Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Minutes passed, and Ben floated on the couch, his face buried in his arms. The blue sky of the morning had turned a dark, bruised gray. The water had calmed, the churning had stopped. Now Ben just drifted along, like a castaway in the middle of the sea. He had never felt so cold in his life. Or so alone. Ben hadn't even felt this alone in those first weeks after Dad's accident, when he had locked himself away in his room. He had refused to see or talk to anyone, even Ojisan, who had stayed for weeks after Dad's funeral. But in

第九章几分钟过去了，本浮在沙发上，脸埋在胳膊里。 早晨的蓝天已经变成了一片漆黑的灰色。 海水平静了，翻腾停止了。 现在本只是随波逐流，就像大海中的一个漂流者。 他一生中从未感到过这么冷。 或者说独自一人。在爸爸出事后的头几个星期里，本把自己锁在房间里，从未有过如此孤独的感觉。 他拒绝见任何人，也不愿和任何人说话，甚至是在父亲葬礼后呆了几个星期的欧吉桑。 但在

that lonely darkness, Ben had known that Mom was never far from him. There was always Harry knocking on his door, his coach and his friends ringing the doorbell. Ben had sent them all away. But now he understood how important it had been, knowing that all those people were there for him. Waiting. Now there was nobody. A bitter wind blew. Ben shivered. His teeth chattered so loudly that at first he didn't hear the high-pitched sound drifting from somewhere nearby. Eee, eee. Ben looked up, sure he was hearing things. But there it was again. Eee, eee. He searched the water. Objects floated by: a lamp, newspapers, a huge stuffed teddy bear, bottles, papers, a soccer ball. And about ten feet away, something tiny moved slowly on the water, floating on top of a mattress.

在那孤独的黑暗中，本知道妈妈从未远离过他。 哈利总是在敲他的门，他的教练和他的朋友们按门铃。 本把他们都打发走了。 但现在他明白了这一切有多重要，知道所有这些人都在他身边。 等待。现在一个人也没有了。 一阵刺骨的风吹来。本颤抖。 他的牙齿打战的声音太大了，以至于起初他没有听到从附近某个地方传来的尖锐的声音。 Eee, Eee。本抬起头来，确信他听到了一些声音。 但它又出现了。Eee, Eee。 他在水中搜寻。漂过的东西有:一盏灯、报纸、一个巨大的毛绒泰迪熊、瓶子、纸、一个足球。 大约十英尺外，有个小东西在水面上慢慢移动，漂浮在床垫上。

At first Ben thought he was looking at a ragged stuffed animal. But then he noticed the z-shaped tail. And he heard the noise again. "Eee, eee!" Nya! Before he could stop himself, Ben leaped into the water. He swam as quickly as he could, blazing a trail through the wreckage. He reached the mattress and grabbed hold. "Nya! It's me, Ben!" The cat stood there, shivering, staring at him with cloudy blue eyes. "Don't you recognize me?" He'd gone crazy now, Ben realized, if he was talking to a cat. A cat that probably had no idea who he was. But then he saw a kind of flash in Nya's eyes. She limped to the edge of the mattress, and put her nose right up to his face. And she started to purr.

起初，本以为他看到的是一个破烂的毛绒玩具。 但后来他注意到了z形尾巴。 他又听到了那声音。 “Eee, Eee !”那!本还没来得及阻止自己，就跳进了水里。 他尽可能快地游着，在残骸中划出一条路。 他伸手抓住床垫。 “那!是我，本!”猫站在那里，颤抖着，用浑浊的蓝眼睛盯着他。 “你不认识我了吗?”本意识到，如果他是在和一只猫说话，他现在已经疯了。 一只可能根本不知道自己是谁的猫。 但随后他在妮娅的眼睛里看到了一种闪光。 她一瘸一拐地走到床垫边上，把鼻子凑近他的脸。 她开始呜呜叫。

Tears sprang into Ben's eyes as Nya nuzzled him. He felt such a rush of relief, as though this scrawny old cat was a helicopter filled with marines coming to his rescue. He hoisted himself up onto the mattress, and sat with his legs crossed. He lifted Nya and held her against his chest, the way Harry always held her. It was the first second of calm he'd felt since the earthquake. But it didn't last. Because suddenly the water was moving again. The mattress was being carried through the water, fast. Only this time the water was flowing in the opposite direction — toward the sea. What was happening? Ben thought about a trip to the coast the family had taken last summer, one of the best weekends they'd ever had. Mom and Harry had built a gigantic sand castle on the beach. Dad and Ben had bodysurfed for hours, riding giant waves to shore. When the waves lost power, the water

妮雅用鼻子蹭着本，泪水涌上了他的眼睛。 他感到如释重负，仿佛这只骨瘦如柴的老猫是一架直升机，载满了来救他的海军陆战队员。 他爬到床垫上，跷起二郎腿坐着。 他举起妮雅，把她抱在胸前，就像哈利以前抱她那样。 这是地震以来他第一次感到平静。 但这并没有持续多久。因为突然间水又开始流动了。 床垫被飞快地从水中冲走了。 只不过这一次，水是朝相反的方向流的——流向了大海。 发生了什么事?本想起了去年夏天全家去海边的一次旅行，那是他们度过的最美好的周末之一。 妈妈和哈利在沙滩上建了一座巨大的沙堡。 爸爸和本玩了几个小时的人体冲浪，乘着巨浪来到岸边。 当波浪失去动力时，水

would get sucked back out to sea. The current was so powerful that Dad had to hold Ben so he didn't get swept away. That's what was happening now. The giant wave had lost power. It was being sucked back into the ocean. And it was taking Ben and Nya with it. The mattress plowed through the water, pushing through piles of wreckage. Think! Ben told himself. Soon they would be out to sea! Just ahead, he saw something — a tall, skinny tree poking up through the water. It was his only chance. He'd have a split second to jump off the mattress and grab the tree. Ben lifted Nya, and put her around the back of his neck, like a scarf. "Hold on to me," he told her. He rose up, crouching low on the mattress. Nya dug her claws into his shoulders. But Ben didn't

就会被吸回大海。 水流太大了，爸爸不得不抱着本，以免他被冲走。 这就是现在正在发生的事情。 巨浪失去了动力。 它被吸回了海洋。 它还带着本和妮娅。 床垫在水中穿行，穿过成堆的残骸。 的想法!本告诉自己。他们很快就要出海了!就在前方，他看到了什么东西——一棵又高又细的树从水中探出头来。 这是他唯一的机会。他会有一瞬间从床垫上跳下来抓住树。 本把妮娅抱起来，把她像围巾一样围在脖子后面。 “抓住我，”他对她说。 他站了起来，蹲在床垫上。 妮雅把爪子伸进他的肩膀。 但是本没有

flinch. He kept his eye on the tree, knowing that the timing had to be perfect. He counted down in his mind, like the numbers on a basketball shot clock: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 … He jumped off the mattress. Nya sprang off of his back and latched onto the tree. Ben reached out and tried to grab hold. But he couldn't get a good grip. His frozen hands slid across the slippery bark. And the water took hold of him and started pulling him away.

退缩。他一直盯着那棵树，知道时机必须是完美的。 他在心里数着，就像篮球表上的数字:5,4,3,2,1……他从床垫上跳了起来。 妮雅从他背上跳下来，锁在树上。 本伸出手想抓住她。 但他抓不住。 他冻僵的双手滑过滑溜溜的树皮。 水抓住了他，开始把他拖走。