Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 "No!" Max screamed. A strange new feeling boiled inside him, furious and black and powerful. It didn't matter that the soldier was big as an ox, that he had a rifle. Max's body seemed to move on its own, fueled by a mix of terror and fury. With all of his might, Max threw himself against the man. The soldier teetered for a second, and then fell with a furious grunt. The rifle flew out of his hands, sailing through the air. When it landed, the rifle butt hit a rock.

第四章“不!”马克斯尖叫。 一种奇怪的新感觉在他心中沸腾，愤怒、黑暗、强大。 这个士兵虽然像牛一样大，拿着步枪，但这并不重要。 马克斯的身体似乎在自己移动，恐惧和愤怒交织在一起。 马克斯用尽全身力气向那人扑去。 士兵摇摇晃晃地走了一会儿，然后愤怒地哼了一声倒在地上。 步枪从他手中飞了出去，在空中飞了过去。 落地时，枪托击中了一块石头。

Crack! The rifle fired! The soldier shouted out in pain and grabbed his leg. He'd been hit by his own bullet! Max stood there, stunned, as he stared at the blood oozing through the soldier's fingers. The man's eyes bulged with rage as he spat out German curses. He crawled toward his rifle, clawing the dirt with his fingers, dragging his bloody leg behind him. Zena shrieked. "Max, come on!" Her voice snapped Max out of his trance. He ran to her. They joined hands and took off through the brush, away from the soldier and the ghetto. He had no idea where they could go. But neither of them looked back, and they moved so quickly it seemed as if they were flying. They pushed aside branches, dodged trees, and jumped over roots and rocks. Thorns raked their legs and

裂缝!步枪开火了!士兵痛得大叫起来，抓住他的腿。 他被自己的子弹打中了!马克斯站在那里，呆呆地看着士兵手指间渗出的鲜血。 那人愤怒地瞪大了眼睛，吐出德语诅咒。 他爬向他的步枪，用手指抓着泥土，拖着他血淋淋的腿。 Zena尖叫起来。“麦克斯，别这样!”她的声音把马克斯从恍惚中惊醒。 他跑向她。他们手拉着手，穿过灌木丛，离开了士兵和犹太人区。 他不知道他们能去哪里。 但他们俩谁也没有回头看，他们移动得如此之快，好像在飞一样。 它们推开树枝，躲避树木，跳过树根和岩石。 刺刺着他们的腿

snagged their clothes. But they ran and ran until finally their bodies gave out. "I need to rest," Zena gasped, reaching for Max's arm. "Up there," Max wheezed. "We'll hide in that wheat field."

扯破了他们的衣服。但他们一直跑啊跑，直到最后筋疲力尽。 “我需要休息，”泽娜喘着气，伸手抓住马克斯的胳膊。 “在上面。”麦克斯喘着气说。“我们躲在那片麦田里。”

They staggered into the field, wading through the golden stalks until at last they collapsed to the ground. They lay there, gulping at the air, trying to catch their breaths. It was a long time before Max's body stopped shaking, before either of them could speak. Finally Zena turned to him. "We beat them," she whispered. Max looked at his sister, not sure what she meant. But then he understood: Here they were, still alive, not shivering in a jail cell or surrounded by barbed wire. Zena was right. They'd fought their own battle against the Nazis. And they'd won. Max smiled a little, feeling a small burst of power. But it soon faded.

他们摇摇晃晃地走进田野，在金色的麦秆间跋涉，最后倒在了地上。 他们躺在那里，大口吸气，试图喘口气。 过了很长时间，马克斯的身体才停止颤抖，两人都说不出话来。 最后泽娜转向他。 “我们打败了他们，”她低声说。 马克斯看着妹妹，不明白她是什么意思。 但后来他明白了:他们就在这里，还活着，没有在牢房里瑟瑟发抖，也没有被铁丝网包围。 泽娜是对的。他们曾与纳粹进行过自己的战斗。 他们赢了。麦克斯微微一笑，感到一阵力量的迸发。 但它很快就消失了。

Because he had no idea what they would do next. Where could they go? The Nazis had invaded every country around Poland, and that blood-red swastika flag now flew over more than ten countries in Europe. For a Jew, there was no safe place for thousands of miles in any direction. And it wasn't only the Nazis from Germany who wanted to hurt them. Some people in Esties had joined the Nazis in their terror. This had shocked Max, even though he'd always known there were those in their town who looked down on Jewish people. Max remembered one night when he and Zena and Papa were heading to synagogue. They had passed two young men who cursed and spat at them as they walked by. "Hey!" Max had shouted to them. But Papa grabbed his arm, hurrying him along. "Why did they do that?" Max asked.

因为他不知道他们下一步会做什么。 他们能去哪里呢?纳粹入侵了波兰周围的每一个国家，那面血红色的纳粹标志现在飘扬在欧洲十多个国家。 对于犹太人来说，方圆数千英里内都没有安全的地方。 并不是只有来自德国的纳粹想要伤害他们。 埃斯蒂的一些人加入了纳粹的恐怖行列。 这让马克斯感到震惊，尽管他一直知道他们镇上有人看不起犹太人。 马克斯记得有一天晚上，他和泽娜还有爸爸一起去犹太教堂。 他们经过两个年轻人的时候，他们咒骂他们，朝他们吐口水。 “嘿!”马克斯对他们喊道。 但是爸爸抓住他的胳膊，催着他往前走。 “他们为什么要这么做?”马克斯问道。

"There is no reason," Papa answered. "Why do they hate us?" Zena asked. "Because they have small minds" was Papa's impatient reply. "It's as simple as that." But Max had pushed back. "I don't understand, Papa. What did we do to them?" "We did nothing," Papa said. "It's always been this way. Jews are different. And some people are suspicious of what they don't understand." It made no sense. Why be cruel to someone just because they were different? And were Jews really so different from everyone else? Max thought of his best friends at school. Those boys were just like him! They loved baseball. Tarzan was their favorite comic. They stared at pretty girls but were afraid to talk to them. True, his friends went to church on Sundays and Max went to synagogue on Fridays and Saturdays. But it seemed like they were all learning the same

“没有理由，”爸爸回答。 “他们为什么恨我们?”Zena问道。 “因为他们心胸狭窄。”爸爸不耐烦地回答。 “就是这么简单。”但马克斯已经反击了。 “我不明白，爸爸。 我们对他们做了什么?”“我们什么也没做，”爸爸说。 “一直都是这样。 犹太人则不同。有些人会怀疑他们不懂的东西。” 这毫无意义。为什么仅仅因为别人不同就对他们残忍呢? 犹太人真的和其他人有那么大的不同吗? 马克斯想起了他在学校里最好的朋友。 那些男孩就像他一样!他们喜欢棒球。 泰山是他们最喜欢的漫画。 他们盯着漂亮的女孩，却不敢和她们说话。 没错，他的朋友们星期天去教堂，而马克斯星期五和星期六去犹太教堂。 但似乎他们学的都是一样的