Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 LATER THAT NIGHT EN ROUTE TO LODA FOREST, EASTERN POLAND. Lev led the way, taking them on a zigzagging route along the river, through fields of wheat and rye, and pastures filled with cows and sheep. Aunt Hannah walked between Max and Zena, her eyes narrowed and rifle aimed, her finger glued to the trigger. They stayed hidden, avoiding towns, ducking into bushes at the slightest sound — a dog barking, a baby crying, a wagon clattering down a distant road.

第八章那天晚上，在去波兰东部洛达森林的路上。 利弗带路，带着他们沿着河走曲折的路线，穿过小麦和黑麦的田地，还有奶牛和羊的牧场。 汉娜姨妈走在马克斯和泽娜之间，她眯着眼睛瞄准步枪，手指紧紧扣在扳机上。 他们躲起来，避开城镇，一听到最轻微的声音就躲进灌木丛里——狗叫，婴儿的哭声，远处路上马车的咔嗒声。

It was just past sunrise when they finally reached the edge of Loda Forest. They pushed their way through a wall of thick, thorny bushes, and suddenly they were in a completely new world. Enormous trees towered all around them, their branches forming a roof that blocked out all but a few beams of sunlight. Moss hung from branches, and giant, twisted roots rose up from the muddy ground. Max had heard horror stories about Loda when he was a child — about packs of wolves and bloodthirsty bandits. He looked nervously into the shadows, half expecting a hairy arm to reach out and snatch him. But Aunt Hannah, Martin, and Lev walked with sure steps, as though this tangled wilderness was their backyard. Soon Max's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he got used to the forest sounds — the buzzing and chirping and hooting, the rushing of the streams, the snapping of twigs under their feet.

当他们终于到达洛达森林的边缘时，太阳刚刚升起。 他们挤过一堵密密麻麻的灌木丛，突然间，他们进入了一个全新的世界。 他们周围是高大的树木，它们的树枝形成了一个屋顶，只挡住了几束阳光。 苔藓挂在树枝上，巨大的扭曲的树根从泥泞的地面上长出来。 马克斯小时候听过关于洛达的恐怖故事——狼群和嗜血的强盗。 他紧张地朝阴影里看了看，有点担心会有一只毛茸茸的手臂伸出来抓他。 但汉娜姨妈、马丁和列弗却迈着稳健的步伐走着，仿佛这片乱成一团的荒野就是他们的后院。 很快，马克斯的眼睛适应了黑暗，也习惯了森林里的声音——嗡嗡声、啾啾声、鸣叫声、溪流的激流声、脚下树枝折断的声音。

He thought of Papa, and those games of hideand- when Max and Zena were sure they were lost forever. And then they'd hear Papa's voice calling to them. He could almost hear it now, from somewhere far away. "Max, Zena, where are you?" Max slowed his steps, turning his head, as though the whispering breeze were Papa's voice. He wanted to climb high into a tree and scream out, at the top of his lungs. "We're here, Papa!" The words seemed to ring out from his thoughts — We're here. He looked around, as though any second Papa's smiling face might appear through the leaves. "I knew I'd find you!" As they got deeper into the forest, the group walked more slowly, making doubly sure that

他想起了爸爸，想起了那些捉迷藏的游戏——当马克斯和泽娜确信他们已经永远失去了的时候。 然后他们就会听到爸爸在呼唤他们。 他现在几乎可以听到，从很远的地方传来。 “麦克斯，泽娜，你们在哪儿?”马克斯放慢了脚步，转过头，仿佛微风的低语就是爸爸的声音。 他真想爬到树上，扯着嗓子大声喊叫。 “我们在这里，爸爸!”这句话似乎从他的脑海中响起——我们在这里。 他环顾四周，仿佛爸爸的笑脸随时都可能从树叶中露出来。 “我就知道我会找到你的!”当他们深入森林时，这群人走得更慢了，更加确信

nobody was following them. Lately the Nazis were desperate to capture partisans, Aunt Hannah explained, to track them to their secret camps. They sent search planes buzzing over the forest, like giant birds hunting for prey. Many camps had been discovered and destroyed, their members all killed. "But they'll never find us," Martin said defiantly. Their camp was tucked away on an island that rose up in the middle of a great swamp, Lev told them. Their sleeping huts were dug into the ground, the rooftops covered with dirt and grass. They'd built a bridge of fallen trees that led across the swamp to the island. But they'd sunk the bridge down under a few inches of water so that nobody could see it. "It sounds like a movie," Max said, turning to smile at Zena. But Zena stared at the ground, and suddenly Max realized something was very wrong with her.

