斯加隔海相望的一大片土地。 “他们是从这里来的，”她说。 “今天它叫西伯利亚。” 她接着解释说，西伯利亚和阿拉斯加之间的海被称为白令海。 “但在冰河时期，世界各地的陆地和海洋看起来非常不同。 白令海的一部分是旱地。 这样人们就可以步行到阿拉斯加了。”