Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 20 HOURS EARLIER "President Roosevelt is coming to town!" Leo shouted. "Read all about it!" Leo was standing on his corner, selling that morning's newspaper. The sidewalk was crowded with men rushing to work. They barely slowed down as they handed Leo their nickels and grabbed the newspapers from his hands. It was barely 7:00 in the morning, and Leo had sold almost all of his papers. He jingled his pockets, which were heavy with coins. He thought about the fresh roll he'd buy for breakfast. And maybe even some cold milk to wash it down with. He smiled to himself. Papa would have been proud of him.

第二十二章二十小时前“罗斯福总统要进城了!”狮子座喊道。 “好好读吧!”利奥站在街角卖早上的报纸。 人行道上挤满了赶去上班的人。 他们几乎没有放慢脚步，把五分硬币递给利奥，从他手里抢过报纸。 当时还不到早上7点，利奥就已经卖掉了几乎所有的报纸。 他的口袋叮当作响，口袋里装满了硬币。 他想着早餐要买的新鲜面包卷。 也许还能喝点冷牛奶。 他暗自笑了。爸爸会为他感到骄傲的。

Leo patted his right-hand trouser pocket and felt the gold nugget that he always kept with him. It didn't look like much — kind of like a chewed-up yellow rock. But it was worth a fortune, Leo knew. Probably he could get more money for it than he earned in months of selling papers. But he'd rather sell his heart than this gold nugget. Leo's grandfather had found it in a riverbed east of here, during the gold rush. He'd handed it down to Papa, who had carried it with him everywhere. Grandpop got sick and died before Leo was born. But Papa kept him alive

里奥拍了拍右手裤兜，摸了摸他一直随身携带的金块。 它看起来不太像——有点像一块被嚼碎的黄色岩石。 但利奥知道它值一大笔钱。 也许他卖报纸挣的钱比他卖几个月报纸挣的钱还多。 但他宁愿出卖自己的心也不愿卖这块金块。 里奥的祖父在淘金热时期，在这里东边的河床上发现了它。 他把它传给了爸爸，爸爸到哪儿都带着它。 爷爷生病了，在利奥出生前就去世了。 但是爸爸让他活了下来

through the stories he'd tell to Leo. Each night, when Papa was putting Leo to bed, he'd take out the gold nugget. Leo would hold it tight in his hand as Papa told tales of Grandpop's adventures — crossing America all alone in a creaky old wagon, almost getting eaten by a giant grizzly in the Rocky Mountains, surviving a forest fire in the Sierras, living in San Francisco when it was just a bunch of rickety houses in the mud. "You're just like your grandpop," Papa always said. "I see it in your eyes. You've got his good luck. You've got his guts. Something remarkable is going to happen to you. I can feel it, can't you?" And the way Papa would look at him, with shining eyes, Leo did feel it. These past few months since the fever took Papa away, there had been days when sadness would surround Leo, a feeling as cold and gray as the San Francisco fog. He'd feel scared, and very alone. He'd miss Papa so bad, his whole body would hurt. But then he would think of Grandpop, who made his way from New Hampshire to California all by himself, when he was just sixteen years old.

通过他给里奥讲的故事 每天晚上，当爸爸哄利奥上床睡觉时，他都会拿出金块。 当爸爸讲述爷爷的冒险故事时，里奥会紧紧地握在手里——独自驾驶着一辆破旧的马车穿越美国，在落基山脉差点被一只巨大的灰熊吃掉，在塞拉斯山脉从一场森林大火中幸存下来，在旧金山生活时，它只是一堆摇摇晃晃的房子在泥泞中。 “你就像你爷爷一样，”爸爸总是说。 “我从你的眼睛里看出来了。你继承了他的好运气。 你有他的胆量。你将会有不寻常的事发生。 我能感觉到，你呢?”爸爸看着他的眼神，闪烁着光芒，利奥确实感觉到了。 在爸爸因发烧离开后的这几个月里，里奥有时会感到悲伤，一种像旧金山的雾一样寒冷和灰暗的感觉。 他会感到害怕，非常孤独。 他会非常想念爸爸，全身都会痛。 但他又会想起祖父，他在16岁的时候，独自一人从新罕布什尔来到加州。

And he'd hear Papa's voice in his mind, bright and clear, telling him that he was lucky, and brave, and that something remarkable was going to happen to him. Papa's voice was loud and clear on this sunny day. Or it was, until Leo finished selling papers. He was walking down an alley, cutting through to Market Street. Somehow he didn't notice the two boys who had crept up behind him. Next thing Leo knew, he'd been smashed against a brick wall, and blood was gushing out of his nose.

他会在脑海中听到爸爸的声音，明亮而清晰，告诉他，他很幸运，很勇敢，了不起的事情将发生在他身上。 在这个阳光明媚的日子里，爸爸的声音响亮而清晰。 或者曾经是，直到里奥卖完报纸。 他走在一条小巷里，穿过集市街。 不知怎么的，他没有注意到后面悄悄走过来的两个男孩。 里奥所知道的下一件事，就是他被撞在一堵砖墙上，鲜血从他的鼻子里喷涌而出。