没有人跟踪他们。 汉娜姑妈解释说，最近纳粹不顾一切地抓捕游击队员，以便追踪他们到秘密营地。 他们派出搜索飞机在森林上空盘旋，就像巨鸟在寻找猎物一样。 许多营地被发现并被摧毁，其成员全部被杀。 “可他们永远也找不到我们。”马丁挑衅地说。 列弗告诉他们，他们的营地隐藏在一个大沼泽中间的小岛上。 他们睡觉的小屋是挖在地上的，屋顶上覆盖着泥土和草。 他们用倒下的树搭了一座桥，穿过沼泽通往小岛。 但是他们把桥沉到了几英寸深的水里，所以没人能看到它。 “听起来像电影，”马克斯说，转身对泽娜微笑。 但泽娜盯着地面，马克斯突然意识到她有点不对劲。

Her face was twisted in pain, her eyes brimming with tears. "What is it?" Max said, barely hiding his panic. Aunt Hannah stopped, too. Was Zena sick? Diseases were everywhere in the ghetto — coughs that turned people to skeletons, burning fevers that wiped out whole families in days. "It's my toe," Zena admitted finally. It had to be bad to make Zena cry. They found a fallen tree and sat Zena down. Everyone huddled around as Aunt Hannah knelt down and gently removed Zena's boot. Zena gritted her teeth as Aunt Hannah peeled away her blood-soaked sock. Max's stomach lurched at the sight of her big toe — the skin was torn away, the nail almost completely ripped off. Aunt Hannah didn't flinch. "It's just that your boot is too small," she said. "It's not bad at all."

她的脸因痛苦而扭曲，眼里噙满了泪水。 “什么事?”麦克斯说，几乎掩饰不住他的恐慌。 汉娜姨妈也停了下来。泽娜病了吗? 贫民窟里到处都是疾病——咳嗽会把人变成骷髅，高烧会在几天内消灭整个家庭。 “是我的脚趾。”泽娜终于承认。 只有糟糕到让泽娜哭。 他们找到一棵倒下的树，让泽娜坐下。 汉娜姨妈跪下来，轻轻地替泽娜脱下靴子，大家围在一起。 吉娜咬紧牙关，汉娜姨妈扒下她那浸透了鲜血的袜子。 看到她的大脚趾，马克斯的胃猛地一跳——皮肤被扯掉了，指甲几乎完全被扯掉了。 汉娜姨妈没有退缩。 “只是你的靴子太小了，”她说。 “一点也不坏。”

Lev nodded in agreement. "I've seen way worse." Aunt Hannah stood up. "Look at this," she said, lifting her pant leg. "Barbed wire," she said, pointing at a purple, jagged scar. "We set fire to a bullet factory, and I got caught on our way out." Max cringed. "Mine's uglier," Martin said, pushing up his sleeve. His forearm looked as if it had been torn open and sewn back together by a three-year-old. "Grenade," he said proudly. "Went off a little too soon." "Show them your scar, Lev," Aunt Hannah said daringly.

列夫点头表示同意。“我见过比这更糟的。” 汉娜姨妈站了起来。“看看这个，”她说着，抬起了裤腿。 “铁丝网。”她指着一道紫色的、锯齿状的伤疤说。 “我们放火烧了一家子弹厂，我在出去的路上被抓住了。” 马克斯。“我的更丑，”马丁说着，挽起袖子。 他的前臂看起来像是被一个三岁的孩子撕开又缝起来的。 “手榴弹。”他骄傲地说。 “有点太快了。” “让他们看看你的伤疤，莱弗，”汉娜姨妈大胆地说。