Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 The stars came out, more stars than Barry had ever imagined. Was one of them Beta Draconis, Akivo's secret star? Beta Draconis was a real star. Barry and Jay had found the name in an astronomy book in the library. They'd learned that there were trillions and trillions of stars in the universe, more stars than grains of sand on every beach and desert on earth. They all seemed to be out that night.

第十四章星星出来了，比巴里想象的还要多。 是阿基沃的秘密明星贝塔龙星吗? 贝塔龙是一个真正的明星。 巴里和杰伊是在图书馆的一本天文学书上找到这个名字的。 他们了解到宇宙中有数万亿颗恒星，比地球上每个海滩和沙漠上的沙粒还要多。 那天晚上他们似乎都出去了。

Barry searched the sky and picked out one of the very brightest stars. "See that, Cruz?" he whispered, pointing into the sky. "That's Akivo's star." That probably wasn't true. But right then, Barry decided to believe it. Cruz looked at the sky, and his brown eyes filled up with light. He and Barry leaned their heads together. And soon the sky seemed to wrap itself around them, a glittering blanket to protect them from the awful sights and sounds and smells of their ruined neighborhood. They sat like that for hours on their little dry patch of roof. A few small boats motored by. Barry called out, but nobody seemed to hear him. Until, finally, one of the boats slowed down. It wasn't really a boat. It was more like a raft. A yellow rubber raft with a motor. The driver was a woman, younger than Mom. She drove the boat right onto the roof and stopped it just a few feet from Barry and Cruz. "Well, look at you, brave soul," the woman said, her voice low and smooth.

巴里搜索了天空，挑出了一颗最亮的星星。 “看到了吗，克鲁兹?”他指着天空小声说。 “那是Akivo的明星。”这可能不是真的。 但就在那时，巴瑞决定相信。 克鲁兹望着天空，棕色的眼睛里充满了光芒。 他和巴里把头靠在一起。 很快，天空似乎把他们包裹起来，像一条闪闪发光的毯子，保护他们，使他们远离被毁的社区可怕的景象、声音和气味。 他们就这样在那块干燥的小屋顶上坐了好几个小时。 几艘小船驶过。 巴里喊道，但似乎没有人听见。 直到最后，其中一艘船慢了下来。 它并不是一艘真正的船。它更像是一个木筏。 一个带马达的黄色橡胶筏。 司机是个女人，比妈妈年轻。 她把船开到屋顶上停在离巴里和克鲁兹几英尺远的地方。 “嗯，看看你，勇敢的灵魂，”女人说，她的声音低沉而流畅。

She had very dark skin and huge eyes and dozens of long, skinny braids that seemed to dance around her face. Barry stared at her, sure he was imagining things. She seemed like some kind of fairy — a beautiful fairy in a yellow rubber boat — from one of Cleo's bedtime stories. But she was real, stepping out of her boat and wading up to Barry in tall rubber boots. She put a hand on Cruz's head. The dog didn't growl. Like Barry, he seemed hypnotized. "Who are you?" the woman asked. Barry's throat was dry and swollen. But he managed to say his name. "I'm Nell," she said. "Where's your family?" Barry looked around him at the endless water. His eyes filled with tears. Nell put her hands on Barry's shoulders. "How about we get you and your friend out of here?" she asked. "Sound like a plan?" Barry wiped his eyes and somehow choked out the word "yes." Barry and Cruz climbed into the boat after Nell.

她皮肤很黑，眼睛很大，几十条又长又细的辫子似乎在她的脸上跳舞。 巴瑞盯着她，肯定是自己在胡思乱想。 她看起来就像是克莱奥睡前故事里的一个仙女——一个坐在黄色橡皮艇里的美丽仙女。 但她是真实的，走出她的船，穿着高胶靴涉水向巴里走来。 她把手放在克鲁兹的头上。 狗没有咆哮。和巴里一样，他似乎被催眠了。 “你是谁?”女人问。 巴里的喉咙又干又肿。 但他总算说出了自己的名字。 “我是内尔，”她说。“你的家人呢?”巴里环顾四周，望着无边无际的海水。 他的眼里充满了泪水。 内尔把手放在巴里的肩膀上。 “我们把你和你的朋友弄出去怎么样?”她问。 “听起来像个计划?”巴里擦了擦眼睛，勉强说了句“是”。 巴里和克鲁兹跟着内尔上了船。

Nell handed Barry a big bottle of water. She filled a cup for Cruz and held it while he lapped the water up. Barry gulped down his water, almost choking at first. When he was finished, he took a deep breath. He opened his mouth to say thank you, but the only sound that came out was a sob. Suddenly tears were pouring down his face. He turned away from Nell. She had called him a brave soul. So why couldn't he act brave? He was finally off that roof. But now all the terror he'd felt those past hours came back to him, second by second. He felt as if he was shrinking, as though his fear was boiling up inside him and he was melting away.

内尔递给巴里一大瓶水。 她给科鲁兹倒了一杯水，在他舔水的时候端着杯子。 巴里大口喝水，刚开始差点噎住。 当他完成后，他深吸了一口气。 他张开嘴想说谢谢，但唯一发出来的声音是一声呜咽。 突然，眼泪从他的脸上流了下来。 他转身离开了内尔。她说他是个勇敢的人。 那他为什么不能表现得勇敢一点呢? 他终于从屋顶上下来了。 但现在，过去几个小时里他感受到的恐怖又一秒一秒地涌上心头。 他觉得自己好像在退缩，好像他的恐惧在他体内沸腾，他正在融化。

"We're going to the St. Claude Avenue Bridge," Nell said. "There will be people to help you there." Of course there would be. Police and firemen. Doctors and nurses. Barry knew what happened in disasters. He'd seen it on the news. He imagined a big tent on the bridge, with cots set up in neat rows. He would get fresh clothes, more water, good food. The people there would know how to track down Mom and Dad and Cleo. Barry took a deep breath.

“我们要去圣克劳德大道大桥，”内尔说。 “那里会有人帮助你的。” 当然会有。警察和消防员。 医生和护士。巴里知道灾难中会发生什么。 他是在新闻上看到的。他想象着在桥上搭一个大帐篷，整齐地排着小床。 他会得到新鲜的衣服，更多的水和美味的食物。 那里的人知道怎么找到爸爸妈妈和克莱奥。 巴里深吸了一口气。

Nell carefully wove the little boat through the maze of uprooted trees and wreckage. People stranded on rooftops called to them as they rode by. "Help us!" "We've got a baby here!" "We're hurt! Please help!" Nell called back to all of them. "I'll be back!" she said over and over. "Hang on there! I'll be back." She whispered a prayer under her breath. "There are thousands of people stranded, just here in the Lower Nine," Nell said to Barry. "I've already picked up more than thirty people." Finally the bridge appeared in the distance. And even from far away, Barry could see that there were no tents. No flashing lights or police cars or fire engines or ambulances. Other boats — little boats, like Nell's — pulled up to the bridge, let people off, and then headed back out into the water. There were at least a hundred people packed on the bridge. Families huddled together; old couples sat on the ground; people walked around dazed.

内尔小心翼翼地把小船穿过被连根拔起的树木和残骸组成的迷宫。 当他们骑马经过时，被困在屋顶上的人们向他们呼喊。 “帮助我们!”“我们这儿有个婴儿!”“我们伤害!请帮助!”内尔对他们所有人喊道。 “我会回来的!”她一遍又一遍地说。 “坚持住!”我会回来的。” 她低声祈祷。 内尔对巴里说:“就在下九区，有成千上万的人被困在这里。” “我已经接了三十多人了。” 最后，那座桥出现在远处。 即使从很远的地方，巴里也能看到没有帐篷。 没有闪光灯，没有警车，没有消防车，也没有救护车。 其他的船——像内尔那样的小船——停在桥上，让人们下船，然后驶回水中。 至少有一百人挤在桥上。 家人挤在一起;老夫妇坐在地上;人们茫然地走来走去。